„Needless to say, dissenting voices were quick to make themselves heard. An official report was commissioned to assess *The Union of Arts and Industry*. The author of this report, Jacques Fromental Halévy, the famous composer, wrote without hesitation (after quoting the Minister of Public Works):
‘[…] Count de Laborde L…] is particularly keen to demonstrate that art must cease to be a purely aristocratic pleasure; that, on the contrary, it must spread and become accessible to the masses; but that, to this end, it needs to join forces with industry […].’ […]
In our view, this extreme dissemination, this ‘popularisation’, would lead to an inevitable, infallible outcome: the absorption of art by industry.
These words were written nearly two centuries ago. Today, the uniqueness of images – Walter Benjamin’s ‘aura’ – faces growing threats.
Is this fragility irreversible? No one knows.“
Carlo #Ginzburg