532
PARTISAN REVIEW
R osenberg:
Well , I don 't fo ll ow th e Freudi an mode o f thi n king to the
degree tha t they do.
T umin:
But you don ' t like tha t a ttributi o na l sys tem o r the Marx ian
a tt ributi o na l system , and you don ' t like th e de ta il s o f the mcthod
tha t those require.
R osenberg:
Yes, but I have no o bj ecti on to an ybod y who find s th em
sugges ti ve using them. I think th ey're a ll pa rt o f criti cism , and I
think they're legitima te. In o ther words, I think th a t Meycr 's ana lys is
o f Cezann e and Leo's ana lysi s o f
L es Demoise lles d'Avignon
are
perfec tl y legitima te ways of looking a t pa intin gs.
Tumin:
Wha t do you mean by leg itima te ways o f lookin g at them?
R osenberg:
A spectaLOr of a pa inting has the ri ght to di scover in it
wha tever meanin gs he di scovers in it.
T umin:
Now th at's reducin g tha t LO no thin g. Yo u 're simp ly say in g
tha t in a democra ti c society everybody has a ri g ht to find wha t he
wa n ts to find .
R osenberg:
No, tha t's no t th e po int. T he approach wh ich enri ches the
meanings of a wo rk o f a rt has va lue. I think a pa inting, after a ll ,
consists o f the aura o f interpreta ti ons which has coll ected itself
around it over the years and these interpreta ti ons add to tha t au ra.
It 's true tha t every once in a whil e peopl e will be stimul a ted LO clean
the pa intings aga in o f th ese auras, the same way tha t you get rid of a
lo t of varni sh , but tha t doesn ' t necessa ril y p rodu ce a better inter–
p reta ti on .
T umin:
But some o f those auras can hurt a pa inting, can they no t?
Su ppose an aura is wholl y mi sguided ?
R osen berg:
Well , they a ll tend LO be who ll y mi sguided , and mos t good
pa in tings a re able to endure these blemi shes. Otherw ise th ey aren 't
very good pa intin gs.
T umin:
But you would di stingui sh good auras from bad auras?
R osenberg:
T ha t's ri ght , I would. But the bad on es are inevitabl e.
T umin:
But a wo rk
~ f
art has a kind of an hi stori ca l accreti o n whi ch
consists o f a ll the comments made abo ut it, a ll the contex ts in whi ch
it has been put, whi ch don 't necessa ril y comment on the goodn ess o r
badness, but onl y specify it as an histo rical obj ect?
R osenberg:
T ha t's ri ght.
T umin:
Is tha t a way of say in g wha t your p rincipa l busin ess is? ]s it
now
to
di scern the current meanings whi ch are bei ng a ttributed
to
a
parti cul a r wo rk o f a rt and to specify them aga inst the bac kground o f
the p revious auras and a ttributi on s?
R osen berg:
Well , no, you 're going too fas t. T he fir st pa rt o f you r
q uesti on seems like a good o ne, and I think one of the thi ngs tha t a
