Great art is more than a treat for the eye or atonic for the spirit. Truly great art is an expression of theinnermost soul of a people: an expression of that people's yearningsand ideals, of its deepest hopes and joys, of its meaning andpurpose.
Is there anything which Americans need more todaythan a renewed sense of purpose in their lives? Our forefathers inEurope strove to uplift themselves and their people to new levels ofgreatness. The best of them saw their purpose as the elevation ofman, and they were often able to inspire their fellows with the samefeeling of purpose. In America today there seems to be little, ifany, sense of purpose beyond the individual accumulation of materialwealth and the pursuit of pleasure. This aimlessness has taken anenormous toll, not only in lives destroyed by drugs and alcohol, buteven more in the degeneration of our national life.
Today the great standards which guided us in thepast have been ridiculed, belittled, and torn down. This is true ofart, which in turning to modernism has lost all meaning for theAmerican majority, and it is true of most other aspects of our socialand cultural life. In view of this it is hardly surprising that somany of our young people are leading confusing lives and are lookingto the future without hope.
It need not be this way. We can have standardsagain. We can renew the purpose and meaning in the life of ourpeople. The great art which inspired and guided our forefathers isnot dead. It lives today in the magnificent sculpture of Arno Breker.His art is the living expression of the same spirit which inspiredthe Greeks of the Classical Age and which flowered again during theEuropean Renaissance. It can also inspire Americans in these darkdays and guide them again to the light.
Classical art is the true art of Europe, the trueart of our people. This is why so many great leaders of thepast--Napoleon, for example--took care to instill Classical ideals intheir citizens. This is why they commissioned artists to create artin the Classical tradition for state buildings and public monuments,to serve as a standard and an ideal for the government and for thepeople. They knew that only with great and noble ideals is itpossible for a nation to achieve and maintain greatness.
Greatness is what we want for America. Our heartsyearn for a great culture once again, for great deeds once again, forgreat heroes once again. We yearn for the elevation of our people,for the bringing forth of a higher man: a man of will and purpose andgreatness of spirit. We want our people to glorify the great, thenoble, the beautiful, and the divinely creative onceagain.