Have previously written of my opinion that art should be 'life enhancing'. Not that art has to be pretty or chocolate box or that it shouldn't show the darker aspects of humanity (thinking of Goya's horrific images which certainly aren't 'pretty'), but even within his paintings there is a glimmer of life, of hope.
Came across a quote of Albert Camus' which struck me as something similar only much more eloquently and clearly put.
In 1948 Camus spoke at a meeting of intellectuals for peace. This was during the time of Franco's dictatorship in Spain. Quoting from Herbert Lottman's biography of Camus:
'He described the contemporary world of terror, affirmed that art was opposed to such a world. "In an era in which the conqueror, by the very logic of his attitude, becomes executioner and policeman, the artist is forced to be insubordinate...In the face of contemporary political society, the only coherent attitude of the artist ... is refusal without concession." So it is useless to demand justification and commitment of the artist; he is committed, even if against his will. "By his very function, the artist is witness to freedom...." True artists are on the side of life, enemies of no one save the executioners.'
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