When did we stop being awed by realism in visual art?
When the camera was invented and realism was within easy reach. Before that visual artists who were technically adept were gods. I think we are trying to reproduce that admiration by again showing off our technical skills as artists but it is failing somewhat flat.
Realistic art may or may not be rendered by hand or a machine and drawn or painted over and called mixed media. No one can tell anymore.
And is it really important to be that technically correct in these times. It’s as if we are regressing and not progressing.
If an artwork is done by hand solely it is never perfect, there are tell tale signs where the hand slipped.
As Leonard Cohen sang, “the light is in the cracks”, the unconscious slip ups of the hand in the artworld is what makes art beautiful and mysterious.
Like music, I’ve heard terrible musicians from a technical standpoint, write a beautiful piece of music, and heard highly skilled musicians write something that I guess they thought was musical but was really just them showing off how knowledgeable they were.
So when you look at visual art, especially painting don’t let technical virtuosity cloud your enjoyment and reception of a piece. Carravago is no more moving than Gustav Klimt and maybe even less beautiful.
So I am hoping we get past oohing over realistic art, where each strand of hair is painted on a woman’s head with a 0.05 paintbrush, and go back to appreciating art that moves you emotionally, sensually or titillates your imagination, regardless of how technically correct.
When the camera was invented and realism was within easy reach. Before that visual artists who were technically adept were gods. I think we are trying to reproduce that admiration by again showing off our technical skills as artists but it is failing somewhat flat.
Realistic art may or may not be rendered by hand or a machine and drawn or painted over and called mixed media. No one can tell anymore.
And is it really important to be that technically correct in these times. It’s as if we are regressing and not progressing.
If an artwork is done by hand solely it is never perfect, there are tell tale signs where the hand slipped.
As Leonard Cohen sang, “the light is in the cracks”, the unconscious slip ups of the hand in the artworld is what makes art beautiful and mysterious.
Like music, I’ve heard terrible musicians from a technical standpoint, write a beautiful piece of music, and heard highly skilled musicians write something that I guess they thought was musical but was really just them showing off how knowledgeable they were.
So when you look at visual art, especially painting don’t let technical virtuosity cloud your enjoyment and reception of a piece. Carravago is no more moving than Gustav Klimt and maybe even less beautiful.
So I am hoping we get past oohing over realistic art, where each strand of hair is painted on a woman’s head with a 0.05 paintbrush, and go back to appreciating art that moves you emotionally, sensually or titillates your imagination, regardless of how technically correct.
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