The Crisis of the Easel Picture

The easel painting, the movable picture hung on a wall, is a unique product of the West, with no real counterpart else-where. Its form is determined by its social function, which is precisely to hang on a Wall. To appreciate the uniqueness of the easel picture, we have only to compare its modes of unity with those of the Persian miniature or the Chinese hanging painting, neither of which matches it in independence of the requirements of decoration. The easel picture subordinates decorative to dramatic effect. It cuts the illusion of a box-like cavity into the wall behind it, and within this, as a unity, it organizes three-dimensional semblances. To the extent that the artist flattens out the cavity for the sake of decorative patterning and organizes its content in terms of flatness and frontality, the essence of the easel picture-which is not the same thing as its quality-is on the way to being compromised.