"The beautiful is always bizarre."
-Charles Baudelaire: French poet, essayist, art critic, and translator
This quotation initially caught my attention with its short, yet powerful message. At first reading, it sounds like Baudelaire is saying that everything that is beautiful is unusual. However, after thinking further I think he is referencing to how things that people find beautiful are uncommon, because whatever is beautiful doesn't show up enough in their life. For instance, people all have different attractions to art. If all art in the world were aesthetically pleasing to everyone, then people would more likely find unappealing art in the visual sense more intriguing because it would be different, out of place, and interesting. My interpretation of Baudelaire's quotation is ultimately that beauty is relative to the viewer, therefore those who do not find whatever the viewer finds beautiful, act as a as a balanced counterpart. This balance acts as a way to make the beauty even more beautiful to the viewer.
Sampling of Baudelaire's Work:
Les Fleurs du Mal (1857)
Les Paradis Artificiels (1860)
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