the contest of zeuxis and parrhasios

[from D. Kunze, The Art 3 Idea: A Third Way to Study Art, 2000]
http://art3idea.psu.edu/boundaries/bolagrams/zeuxisparhassios.html
!here "ere t"o famous painters in
an#ient $ree#e, %euxis and
&arrhasios. 'a#h "as at the pinna#le
of his abilities, no one (ne" ho" to
#hoose bet"een them. !he),
ho"e*er, de#ided to resol*e the
issue for on#e and for all, "ith a
+painting duel, held under stri#tl)
#ontrolled #onditions. !he)
assigned themsel*es t"o areas of a
"all, ea#h in*isible from the other
so that the) might "or( in pri*ate.
'a#h artist "as to paint a mural, a
fres#o of pigment in "et plaster. -
#arefull) assembled audien#e./ur)
"as to *ie" both paintings and
a"ard one the prize, ending fore*er the tedious and insoluble ri*alr).
%euxis "as a#tuall) thought to ha*e the edge in this #ontest. 0hile his paintings "ere not
ultimatel) /udged better than &arrhasios1s, the) al"a)s had a strong initial effe#t. !he) #ould
+(no#( )our e)es out,, as the) sa), b) using the tri#(s of trompe-l'oeil, or super.realism.
&arrhasios (ne" the same tri#(s but "as more subtle. 2ou got to li(e his paintings be#ause of
their time.release effe#ts, "hi#h sometimes made them less li(able in the beginning. &arrhasios,
subtler and probabl) more talented be#ause his "or(s too( time and endured, "as ironi#all) less
li(el) to "in out o*er %euxis, "ho "as a master of initial surprise. !he #ontest "as reall) about
&arrhasios1s abilit) to thin( his "a) through this dilemma.
0hen it #ame time to /udge the freshl) #ompleted paintings, the audien#e of sele#t #riti#s
assembled, and, behind them, a large #ro"d of onloo(ers. %euxis "as out"ardl) #alm and
#onfident. 3e had produ#ed, he seemed to thin(, his best "or( for this #ru#ial o##asion. 4ehind
the #urtain 5it "as important to re*eal the "or( all at on#e6 "as his life1s masterpie#e.
!he spo(esman for the /ur) as(ed %euxis to dra" the #urtain. 0hen he did, the #ro"d and /ur)
gasped to see a bo"l of fruit, plainti*e and simple. 3o" #ould a great painter be #ontent, in a
situation su#h as this, to paint a bo"l of fruit7 8t "as admittedl) a finel) painted still.life. !he
glint of light off the pale green surfa#e of the pears made them seem moist and firm. 2ou #ould
pra#ti#all) taste the pomegranates.
-fter a long period of silen#e, a bird fle" do"n from its *antage point on the top of the "all,
straight into the painted bo"l of fruit, from "hi#h it had hoped to steal a grape. 3itting the "all
"ith a sma#(, the bird fell to the ground, a *i#tim of illusion.
0ithout a doubt, this pro*ed "hat the /ur) and audien#e #ould s#ar#el) #on#lude: that the realism
of the painting had made it es#ape its limits, as artifi#ial9 the real /udge had been the bird, "hom
no one #ould a##use of fa*oritism. 0hen the gasps of the #ro"d died a"a), %euxis "as sure he
had "on, no matter "hat &arrhasios1s entr). :or "hat better demonstration #ould he ha*e hoped7
%euxis1s #onfiden#e no" #aused him to straighten up, breathe deepl), and radiate a ne"found
humanit), "hi#h he turned on to &arrhasios "ho "as standing at the edge of the open #ir#le of
onloo(ers. +;o", let1s ta(e a loo( at the undoubtedl) ex#ellent "or( of &arrhasios. +;o", let1s
ta(e a loo( at the undoubtedl) ex#ellent "or( of m) esteemed #olleague, he suggested, "ith a
tone that suggested he "ould be magnanimous in his *i#tor), al"a)s sending a bit of "or(
&arrhasios1s "a) if his o"n studio got too bus).
&arrhasios feigned or honestl) exhibited 5one #ould not sa) "hi#h6 a mee( but genial tone.
<lightl) bo"ed, he did not spea( but turned slightl) to"ards the area "here his mural "as to be
re*ealed. !he #ro"d shuffled and murmured. %euxis b) no" had be#ome their leader.
;o" standing around &arrhasios1s "all, the #ro"d gre" impatient. '*en the #urtain began to
loo( a bit do"d). %euxis, not "ishing to o*er.embarrass his ri*al, #ame for"ard after a longish
inter*al and dire#tl) addressed the painter. +8 thin(,, he said, +it is time to see "hat )ou ma)
ha*e done. 0ould )ou honor us b) dra"ing the #urtain7,+
=an1t be done,, &arrhasios replied. !he /ur), audien#e, and %euxis thought that &arrhasios "as at
the brea(ing point, that he "as emotionall) #rushed b) the nearness of defeat. +<urel),, %euxis
put in, tr)ing to soften the blo" of the ine*itable, +"e "ould be *er) happ) to see )our "or(, but
"e1re getting a bit impatient standing in the hot sun. >ust sho" us the painting.,
-fter a pause, &arrhasios replied, +2ou1re loo(ing at it., !he onloo(ers fo#used more #arefull)
on the "all, realizing at last that the) "ere loo(ing at a painting of a #urtain.
2ou don1t ha*e to be $ree( to #on#lude that the prize "ent to &arrhasios, or that the reason "as
that, "hile %euxis had tri#(ed a bird, &arrhasios had not onl) managed to tri#( human beings, but
his fello".professional at that.
- subtler truth "ithin the stor) is about human per#eption *ersus animal per#eption. !he bird
"ent for the food, and "as dependent upon the appearan#e of the grape "hi#h it "ould, in some
eternal moment in bird.hea*en, be able to eat: a sort of beha*ioristi# +operant #onditioning,
situation "here stimulus and re"ard follo" ea#h other in #lose su##ession. !he human situation
is different, in the e*iden#e of this ane#dote. !he humans sa" not a grape.li(e thing, but the
#o*er of that "hi#h the) "anted to see. !he) "ere tri#(ed be#ause the) "ere expe#ting a
#on#ealment of "hat the) "anted. !he) automati#all) *alued onl) "hat "as in*isible,
ina##essible. ?sed to #on#ealments,
the) did not inspe#t the painting of the #urtain #losel). !he) "ere tri#(ed b) their o"n
expe#tations, e*en if the #urtain had been painted poorl).
!he first moral of the stor) might be #alled the audien#e1s ta(e.home truth. $ood artists #an fool
our natural sel*es, great artists fool our #ultural @ our real @ sel*es. !he deeper moral is for
artists and student.#riti#s of the arts. !his has to do "ith a rule to follo". 0hen it #omes to
tri#(ing humans, )ou #an rel) on them to help )ou "ith their o"n expe#tations. -nd, humans
expe#t tri#(sA @ 8n this #ase, a simple #urtain. !he good artist therefore gi*es a good tri#(: a
painted grape that fools our natural sel*es. !he great artist gi*es a great tri#(: a tri#(2, as it "ere.
!he great artist anti#ipates our predile#tion for tri#(B tri#(s, and tri#(s the tri#(, ma(ing a trap
for humans.
!he bolagram #ontrasts the transiti*e relationship bet"een an audien#e and an illusion
5suspension of disbelief remains silent @ the audien#e 1(no"s1 that the painting is an illusion6
"ith the 1intranstiti*e1 relationship bet"een the audien#e1s impatien#e and their gullible
#onsumption of the painting of the #urtain. !he ane#dote stri(ingl) demonstrates the 1t"o.s#reen
theor)1, sin#e there are 1t"o "alls1, the %euxis "all, supposed to disappear through the
#ollaborati*e #onsent of the audien#e "illing to be su#(ed in b) the illusion 5C6 and the
&arrhasios "all, that reall) DD'< appear although it 5"ith the #urtain on it6 doesn1t exist. !he
small ob/e#t of desire, impatien#e, the surplus of the e*ent, returns to the 1#enter1 of the Dther that
the audien#e has #onstru#ted, the authoritarian basis of the painted illusion.
=ompare this stor) "ith the opening lines of ;abo(o*1s 1fi#tional1 poem 5a poem supposedl)
"ritten b) one of the #hara#ters of the no*el, Pale Fire6. !he poem #larifies the ane#dote in a
strangel) #oin#idental "a).
8 "as the shado" of the "ax"ing slain
4) the false azure in the "indo" pane9
8 "as the smudge of ashen fluffEand 8
Fi*ed on, fle" on, in the refle#ted s().
-nd from the inside, too, 81d dupli#ate
G)self, m) lamp, an apple on a plate:
?n#urtaining the night, 81d let dar( glass
3ang all the furniture abo*e the grass.
-nd ho" delightful "hen a fall of sno"
=o*ered m) glimpse of la"n and rea#hed up so
-s to ma(e #hair and bed exa#tl) stand
?pon that sno", out in that #r)stal landA