Silvia Boaventura

25FALLPHIL44250- Philosophy of Art

Dr. Sara Bizarro

December 2, 2025

Provocative Art: A Significant Form that Fuels Cultural Transformation

Abstract: Susanne K. Langer’s theory of art from her book “Feeling and Form” emphasizes key ideas about how art influences the public, which may explain how morality and culture shape art appreciation. She offers important insights into how art helps educate feelings that shape individual beliefs, enabling genuine contemplation free of judgment. Gustave Courbet’s masterpiece, “L’Origine du Monde,” continues to challenge social and cultural values by questioning censorship in art and society’s interpretation of female nudity. Susanne K. Langer argues that art evokes emotions, revealing inner perceptions sparked by intuition as individuals experience creative expression. This essay contends that art can transform society by exposing emotions through our perception as we engage with imaginative works. These feelings may cause discomfort due to accepted moral norms. In this way, art encourages groundbreaking social debates about our ethical standards.

This paper will (1) briefly present Courbet’s painting and examine how it still influences society today, (2) introduce key ideas from Susanne K. Langer’s book “Feeling and Form,” focusing on her theory about the implications of art experience for the public, and (3) conclude by analyzing whether Langer’s explanation of how art affects the public sufficiently justifies the reactions some people have when confronting Courbet’s painting.

Section I– Gustave Courbet- L’Origine du Monde

The French painter Gustave Courbet (1819-1877) was a pioneer of the Realism movement, which marked the beginning of Modern Art. This controversial artist was politically engaged and among the first painters in France to depict the everyday lives of working-class people in his artwork (Nochilin 74). Courbet was a self-taught artist known for his precise techniques and realistic paintings. He sharply criticized academic standards and scholars’ traditions. Today, one of his most debated works is L’Origine du Monde (1866). The detailed and realistic painting, with an umber color palette and refined strokes, depicts only the vulva and torso of a naked woman in bed. This masterpiece has consistently challenged socio-cultural values by questioning censorship in art and the outrage that female nudity and sexuality still provoke in many viewers today. Equivocally, to some, the female sexual organ symbolizes objectified sexual desire.

The painting was commissioned by Khalil Bey (1831-1879), an Egyptian aristocrat connected to the Napoleonic dynasty, who lived mostly in Paris (Youssef 43). In 1955, the Lacan family acquired the painting. Khalil displayed the painting in his private bathroom, and the psychoanalyst Jacques Lacan kept it in his countryside house’s private office. Lacan would have covered the vulva in the painting and, in a ceremonial manner, unveiled it to provoke surprise in the viewers (Guillaumin 192). The painting entered the Musée d’Orsay in 1995 (Musée d’Orsay). Until then, this masterpiece had rarely been seen. 

Contemporary and conceptual artist Deborah de Robertis (1984) has incorporated L’Origine du Monde into some of her performances, sparking two debates: (1) the exploitation of the female body in the art world and (2) how extreme artistic activism can push boundaries to raise awareness about an issue. Robertis’s works aim to change society’s gaze (the way people interpret art) of “great masterpieces”, where the feminine body is merely an objectified model (Robertis). By challenging society’s gaze on the female body, Robertis’s provocative art performances encourage us to question the moral values that position women’s bodies and intellect in society.  The erotic motif of L’Origine du Monde’s impact on the public has played a crucial role in questioning the emancipation of women in Western society. 

Audre Lorde argues that patriarchal society diminishes women’s erotic power by associating it with dirty pornography, which causes cognitive distress for women. Consequently, the negative social gaze on female nudity in art reflects patriarchal moral dominance, aiming to reduce women’s erotic power to increase economic and sociocultural control (Lorde 56). In this context, the female sexual organ symbolizes objectified sexual desire. L’Origine du Monde’s subject challenges some viewers’ ability to engage with the artwork. Furthermore, the subject can represent the male dominance mentality where the female body is a symbol of forbidden desire.

Section II– Susanne K. Langer

Artwork as a symbolic language is a central concept in the art theory of American philosopher Susanne K. Langer. According to Langer, in the framework of what is art, there are the “studio standpoint” and the “audience standpoint” of views. The former involves artists shaping thoughts and displaying them through symbolic language, a medium (painting, sculpture, architecture, music, dance, literature, drama, and film) that discursive language cannot convey (Langer 392). The latter is the process where the viewer interacts with the artwork, not the artist. Through perception, the viewer grasps the artwork’s significance (the essence of art), which then sparks emotional responses (p. 24). These feelings can range from simple to complex emotions. In her book, Langer mainly focuses her analysis on the studio standpoint. Nevertheless, she argues that an art symbol is made to be presented to others. A work of art has an audience and “social intent.” In other words, art is made for other people to experience; in theory, it has a public. An artwork’s level of engagement determines the status of its significance (Langer 392). Langer offers interesting insights into the importance of art for an individual: works of art serve as agents that teach feelings, and, through intuition, not judgment, viewers perceive them. By experiencing art, one can better understand oneself and others, becoming more receptive to the diversity of thought and to the recognition of beauty in reality.

The studio

Langer introduces several key ideas when analyzing artwork from the “studio standpoint.” Art is an expression of emotive life. Expression includes anything—gestures, drawings, rhythms, texts—that clearly invites reflection. Artistic symbols convey ideas of feelings that evoke emotions. Langer refers to this as “the language of feelings” (Langer 31). Clive Bell coined the term “significant form”, which describes how lines and colors are combined in visual art, from which aesthetic emotions originate (Langer 32). Langer applies this concept of forms broadly to artworks. She asserts that artistic form bears feelings. The artist uses techniques (craft) to create an artwork that is first imagined and then realized. Forms with content or significance carry import (p. 52). Powerful art possesses a clear significance that the viewer’s intuition can perceive and feel. Therefore, Langer emphasizes the importance of surrounding ourselves with impactful art (Langer 59). As individuals surround themselves with quality art, their capacity to feel is developed and refined to better understand art. 

According to Langer, for an artist to create (or articulate form), they must manifest the artwork’s realm of illusion (virtual impression), a space separate from reality, which is the art’s own domain. Transparency represents this realm of illusion within art; it is where the art is conveyed. The art then needs to be shaped to express what was once envisioned. Langer explains that “the gestalt of living experience guides its author in creating it” (Langer 60). From a “studio standpoint,” artists use their entire being to develop and show an idea of felt life through a medium that does not inherently possess those emotions. Contemplating an artwork often leads to an unfamiliar emotional response (Langer 39). Good art makes its realm clear to its audience.

The Audience

In the introduction of her book, Langer argues that, by bringing new experiences, the role of artistic symbols influences norms and inspires new ideas. She claims that art “motivates and dictates conventions” and sparks “insight” (Langer p. viii). Art is not created for a particular public. Artwork is entirely subjective to the viewer. It is a given idea that relies on the viewer’s imagination to grasp it. For that, the viewer must perceive the art without judgment to genuinely feel what is presented. One must be responsive to art, and the beauty resides in its expressiveness (its eloquence). In this way, the artistic feeling belongs to the viewer, not to the art or the artist (p. 395). In addition, the artist is not saying or suggesting anything when presenting their work; they show the appearance of feelings in a perceptible symbolic projection (Langer 394). This expression offers the viewer an opportunity to recognize genuine emotion rather than judge the art itself by seeking motifs to justify any joy in the experience.

Once the viewer dismisses any judgment and stops trying to understand the artwork as a symbol conveying direct content, and instead sees it as an expression with original emotional value, they can enter a contemplative state that can lead to the arousal of one or more feelings. The impression of events that an artistic form produced in reality liberates perception and with it the power of conception (p 49). Those experienced feelings serve as indicators of good or powerful art.

Langer argues that art stimulates intuitive activity that cannot be taught but can be practiced without intellectual judgment.This way, good art is subjective to the connection between the clear significance an art form holds and the viewer’s intuitive ability to grasp art’s import when in a contemplative state of mind. It can then be said that all art is beautiful, once beauty is an expressive form (p 396). To illustrate, beauty can be found in tragedy, terror, hope, or love. Beauty in art reflects everything that is poetic in life. Maya Angelou’s poem, “Still I Rise,” is beautiful, even when it speaks about the oppression black Americans have endured for centuries in their own homeland. The poem’s content, words, and rhymes evoke a range of feelings, including sadness, anger, pride, and courage. Then, it makes us question racial injustice.

What does art do to us? The intensity with which the power of an artwork is perceived is directly related to the viewer’s mental capability to sense its significance. Art does not directly influence one’s attitudes or temperament. Art triggers imagination and feelings. Langer states that “it clarifies and organizes intuition” (p 397). Even when art does not require intellectual reasoning to be experienced, it can unveil and stimulate intellectual fulfilment. This fulfillment comes when contemplating art as a whole. To contemplate art, one must let go of all other thoughts and allow the artistic experience to engage with one’s full attention. Like when an audience is completely submerged in listening to a classical music concert. Langer argues that art fills society with aesthetic values (p 399). Art experiences influence how we shape reality.

We assign narratives to our life events, and art directly influences them. Throughout history, numerous examples show how art has helped shape an era. Inthe Attempt at a Self-Criticism section from Friedrich Nietzsche’s second edition of his first book, “The Birth of Tragedy,” he explains that he wrote the book inspired by Greek culture and philosophy and intrigued by their art and joyfulness (Nietzsche. 3). In the book’s preface, which he dedicates to the musician and philosopher Richard Wagner, he argues that art is “[…] the supreme task and the truly metaphysical activity of this life […]” (Nietzsche 13). Lange explains that art infiltrates one’s innermost life because it conveys human nature. Doing so, art shapes one’s feelings, which are directly connected with one’s existence. Art is experienced and experience itself is built in memory and fuels imagination. The influence of art on one’s cognition begins in infancy (401). This way, art educates our feelings, creates memories, and inspires creativity.

Langer differentiates intellectual reasoning from artistic abilities. The former is logical and is related to analytical thinking. The latter concerns educating feelings. The philosopher argues that emotional training is not related to social morality, yet emotional education arises from intimate interaction with artwork (p 401). However, it is important to notice the quality of the artwork that a person interacts with. Corrupted art is made to amuse; it is superficial and excessively sentimental. According to Langer, art of this level emotionally weakens the ordinary mind (p. 402). This way, bad art corrupts consciousness.

Langer explains that when religious imagination once dominated society, religion inspired art. Art served religion, and religious imagination fueled art. However, as religion lost its imagination and became more descriptive—becoming a normative, indifferent, systematic, and dull institution—believers started seeking art and emotion elsewhere. When art is freed from religion, other influences begin to shape it. Today, religion allows for bad, uncreative art, justified by the claim that this shallow art aligns more with mainstream tastes, unlike the distant beauty of past Madonnas. There is no inspiration, only poor copies (p 404). After art separated from religion, it became less visible and lacked a dedicated space, leading to the rise of museums. Langer criticizes the fact that there are too many artworks in museums, and that people might not visit them often enough. Nonetheless, architecture plays a vital role in bringing art into public spaces. Langer emphasizes the importance of artwork in public spaces, once the “felt life” is part of society’s culture and helps shape reality. To her, a society without art is a culture in decline. Art teaches people about their own emotions and helps build values. Some of these beliefs can be questioned and changed, influencing societal development. Overall, art helps people understand life. 

Section III– Conclusion

Langer’s explanation of how art influences the public sheds light on the moral outrage that arises when confronting certain artworks. Courbet’s painting, L’Origine du Monde, is a powerful artwork that has inspired artists such as Marcel Duchamp and Agnès Thurnauer (Guillaumin 194). L’Origine du Monde is an erotic painting linked to debates on objectified sensual desire and its taboo. According to Langer, art educates feeling, builds memory through experience, creates narratives, and enhances creativity. Society’s ability to contemplate art serves as a mirror for understanding where its culture stands. By doing so, it brings moral debates and insights to new approaches that create novel narratives shaping reality.

Langer argues that when people engage with creative media, perception can evoke pleasure, displeasure, or no feeling at all. Without art, society loses its creativity and becomes purely rational, indifferent, and standardized. Appreciating art requires courage, as it can trigger unexpected emotions, and this challenge helps us understand the motives behind those feelings and find ways to work through them, opening doors to new perspectives on reality. For that, we need to put aside judgment in order to contemplate the beauty in art forms. Art is an integral part of society’s culture. Provocative art challenges society, sparks debate, and that is why it should be displayed in the streets, in museums, in schools, and made accessible to the public so they can see, feel, imagine, then reason, and change their behavior as society evolves.

Citations

Guillaumin, Dominique. Lacan Exposition. Gallimard, Centre Pompidou-Metz. L.E.G.O, Italie, 2025

Langer, Susanne K. Felling and Form. Charles Scribner’s Sons. New York, 1953

Lorde, Audre. Sisters Outsider, Essays and Speeches. Crossing Press, 2005

Musée d’Orsay, “L’Origine du Monde”. https://www.musee-orsay.fr/en/artworks/lorigine-dumonde-69330 Last visited November 10th, 2025.

Nochlin, Linda. “The De-Politicization of Gustave Courbet: Transformation and Rehabilitation under the Third Republic.” October, vol. 22, 1982, pp. 65–78. JSTOR, https://doi.org/10.2307/778363. Accessed 27 Oct. 2025.

Nietzsche, Friedrich. Birth of Tragedy. Translated by ShaunWhiteside, edited by Michael Tanner. Pinguin Books, England, 2003

Prideaux, Sue. I am Dynamite! A Life of Nietzsche. Tim Durggan Books. NYC, 2018

Robertis, Deborah de. “Eye to Eye”. https://eye-to-eye.online/deborah-de-robertis/ Last visited November 10, 2025

Youssef, Ahmed. L’Origine Du Monde De Coubert, Un Destin Égyptien. Lyre de Mercure. Paris, France, 2025