One paints a painting...

Adorno states that "One paints a painting, not what it represents" (3). A painting is more than just its aesthetic layer of pretty colors and strokes. One cannot fully understand a painting just by looking at the top layer. He also says, "The Hegelian vision of the possible death of art accords with the fact that art is a product of history" (3). Art is also "a product of history," as he states, and its meaning and 'bottom layer' become less discernible as a piece get older; what it represents fades with time. Eventually, it could become just the painting, only good for its aesthetic values.