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HIS EVALUATION OF OTHER ARTISTS
William Shakespeare (1564-1616)
"In my opinion the most important success of this great artist is that he perceived what was in the waning and what was about to come into being in a period of social transition, moreover he was aware of a social revolution. They say about him that, 'Shakespeare is an artist who determined the eternal characters of human beings, eternal ambitions, griefs, joys, good and evil in the most perfect form'. I think this statement should be corrected: 'Shakespeare is a great artist who determined the ambitions, characters, etc. that were the products of a historical period which were still trying to survive in the social relations that were phasing out and the characters, ambitions, etc. that were, of course, again, the products of a historical period, not eternal, in the frame of social relations that were about to come'. After putting the argument like this, the greatest lesson and the heritage that a contemporary artist would receive from Shakespeare is 'to establish and make evident the characters and ambitions of the humans who are situated in and determined by today's social conditions, and thus what is passing away and what is about to come'. The characters and ambitions of humans that expressed what was about to come for Shakespeare, are the expression of what is passing away today. There is another lesson and heritage that should be received from Shakespeare: even the most known subjects that have been treated and got worn out may be worked on with a new aspect in terms of content and with a new form that is suitable to this new aspect. In works of art, from dramatic play to poetry, from painting to music, the important thing is not the story. The originality of a work of art should be searched not in the story but in the process of perception, consideration, production and synthesising the story."
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