Italy and Germany also had nationalistic governments, and there were a lot of similarities among them. With nationalists winning, Germany and Italy had allies in Europe, and a counter-balance to Great Britain and France. Also, they believed that this could stop the spread of communism to other parts of Europe. Strategically, a nationalistic government was a benefit for the German and Italian regimes of the time.
We learn behaviors, attitudes and any other aspects of our culture through domestic education in early childhood. Most forms are accepted at that age, even unconscious. Upgrading is done later, through life, through education, self-education, personal interests of the hobby. What is embedded in an early childhood is necessarily manifest later in life. Children can learn through different stories, later through schooling, lectures, but the most important thing is what children see, as the actions of adults, in the first place, parents, later teachers, the environment, the dominant social group, friends, employers, etc. Everyone can say that he adopts what he hears and what he learns, but what comes out of the subconscious as a pattern is what we see around us.
Answer:
The comment given by Mr. Thomas Hoving is an indicative of an art world prejudice that set less importance on functional objects. And he is giving more relevancy to the paint than the ancient greek terra cotta vase, and is more than obvious that both aspects of the object are important.