I must speak about what I regard as the mistaken belief that artists who fail to respond to their social, economic, or political circumstances are turning their backs on the world. So far as I am concerned, no artist who has wholeheartedly embraced an artistic tradition and found something personal within that tradition can be condemned to irrelevance. The artist who has struggled with authority and freedom has confronted one of the most basic human predicaments.

Jed Perl, Authority and Freedom: A Defense of the Arts