L'Art, le temps et la metamorphose: Un aspect revolutionnaire de la theorie de l'art d'Andre Malraux [Art, Time and Metamorphosis: A Revolutionary Aspect of Andre Malraux's Theory of Art]

Malraux once wrote that "a work of art is an object, but it is also an encounter with time." This article examines Malraux's explanation of the capacity of art to transcend time. From the Renaissance onwards, the West believed that art transcends time because it is "eternal", "immortal", exempt from time. But "to talk about immortal art given the history of art as we now know it," says Malraux, "is simply a waste of breath." Malraux replaces the idea of immortality with that of metamorphosis. The subject of the relationship between art and the time has been widely neglected by modern philosophers of art. Malraux"s thinking in this respect is revolutionary.