Any authentic work of art must start an argument between the artist and his audience.

West’s remark frames “authentic” art as inherently provocative rather than merely decorative or consoling. By “argument” she suggests a dynamic, even adversarial exchange: the artist asserts a vision, and the audience resists, questions, or is forced to revise its assumptions. The friction is not a flaw but a sign of seriousness—art that matters disrupts complacency and demands interpretation, moral reckoning, or aesthetic re-education. In this view, agreement or immediate pleasure is not the primary test of value; the work’s capacity to generate sustained debate, disagreement, and self-examination is. West’s formulation also implies that the audience is an active participant, completing the work through response and contestation.