In this blog post, we’ll draw on Hartmann’s theory of layers to explore how the foreground and background of a work of art can lead to a deeper conversation between the viewer and the artist.
Nicolai Hartmann was a German philosopher known for his critical ontology, and is best known for his layered theory of how works of art exist. In his book Aesthetics, Hartmann argued that a work of art is not just sensory and tangible, but a complex structure that includes non-tangible and mental elements.
According to Hartmann, a work of art exists of two main components. First, there is the “foreground,” which is the perceived, tangible material. The foreground is the outward, sensory experience of a work of art, and includes the lines, colors, and shapes that are visible to our eyes. Second, there’s the non-physical, mental connotation of the foreground. The latter is the inner meaning and value of a work of art, the ideological and spiritual content that is conveyed through the work. Hartmann explains that these foregrounds and backgrounds are intimately connected, and that a work of art reveals its existence through the interplay of these two elements.
According to Hartmann’s theory of layers, the foreground of a work of art is composed of layers of sensory, tangible ‘forms’. The rear view, on the other hand, is a layer of non-physical “ideology,” which, unlike the foreground, has a multilayered structure that is subdivided into one to four layers in terms of content. Each layer of the hindsight is organically connected to the other, and each layer influences the next according to the hierarchy of layers. Therefore, the ideological and spiritual hindsight is expressed through the sensory foreground, which reveals the deep meaning and value of the artwork.
To illustrate this with a concrete example, consider a work of art called a portrait. The foreground of a portrait consists of the arrangement of lines and colors that we can see with our eyes, painted in two-dimensional space. Through this foreground, the viewer perceives the external elements of the work. But what Hartmann emphasizes is the process of moving beyond this foreground to the afterimage. The first layer of the after-image is the “exterior material” layer of the depicted figure, which represents the external features of the figure. The second layer is the “life” layer, which includes the person’s movements, facial expressions, etc. that are revealed through the first layer. The third layer is the “psychological” layer, which shows the character and inner destiny of the character through the previous life layer, and finally, the fourth layer is the “spiritual” layer, which reveals the essence of the character, ideology, and significance of the work. Through this multi-layered structure, a work of art goes beyond mere sensory experience to convey the deep inner and spiritual meaning of a character.
Based on this understanding of how a work of art exists, Hartmann redefines the relationship between artist and viewer. The mental world that the artist is trying to express through the artwork is represented by the after-image, which is visualized through the foreground. The viewer is able to access the mental world of the afterimage that the artist is trying to convey through the foreground, and this creates a deep mental dialog between the artist and the viewer. In Hartmann’s view, appreciating a work of art is not just about understanding the sensory layer, but also about going deeper into the mental layer, meeting the artist, interacting with him, and having a dialog with him.
According to Hartmann, appreciating a work of art is more than just looking at it; it is a process in which the viewer actively encounters, communicates, and interacts with the artist’s mental world. In this process, the viewer rediscovers the deeper meaning of the work of art, enriches his or her own spirit, and even creates a second work of art. In this way, the appreciation of a work of art is not simply a pleasure-seeking experience, but an important one in which the viewer discovers new values and achieves spiritual growth. Through this process, Hartmann emphasizes that the viewer should discover the true meaning of a work of art and gain new inspiration from it. For the viewer, appreciating a work of art becomes more than just a pleasure, it becomes an important process that helps them to rediscover the meaning of life and fosters inner growth.
