About | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline
LOG IN
LOG IN

3 Pub. Space: J. L. & Soc. Just. 1 (2009)

handle is hein.journals/pubspac3 and id is 1 raw text is: ART, ACTUALLY! THE COURTS AND THE IMPOSITION OF TASTE Dr Marett Leiboff' A prelude, in the form of two snapshots How do we read art, at least in law? The traditional approach of the courts has been to disavow, or at least avoid any discussion on matters of aesthetics or connoisseurship, or more accurately assert such a disavowal. Because whether the courts acknowledge it or not, they actively judge art, even when they say they don't. Judging art by judges, as we will see, is not a particularly edifying spectacle, but is it better for the courts to avoid judging art? In this article, I will explore what happens when the courts grapple with the problem of judging art, but to begin, I would like to ask you to look at two snapshots of judicial entanglements with art in the form of extracts from the case law. Snapshot One: A mass ofjunk Harcourt J in Re Pinion: It was said that this is a matter of taste, and de gustibus non est disputandum2 but here I agree with the judge that there is an accepted canon of taste on which the court must rely, for it has itself no judicial knowledge of such matters, and the unanimous verdict of the experts is as I 1 University of Wollongong. 2 There is no translation in the original judgment. The phrase translates as 'There can be no dispute about taste'. Public Space: The , o ,,a o Law aiid Social Justice (2009) Vol 3, Art 1, pp 1-23

What Is HeinOnline?

HeinOnline is a subscription-based resource containing thousands of academic and legal journals from inception; complete coverage of government documents such as U.S. Statutes at Large, U.S. Code, Federal Register, Code of Federal Regulations, U.S. Reports, and much more. Documents are image-based, fully searchable PDFs with the authority of print combined with the accessibility of a user-friendly and powerful database. For more information, request a quote or trial for your organization below.



Short-term subscription options include 24 hours, 48 hours, or 1 week to HeinOnline.

Purchase Access

Contact us for annual subscription options:

Contact Us

Already a HeinOnline Subscriber?

Log In

profiles profiles most