Hmmm. Twentieth century art is plenty beautiful. What're the odds that the Venus in Exile author made the same error that the author of Surprised by Beauty: A Listener's Guide to the Recovery of Modern Music did, mistaking pretty for beautiful? No, twentieth century art is not pretty, though by now, a lot of it is familiar enough to be pretty. But that's always the same. No self-respecting serious artist wants to be merely pretty. Beauty is the goal. And if you think Johns and Boulez and Fluxus and the Oulipo crowd aren't beautiful, well, you've made the same mistake!