About Taste

There is no arguing about tastes. But "the sense of taste is neither a gift of nature nor a work of art." It requires daily practice to develop, to gain sophistication, and to distinguish what is not just something that attracts attention with novelty, but what has timeless value. Taste is a skill acquired in the right environment: in an environment of sparkling trinkets, one can only develop a "low" taste that does not require intellectual effort to discern value. And by cultivating the habit of finding beauty where it does not "shout," drawing attention to itself, but waits to be discovered in silence, sophistication of taste will arise. It is this sophistication that allows one to enjoy the beauties of nature and the works of art created centuries ago.

Undoubtedly, the reissue of Gérard's book "About Taste" even more than 200 years later will be timely and relevant, reminding the Reader of eternal values that teach one to discover within oneself and to use the instinct of quality.