politics vs. art

"In 1914 the fabric of Western civilization seemed to be disintegrating. With the First World War raging, Monet was in his garden painting water lilies. His own son was in the war. The front advanced within thirty-five miles of his home. Yet Monet continued to paint the reflections of clouds and willows in the waters of the pond at Giverny.

"To a friend Monet confided that he felt 'ashamed of thinking about little researches into form and color while so many suffered and die.' Though he was old and in failing health, he might have found more immediate ways to express his concern about the state of the world. Instead, while young men died in combat within the borders of his own country, Monet painted water lilies. And the world is richer for him doing so. Those expansive panels of water, flowers, and mirrored sky were probably his greatest and most enduring gift to humanity.

"Politics is fast. By definition, it is public. Art is slow. And it often begins in solitude. In order to give our best gifts to the world, artists must sometimes leave the world behind."

-John Luther Adams