D'ANGELO, Paolo
Sprezzatura. Concealing the Effort of Art from Aristotle to Duchamp

The essence of art is to conceal art. A dancer or musician does not only need to perform with ability. There should also be a lack of visible effort that gives an impression of naturalness. To disguise technique and feign ease is to heighten beauty. To express this notion, Italian has a word with no exact equivalent in other languages, sprezzatura: a kind of unaffectedness or nonchalance. [publisher’s note] 

Published by Columbia University Press, 2018
Art History / Philosophy / Essays