"The usual difficulty with the observer of modern art is that he does not inquire patiently and sincerely concerning the 'meaning' of a work of art which strikes him as grotesque, distorted or eccentric (in another word, unintelligible), but, by a sort of symbolic thought-process, recognizes its unrecognizability and thus thwarts any possible further intelligent interest or ultimate enjoyment. It is as if, in a crowd, seeking someone we knew and, looking into each strange face, we should recognize its unrecognizability and pass it by as irrelevant to our quest. This would be a perfectly natural procedure under the circumstances; but in art we are not looking for something we already know; we are looking for a new experience whose value and quality are unknown to us. In such a case to permit unrecognizability to be a barrier is to condemn ourselves to a life of monotony, without the thrills of discovery, insight and 'conversion.'"
- Edward. F. Rothschild, "The Meaning of Unintelligibility in Modern Art," 1934.
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