"The Great 20th Century Art Scam:

The Art Renewal center web page ^ | 2000 | FRED ROSS

[LadyDoc]

Go to link for the long article. And then go to the home page for a source of great art on the internet.

[Maceman]

From The Devil's Dictionary by Ambrose Bierce:

Art, n. This word has no definition. Its origin is related as follows by the ingenious Father Gassalasca Jape, S.J.

One day a wag—what would the wretch be at?—
Shifted a letter of the cipher RAT,
And said it was a god's name! Straight arose
Fantastic priests and postulants (with shows,
And mysteries, and mummeries, and hymns,
And disputations dire that lamed their limbs)
To serve his temple and maintain the fires,
Expound the law, manipulate the wires.
Amazed, the populace that rites attend,
Believe whate'er they cannot comprehend,
And, inly edified to learn that two
Half-hairs joined so and so (as Art can do)
Have sweeter values and a grace more fit
Than Nature's hairs that never have been split,
Bring cates and wines for sacrificial feasts,
And sell their garments to support the priests.

[niteowl77]

All I know is that a lot of hideous crap brought a lot of money to a lot of people who weren't even close to being a patch on the butt of guys like N. C. Wyeth or Howard Pyle ("Horrors! Mere illustrators!").

[john in missouri]

It's becoming increasingly clear that the Emperor (20th century "art") has no clothes -- no substance, no nothing.

[john in missouri]

A few years ago, there was an "artist" who had a "sculpture" prominently on display (in New York, I think) that consisted of 3 layers of fire bricks lying on the floor. Not glued together or anything, just stacked. I believe the name of the sculpture was "Equivalent VII," and it was for sale. The artist wanted something like $300,000 for it.

He was highly offended when some of the public dismissed his magnum opus, referring to them as "cattle" for their lack of sophisticated art taste and appreciation.

This is a true story.

[john in missouri]

[SteamshipTime]

Bump and link to one hell of a speech.

[I_Love_My_Husband]

I'm bookmarking the page and this article. I went there and there was gorgeous art. If you do any more articles on art, please ping me.

[I_Love_My_Husband]

ping

[supercat]

I saw the ARC site a few days ago, and like it very much. I disagree with one of your cited author's points, though, to wit, that "Where-as, all of the great art in history is Art about life." While I would agree that almost all of the great art is about life, and much of the "art about art" is pretty awful, these statements do not always hold true, especially outside the medium of oil painting.

Especially in the medium of instrumental music, many of the great works aren't really "about" anything beyond themselves and the music expressed therein. What is Bach's Tocatta and Fugue in d minor about other than, well, d minor? And what is his Well Tempered Clavier about, other than a demonstration of how to write music to take advantage of the different intervals in a well-tempered scale? I rather like Chopin's Etudes, but am not aware of them being "about" anything in particular (though some of them sound like silent movie music, I don't think they were written for that purpose since the cinematograph had not yet been invented).

[jonascord]

Along the same line, my aunt used to make oil paintings. She was in her '70s, and her vision was not as good as it might have been, and she had zero talent. But, she enjoyed smearing the paints around, and the fact that her 'art' room, (a glassed-in sun porch) was one less to clean up.

I always thought that she was still better than Van Gogh, who's only apparent claim to fame is that he killed himeslf...

In 100 years, will Van Gogh, Monet, Gaughin (sp?) be worth what a bunch of fairies says they were last week?

[TxBec]

>>>For the sake of our children, our culture, and posterity, the Art Renewal Center is dedicated to traditional humanist art, which is essential to the health and welfare of mankind..<<<

I enjoy art. I appreciate art. However, I think the underlined part is going a little overboard.

[Sam Cree]

"In 100 years, will Van Gogh, Monet, Gaughin (sp?) be worth what a bunch of fairies says they were last week?"

Maybe. It's already been more than 100 years since those guys worked and they're still greatly admired. Although contemporary with the Victorian painters, they predate the "moderne" period.

[Paul Atreides]

I know from experience that there are some people who have an intense, obsessive hatred for the traditional. They hate Christianity, traditional values, conservatism, etc. They are petty, bitter, small-minded, bigoted, condescending, arrogant, self-centered, and corrupt.

[x]

William Bouguereau, John William Waterhouse, Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema, Leon L'hermitte, John William Godward, Edward Coley Burne-Jones, Jules Joseph Tissot, and Frederick Lord Leighton

If they were all we had, people would be crying out for Matisse, Kandinsky, Mondrian and the rest of the moderns. Much of modern painting is vile or ugly or vapid. But just as there are other ways of decorating a room than heavy Victorian upholstery and other ways of building houses than Victorian gothic, so there are other ways of painting than ponderous Victorian realism. We would be much poorer without the impressionists, who took painting out into the open air, or Matisse, who brought the spirit of the Mediterranean into his work.

[Billy_bob_bob]

I dare you to look at Renoir's "Bal du moulin de la Goulette" and then tell me that this is worthy of your contempt.

[Billy_bob_bob]

Here's a link to an on-line image of this artwork:

http://perso.club-internet.fr/pyduc/Promenades/musees/orsay/renoir_bal.htm

I look forward to your reply.

[monkey]

The retinal perspective of the Renaissance was understood, but not used, by ancient artists. Picasso, coming out of Lascaux, said "We have invented nothing."

Art changes, it swirls, but it reflects its time. It even peers into the future a bit.

[jonascord]

I think the colors are muddy, the technical ability is poor, the composition is crowded, and if the artist was trying to impart the idea of motion by blurring everything, he failed. If I want so see crowded and blurred, I'll get drunk and go to Times Square on News Years Eve.

Compare this with the Sistine Chapel, and it's sheer skill, scale, and ability to render a stylized world, or Escher's renditions of carefully drafted confusion, and then let's talk about marching in lockstep to the French Impressionists. Question authority. Just who says they were any good?

[jonascord]

Calvin and Hobbes have a great deal to say about art. It's worth reading just for that. Bill Watterson actually studied art, and delighted in shooting holes in the self-aggrandizing pomposity of "modern art".

We are talking here about the direct ancestors of the guy who urinates on a white painted floor and calls it an artistic expression of modern Capitalism, and watches a bunch of idly rich Euro-trash swoon and whip themselves into a sexual frenzy over the 'meaning'.

Sorry, I'll take Wythe and Norman Rockwell...