The main idea of art is to produce a faithful copy, in this way, art informs us of what is true; and this is why we value it. To what extent do you agree with this view?

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“The main idea of art is to produce a faithful copy, in this way, art informs us of what is true; and this is why we value it.” To what extent do you agree with this view?

First of all, one must come to some sort of conclusion as to what a ‘faithful copy’ actually is. A faithful copy of something is a copy which is as close to, as humanly possible, to what it is actually depicting; for example, a painting of the beheading of John the Baptist is a faithful copy due to the fact that it is as close to the actual event that an artist can get to with only literary references. Another example would be detailed sketches and drawings of the cardiovascular system, done in during the 1600s when the knowledge of anatomy was beginning to improve, which are faithful copies to how the system actually looks without being an exact replica.

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Personally I believe that artwork itself can inform us in many and varied ways, meaning that I don’t believe that art must produce a faithful copy in order to be truthful. Essentially, I think it would be impossible for all pieces of artwork to faithfully inform us of truth since some of the most inspiring and, in some cases truthful, pieces of artwork have had no artistic faith in regards to what they are actually depicting; or perhaps a better word would be ‘conveying’.

The concept that the main purpose of artwork is to produce a faithful copy relates to ...

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