Tuesday, February 17, 2009

On Modern Art

Concerning the Spiritual In Art:
The Movement of the Triangle by Wassily Kandinsky

"In the search for method, the artist goes still further. Art becomes so specialized as to be comprehensible only to artists, and they complain bitterly of public indifference to their work. For since the artist in such times has no need to say much, but only to be notorious for some small originality and consequently lauded by a small group of patrons and connoisseurs (which incidentally is also a very profitable business for him), there arise a crowd of gifted and skillful painters, so easy does the conquest of art appear. In each artistic circle are thousands of such artists, of whom the majority seek only for some new technical manner, and who produce millions of works of art without enthusiasm, with cold hearts and souls asleep.
Competition arises. The wild battle for success becomes more and more material. Small groups who have fought their way to the top of the chaotic world of art and picture-making entrench themselves in the territory they have won. The public, left far behind, looks on bewildered, loses interest and turns away."


Isn't it refreshing to have a real artist, a pioneer, validate what you feel (most of the time) as you walk through a modern art museum?

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

It is a very interesting view of the role of the art museum especially coming from an artist. The museum as a medium for speaking some transcendant quality the viewing public as opposed as the museum serving as a shrine for the art itself.

Anonymous said...

You guys should watch the movie "MY Kid Could Paint That". It's a documentary about the controversy surrounding abstract/modern art and this little girl named Marla. Her paintings were selling for thousands of dollars before people started to question whether she actually did them or not. The thing I thought was fascinating was that the guy who owned the gallery that showcased her stuff was a photo realist painter. He was being outsold by a four year old abstract artist.

I like the quote, by the way. That's really interesting.
~pammy

Elaine said...

We can watch that movie on netflix, and I've been eyeing it lately. Maybe I'll watch it this weekend. I'm really curious.