Virgil Elliott wrote: [...] I've always seen it as a mistake to look for ways to win the philosophical argument game that is the basis for modernism. Arguments are beside the point. The art itself is what matters; specifically, the quality of the art, which is something that is either readily apparent or it is not, and all the arguing in the world cannot make up for its lack. If our paintings speak Quality, we don't need no stinking arguments.
Virgil,
With all due respect, Modernism was winning its battle with the art of Bouguereau, Leighton, Tadema, Dicksee, and Gérôme still fresh in the art world's minds.
They felt as you do and believed that their success and their art would be all that was necessary to prove their adversaries wrong.
It wasn't enough. They could and should have used their power when it could have mattered to stop the deluge that was coming.
Fred
