Of course. But why limit it to art before 1900? There is chochma in ALL art and culture. Whether that chochma is something we should internalize and apply to our own lives, that an entirely separate question. After all, there was great chochma in the strategic and operational planning of Hitler’s S.S., but that doesn’t mean it was a good thing. The same can be said for just about any aspect of art, culture, or academic study: There is quite a bit of chochma in cubism, pop-entertainment, and critical feminist studies, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that the methods used or conclusions drawn by these “disciplines” are worth emulating or implementing.
