Clive Bell creatively raised an aesthetic hypothesis that art was a “significant form”，which he thought to be the basic quality of art. Bell’s aesthetic theory abstracted “form” from art works and put great emphasis on this conception. This theory laid the foundation for the Post-impressionism featuring Cezanne’s works and Cubism featuring Picasso’s works. Although there exists Cartesian circle in the process of proving this theory，it brings about huge innovative force to modern art as it holds that art is not the imitation or representation of the reality and that ultimate aesthetic emotions which transcends emotions of daily life are what art should pursue. Bell’s theory of “form and significance” also applies greatly to Chinese traditional calligraphy，which suggests that the theory not only has creative significance in art，but also bears universal value traversing time and space when combined with art practice. In this sense，Bell’s aesthetic theory has great value for the development of modern art theory and practice.