Finding a painting beautiful is not the same as endorsing its history. The elegance of a Rococo garden may coexist with court privilege; silk in a colonial portrait may depend on global trade and coerced labour. Pleasure does not excuse these relations, yet criticism need not forbid pleasure.nnA mature gaze can hold two thoughts at once: ‘this colour and rhythm move me’ and ‘whom does this image’s world exclude?’ Questioning beauty does not destroy it.
Seeing the labour and power behind the surface makes aesthetic experience deeper and more honest.
