Imperfection as a Common Key in Art & Life

Life isn’t perfect. That’s been made pretty obvious lately. It’s also never static, but always changing. If we’ve been struck hard by these facts, maybe it would be a bit encouraging to take a look at some art that accepts and makes something positive out of them.

This underlying theme of the fleeting and imperfect nature of life may be one reason why Impressionist art is still appreciated by many ordinary people. Though contemporary artists may feel that it’s passé, cliché, or just too positive for jaded sensibilities or the current horrific state of the world. However, viewed as a counter to these feelings, Impressionist paintings remain the art par excellence of the everyday and, at a deeper level, of the ephemeral and ineffable experience of lives as they are passing - necessarily imperfect, never finished. You could think of it as a western expression of the Zen admonition to live and stay focused in the present as much as possible.

At the time it arose Impressionism was revolutionary, misunderstood, and usually condemned - essentially for what people interpreted as its lack of seriousness. Paintings were often criticized for shoddy craft and being left unfinished. But eventually we’ve come to see it in a very different light (pardon the pun). And as - perhaps - a beacon of the normal, pleasant, moment-by-moment experience that life can sometimes, at its best, be.

Let’s watch the youtube below (a historically based slide-show of Impressionist paintings with explanatory narration ~13 mins). Then we can discuss whether we think it’s serious art, or not? And whether its depiction of ordinary people captured in the unconscious living of their lives is worthy subject matter?

The Case for Impressionism
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_tw51Eh9vcw

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In the following guest essay, concert pianist Jonathan Biss surprisingly argues against perfection & idealization in classical music performance … and in life.

“True perfection is an illusion, just as true safety is an illusion. Seeking perfection keeps us from exploring, even when we sense that we would be happier and more fulfilled if we did so. It makes us live smaller lives and stymies our creativity, both as individuals and as a society. It is the enemy of art.”

I’m a Concert Pianist. This is Why I Seek Imperfection.
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/11/29/opinion/pianist-music-performance-perfection.html
(the NYT can be accessed via online resources in any local library system)

~Michael