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DISCUSSION: Dr. Robert Bak questioned the concept of a special sensitivity in the audience of the artist. In agreement with Antal, he felt that the artist's public is not homogeneous but is split into various groups. With Gombrich, he wondered how much the 'highbrow' or critic is involved in a narcissistic need to enjoy what is inscrutable to the rest of the world. He felt that the special sensitivity is inapplicable to new art forms where a new language must be learned and mastered. It takes repeated exposure and thought before one can enter the æsthetic illusion.
Dr. Bernard Brodsky felt that the 'communicative power of art' is a problematic concept. He cited material from the lives of Matisse, Beethoven, and Goya, and suggested substituting 'evocative power of art'. He pointed out how easily the æsthetic experience can be deneutralized by narcissistic attitudes. Although the artist may be a hero to his public, when the attitude becomes worshipful, something other than æsthetic appreciation takes place. In a similar vein, an interest in technique such as Kaplan described can become a preoccupation with technique, as in the connoisseur, with further narcissistic implications.