“The latent conflict between the intellectual and the economic upper class is nowhere openly engaged as yet, least of all by the artists, who, with their less developed social consciousness, react more slowly than their humanistic masters. But the problem, even if it is un-admitted and unexpressed is present all the time and in all places, and the whole intelligenstsia, both literary and artistic, is threatened by the danger of developing either into an uprooted, "unbourgeois", and envious class of bohemians or into a conservative, passive cringing class of academics. The humanists escape from from this alternative into their ivory tower, and finally succumb to both the dangers which they had intended to avoid.” ConflictArtistsEscapismBourgeoisieIntellectualsIvory TowerUprooted Book:The Social History of Art: Volume 2: Renaissance, Mannerism, Baroque Source: The Social History of Art: Volume 2: Renaissance, Mannerism, Baroque
“They were torn by force, on the one hand, and by freedom, on the other, and stood defenseless against the chaos that threatened to destroy the whole order of the intellectual world. In them we encounter for the first time the modern artist with his inward strife, his zest for life and his escapism, his traditionalism and his rebelliousness, his exhibitionistc subjectivism and the reserve with which he tries to hold back the ultimate secret of his personality. From now on the number of cranks, eccentrics, and psychopaths among the artists increases from day to day.” ArtistsPsychopathMannerism Book:The Social History of Art: Volume 2: Renaissance, Mannerism, Baroque Source: The Social History of Art: Volume 2: Renaissance, Mannerism, Baroque