The more I take part in art-related charity events, the more clearly I see that they are driven by almost anything but beauty. At best, the motivation is purely utilitarian: to alleviate economic hardship or physical suffering. At worst, art becomes a vehicle for vanity - a display of power and wealth, a way to flatter patrons' egos, or simply an antidote to boredom.

In these settings, the artwork itself quickly fades into the background. People talk about worthy causes and the amounts raised, but almost never about what they actually see in front of them. A painting is purchased for the symbolic function it is expected to serve.

When Beauty Has to Be "Useful"

In these contexts, a work of art becomes a means to some other end. Artworks are purchased not for the power of their expression or their intrinsic value, but for the causes and narratives they are expected to serve.

If you cannot see value in a work of art for its own sake and need to justify buying it, then you should not buy it - and you certainly should not pretend that doing so is somehow "helping" the artist or society.

The problem is that, at some point, beauty ceases to be enough. An artwork is no longer allowed simply to exist. It must save, explain, represent, or serve a practical purpose - and that is precisely when it loses its autonomy. Its value begins to be measured by how well it fits the approved context.

The Crisis of Contemplation

As a result, although such events may successfully raise funds to meet basic human needs, they also inadvertently distance us from our higher, spiritual needs. By constantly filtering everything through the lens of crisis, they reinforce our fixation on economic and material deprivation while entirely ignoring spiritual poverty.

We are gradually losing the ability to look at beauty without feeling compelled to explain its usefulness. Contemplation begins to seem unnecessary, even uncomfortable, while the artwork itself is expected to justify its own existence.

All of this contributes to an unjustifiable inflation of prices alongside a decline in "quality." What gets purchased is not the most powerful work, but the most socially acceptable - the work that best serves a particular context or moral position.

The Right to Be an End in Itself

Philanthropy and the public good can be wonderful by-products of art, but they should never become its primary driving force. Beauty does not need to justify itself. And perhaps, today, that is precisely where its greatest value lies.