The artist is to be exempt from the moral laws that are binding on ordinary people. Just pronounce the magic word "Art," and everything is O.K. Rotting corpses with snails crawling over them are O.K.; kicking little girls in the head is O.K.; even a film like L'Age d'Or is O.K.

The Collected Essays, Journalism, and Letters of George Orwell: As I please, 1943-1945 (ed. 1968)