This series of posts entitled  “FRANCIS SCHAEFFER ANALYZES ART AND CULTURE” touches things that affect our culture today. The first post took a look at the foundations of our modern society today that were set by the Roman Democracy 2000 years ago and then it related it to the art we see today.

The second post took a  look at how modern art was born by discussing Monet, Renoir, Pissaro, Sisley, Degas,Cezanne, Van Gogh, Gauguin, Seurat, and Picasso.” The third post took a look at PAUL GAUGUIN’S 3 QUESTIONS: “Where do we come from? What art we? Where are we going? and his conclusion was a suicide attempt,” and also featured the art work of  Mike Kelley. The fourth post took a look at the work of H.R. Rookmaaker and his close relationship to Schaeffer.

 

Francis Schaeffer pictured below:

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The fifth post discussed the work of John Cage and how his work influenced the artist  Gerhard Richter of Germany. The sixth post took a look at the famous painting “The Adoration of the Lamb” by Jan Van Eyck which was saved by MONUMENT MEN IN WW2 and also took a look at the evangelical artist Makoto Fujimura. The seventh post discussed the philosophical work of Jean Paul Sartre and took a look at the artwork of  David Hooker.______

The eighth post showed and discussed the film “The Last Year at Marienbad” by Alain Resnais and featured the artwork of  Richard Tuttle and looked into his return to the faith of his youth. The ninth post noted the comments of Francis Schaeffer on the artwork of Jasper Johns and also featured the artwork of  Cai Guo-Qiang.

Here is an example of how insightful Schaeffer can be:

Especially in the sixties the major philosophic statements which received a wide hearing were made through films. These philosophic movies reached many more people than philosophic writings or even painting and literature. Among these films were THE LAST YEAR AT MARIENBAD by Alain Resnais (1961), THE SILENCE by Ingmar Bergman (1967), JULIET OF THE SPIRITS by Federico Fellini (1965), BLOW UP by Michelangelo Antonioni (1966), BELLE DE JOUR by Luis Bunuel (1967), and THE HOUR OF THE WOLF by Ingmar Bergman (1967).

They showed pictorially (and with great force) what it is like if man is a machine and also what it is like if man tries to live in the area of non-reason. In the area of non-reason man is left without categories. He has no way to distinguish between right and wrong, or even between what is objectively true as opposed to illusion or fantasy….One could view these films a hundred times and there still would be no way to be sure what was portrayed as objectively true and what was part of a character’s imagination. If people begin only from themselves and really live in a universe in which there is no personal God to speak, they have no final way to be sure of the difference between reality and fantasy or illusion (pp. 201-202). 

In the book ESCAPE FROM REASON Schaeffer notes that modern man has come to the place that he truly believes that rationality is downstairs and faith is upstairs in the area of non-reason. What does man do at this point but take a leap from downstairs to upstairs. Schaeffer notes:

The leap is common to every sphere of modern man’s thought.  Man is forced to the despair of such a leap because he cannot live merely as a machine . . . If below the line man is dead, above the line, after the non-rational leap, man is left without categories.  There are no categories because categories are related to rationality and logic.…The most startling cinema statement was not that man is dead downstairs, but the powerful expression of what man is above the line after the leap. The first of these films was THE LAST YEAR AT MARIENBAD. This is not my guess. The films’s director explained that this is what he wanted the film to show. That is the reason for the long, endless corridors and the unrelatedness in the film. If below the line man is dead, above the line, after non-rational leap, man is left without categories. There are no categories because categories are related to rationality and logic. There is therefore no truth and no nontruth in antithesis, no right and wrong–you are adrift.

Alain Resnais Interview 1

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Last Year in Marienbad (1961) Trailer

 

Francis Schaeffer pictured below:

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Francis Schaeffer pictured below:

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The tenth post was about the art historian David Douglas Duncan and it also featured the artwork of  Georges Rouault. The eleventh post  discussed Thomas Aquinas and his Effect on Art and then episode 2 of HOW SHOULD WE THEN LIVE? on the  THE MIDDLES AGES was profiled and also the artwork of  Tony Oursler.

The twelfth post took a close work at the philosophical work of the humanist H.J.Blackham and  the Materialistic Humanism Worldview that he represented and also the artwork of Arturo Herrera and remarkably Herrera claims also his artwork comes about by chance!!! The thirteenth post looks at  Jacob Bronowski  and his materialistic humanism worldview and his film series on evolution and also the  artist Ellen Gallagher who believes her work is influenced by chance is featured.

The fourteenth post takes a close look at the 19th century writer David Friedrich Strauss  and features the work of the artist Roni Horn. The fifteenth, sixteenth and seventeenth posts discuss Francis Schaeffer’s comments concerning the interview of Andy Warhol from “The Observer June 12, 1966″ and feature the artists  Robert Indiana,  and James Rosenquist,  and David Hockney.

The eighteenth post takes a look at the fact that “Michelangelo’s DAVID is the statement of what humanistic man saw himself as being tomorrow,” and features the artist Paul McCarthy. The nineteenth post discusses the work of the movie director Luis Bunuel and features the artist Oliver Herring.

The twentieth post takes a look at Woody Allen and his materialistic humanism worldview and the artwork of  Ida Applebroog. The twenty-first post is on the evolutionist William B. Provine and features the artwork of  Andrea Zittel.

The twenty-second post discusses the painting “The School of Athens by Raphael” and features the artwork of  Sally Mann. The twenty-third post deals with BOB DYLAN  and includes the comments of Francis Schaeffer on the proper place of rebellion with comments by Bob Dylan and Samuel Rutherford and also includes the artwork of  Josiah McElheny.

The twenty-fourth post talks about BOB DYLAN and includes Francis Schaeffer’s comments on Bob Dylan’s words from HIGHWAY 61 REVISITED and it features artwork by  Susan Rothenberg. The twenty-fifth post deals with BOB DYLAN, and  Francis Schaeffer comments on Bob Dylan’s song “Ballad of a Thin Man” and the disconnect between the young generation of the 60’s and their parents’ generation and it includes the artwork of  Fred Wilson.

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