A Study of Gadamer's Conception of Art as Representation

There has always been an enduring relation between art and the concept of representation. In the earliest philosophical contemplations, the concept of representation was taken to be an essential feature of art. However, the advent of new art forms, rendered this theory obsolete. Notwithstanding, Gadamer calls art representational, in the 20th century, when many of art theorists had already conceded to the fact that the theory of art as representation had never been fully comprehensive or took it as insufficient for art. The present paper is an attempt to study Gadamer’s understanding of art as representation, relying on his magnum opus, Truth and Method. The aim of this paper is to give an account of how Gadamer retrieves representation in art and claims the concept of imitation to be sufficient for the theory of art. His attempt results in positing a definition of art beyond subjective consequences of modern aesthetics.