No sooner do I write a post on critiques, and I get this great story forwarded to me.
Thanks to Eric Endres for this.
Polyclitus, the famous sculptor in ancient Greece, once sculpted two statues at the same time: one in his living room, in public view, and one in his
bedroom, which he worked on privately and kept wrapped in a tarpaulin. When visitors came by, they would comment on the public work, saying,
"The eyes aren't quite right" or "That thigh is too long," and Polyclitus would incorporate their suggestions. All the while, however, he kept
the other statue a secret. Both works were completed at about the same time and were mounted in the city square in Athens. The statue that had
been designed by committee was openly mocked and ridiculed. The statue he'd done by himself was immediately proclaimed a transcendental work
of art. People asked Polyclitus, "How can one statue be so good and the other so bad?" And Polyclitus answered, "Because I did this one (the secret statue) and you did that one."
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