The classic work on the sublime interplay between the arts and poetics This book explores the rich and complex relationship between art and poetry, shedding invaluable light on what makes each art form unique yet wholly interdependent. Jacques Maritain insists on the part played by the intellect as well as the imagination, showing how poetry has its source in the preconceptual activity of the rational mind. As Maritain argues, intellect is not merely logical and conceptual reason. Rather, it carries on an exceedingly more profound and obscure life, one that is revealed to us as we seek to penetrate the hidden recesses of poetic and artistic activity. Incisive and authoritative, this illuminating book is the product of a lifelong reflection on the meaning of artistic expression in all its varied forms.

The French philosopher’s treatise on the nature of art and poetry includes enlightening critiques of major painters and dialogues with notable writers. Originally published in 1935 with the title Frontières de la Poésie, this work by Jacques Maritain explores the nature and subjectivity of art and poetry. As a philosopher, Maritain attempts to define the two concepts, describing them as virtuous, being primarily concerned with beauty. Rather than focusing on aesthetic theory, Maritain examines his ideas at a more tangible level, including a discussion of how art and poetry are produced. Art and Poetry further develops the principles established in Maritain’s earlier work, Art and Scholasticism, which has deeply influenced contemporary artists. Those concepts are employed here to illuminate the creative works of such diverse artists as Georges Rouault, Marc Chagall, Gino Severini, and Arthur Lourié. Maritain also relates fascinating dialogues with notable authors such as André Gide, Jean Cocteau, and others.

Creative Intuition in Art and Poetry encompasses the six lectures Jacques Maritain delivered as the inaugural lecturer in the A. W. Mellon Lectures in the Fine Arts. The book paints a rich and compelling portrait of both Maritain's own philosophy and the debates surrounding art and meaning in the twentieth century as a whole.