Why are you beautiful to me!
What is the standard that distinguishes beauty from ugliness?
Art historian Lee Yeon-sik's aesthetic essays

The recently released film "Face" is a story about a woman with an ugly face.
Ultimately, the film speaks to social prejudice, but it also raises the question of what determines what is ugly or beautiful.

"Why Is This Beautiful and That Ugly?" is an introductory book to aesthetics that delves into what humanity has considered beautiful or ugly, what factors have influenced those judgments, and how beauty becomes art and establishes itself as a work of art.
By exploring beauty through questions that can be asked in everyday life with art historian Lee Yeon-sik, who is dedicated to delving into the depths of art, you will come to understand what beauty is, how art reveals beauty, and even discover the beauty hidden in your own daily life.

The paintings called Wang Zhaojun, Yang Guifei, and Xi Shi are not actual portraits of them, but rather 'portraits of beauties.'
The portrait of a beautifier is the ideal of beauty.
It is both typical and fantastic.

--- p.22

Without individual beauty, there can be no absolute standards.
So, can we say that the standards of beauty that cannot help but depend on individual things are 'absolute'?
--- p.29

The story that the ideal beauty was drawn by gathering various beauties means, in other words, that the standard of beauty was derived from a specific beauty.
Meanwhile, the story of Pygmalion shows that ideal beauty breeds obsession.

--- p.34

There has been a constant debate over whether beauty is a biological instinct or a cultural product.
Biologically, the standards of beauty are simple.
However, it is desirable that the standard of beauty be diverse.
It's just like it's good for various values ​​to coexist socially.

--- p.42

The reason why the nude bodies depicted in medieval European art feel more naked than naked is because artists gave the nude body a negative meaning.

--- p.62

Seeing is a right, and the fight to expand or control that right has been relentless.
The body was the space where such battles took place.
The body was the starting point of beauty, and beauty was a struggle from the very beginning.
--- p.77

In religion, beauty is expressed in two ways.
Sometimes, the god is depicted in a beautiful form, and sometimes the space where the god is worshipped is decorated beautifully.

--- p.85

What classicism learned from ancient culture and art was rigorous and balanced beauty.
In contrast, Romanticism sought to break away from norms and institutions and freely reveal the inner self of human beings.

--- p.95

We must examine not only our attraction to ugly things, but also our attraction to demonic beings.
The image of the devil as portrayed by humans has gradually changed over time.
The devil has transformed into an attractive figure.
It also gives off a strangely flexible and alluring feeling.

--- p.125

There is no right or wrong when it comes to aesthetic judgment.
But in many stories, we see people sharing or imposing their aesthetic judgments on others.
--- p.148

Taste ultimately becomes a question of power.
Because people or groups in power can force their tastes on other people or groups.
--- p.157

Wabi-sabi is the beauty felt when looking at things like old, worn-out buildings or crudely made dishes.
Something that is not flashy and fleeting.
It is not a beauty that is clearly revealed and overwhelming, but rather a beauty that is naturally formed and permeates.

--- p.168

Aesthetics is the study of beauty in everyday feelings and emotions.
As such, it is closely related to art.
In other words, aesthetics followed because there was art.

--- p.209

Answers and questions are matters of process, and art is about process.
To understand art, you must understand the process.
You must be able to savor, observe, and experience the process.

--- p.230

Art is play.
Art is a means of conveying ideology, an object to focus on, a model of beauty, the activity of pursuing beauty itself, and a means of conveying noble or vulgar values.

--- p.241

Criticism is based on theory, but on the other hand, criticism is the development of taste, the application of taste, and the expression of taste.
The very concept of taste is logically inconsistent.
Simply put, there is no reason to like or dislike it.
Criticism is the process of explaining the reasons for one's likes and dislikes and helping readers or viewers understand a work of art.
--- p.277

Art is made up of creation and enjoyment.
Enjoyment is the final stage of creation.
Creations are evaluated, consumed, and ultimately follow the audience.
The work is completed by the audience, and creation is completed by enjoyment.
Ultimately, the basis of creation is discernment and taste.

--- p.310