Who Is A Good Artist?

Friedrich Nietzsche and the gods of Art

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Have you ever been in a debate about whether an artist is any good (be it a musician, painter, or any other type of artist)?

Famed philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche may be able to help settle these artistic debates. But before figuring out if an artist is any good, Nietzsche would first want us to know who the artists even are. Ultimately, for Nietzsche to be an artist one needs a special, divine-like inspiration.

This essay summarizes who Nietzsche thought the artists truly were and what makes one a good artist.

1. Who is the Apollonian Artist?

Think of the meticulous artist, whose every brush is labeled, and whose every stroke of these organized brushes is calculated. This artist would fall under the type of the Apollonian artist, an artist who is inspired by an energy like that of Apollo, a Greek sun god.

What is common amongst all Apollonian artists is the desire for orderliness, the desire for exactness, wanting clarity, seeking rationality, and the seeking of the beautiful. As a part of the desire for orderliness and exactness, the Apollonian artist seeks to categorize.

We can see the Apollonian artist as being drawn toward the light and wanting to separate light…