Walter Benjamin was wrong about the "Work of Art . . ."

This week Laurie Taylor talked about Walter Benjamin on his BBC program Thinking Allowed.

A few years ago I read a complaint from a recent graduate in the U. of Chicago in the alumni magazine that he was assigned "The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction" in three different classes.  I too had to read that work for at least two classes, once in my PhD program at the University of Utah and the other while attempting to get an MFA in creative writing.

Even at the time of my first reading back in 1986, I questioned some of Benjamin's claims, especially this one:  "that which withers in the age of mechanical reproduction is the aura of the work of art." By "aura" Benjamin meant a work's authenticity, the traditions and energy of its creation (which may have a religious or in some way worshipful source).  "By making many reproductions it substitutes a plurality of copies for a unique existence."    Thus, a work's aura, its authenticity, becomes less important once the work itself can be reproduced.

I questioned this claim the first time I read it and then came to believe that Benjamin was clearly wrong when the when the Portland Art Museum brought Titian's La Bella to Stumptown in November, 2011.  A short commercial produced for the museum uses language that treats the painting like a touring celebrity:  "straight from Florence, Italy for her only West Coast appearance."  Titian himself is called "the most celebrated artist of Renaissance Venice."  Going to visit this painting is considered a far more exciting experience than just looking at the perfect online reproduction.   As The Art Newspaper reports, art museums around the world still experience significant attendance each year of people wanting to see the originals.

I believe that reproductions have actually increased the aura (and appeal) of original works of art.   A further example of the celebrity of the Old Masters is this wonderful "flashmob" video from the Rijksmuseum of Amsterdam.  The painting "The Company of captain Frans Banning Cocq and lieutenant Willem van Ruytenburch preparing to march out"  by Rembrandt may be seen at the Rijksmuseum's website.