I was up early this morning and so I finished a VANITY FAIR article (Wall Street's Near-Death Experience) about the almost collapse of Wall Street in September 2008. I enjoyed this article because it showed how fucked up the system really is. While I would like to write about the article today, Saturday is for art, so, I will table that thought and talk about art.
Many years ago I was interested in the philosophy of history, known as historiography. When historians write a history, they use several types of sources. There are primary and secondary sources, and for me there is art. Yes, art as a source for social and intellectual history. No, I am not talking about a history of art or a history of painting, but rather the use of art objects to interpret history. Without going into specific examples, there are many paintings over the centuries that make this point by their acceptance or rejection and by the noise they created about them. If we just take the 20th century and look at art from the early part of the 1900s to what art became by 1950 and continued to evolve to in the last decades of the 20th century, we see huge changes even within the works of say a particular artist, like Picasso. From Picasso in the early 1900s, to my "favorite" ,Ellsworth Kelly several years later, we see a huge movement. Even if we limit the discussion to American artists working at home or abroad, the range of styles and work mimics the speed that society changed during that 100 years. I find it fascinating and I believe it speaks to the changes that took place during the 20th century. I can think of no other 100 year period that changed so much, in my opinion. In another 100 years, it would be interesting to see how the art of the 20th century relates to the art of the 21st century, just as the art of the 20th century relates to the art of the 19th century and so on going back to the beginning, drawings and paintings on the walls of caves.
POPULAR MESSIAH, acrylic on paper envelope.
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6 comments:
I wish I could come back in a hundred years, and witness this evolution.
Very well written post, as always.
Thank you. If you look at just paintings in Europe from 1800 to 1899, and then 1900 to 1999, you see what I am getting at. Technology accelerated the change in art, or, art accelerated the changes in technology? Regardless which influenced which, it mirrors, or reflects, the changes taking place in society.
Lou this morning mentioned your coming to Chicago in his post, and I have written him that I would like to try and come to Chicago and meet you. We will see if I can work it out.
Great post. One of the things I've always enjoyed most about portraiture and art in general is what it says about the time - everything from contemporary ideals of beauty to the types of food found on a table.
Thank you for the compliment about the post. Yes, we can learn a lot about the time from a painting, and I guess that is all I was trying to say.
Hi Fred,
You raise some interesting issues with regards to art history. History, of course is the final judge and popularity during one's own lifetime does not necessarily mean history will embrace. As I plan to live to 100 [!] I will see an interesting perspective of what ceases to be considered important, what continues to be and what is discovered as important.
I found this link to an interesting opportunity for you...I think you might be interested and it is based in Brooklyn. http://www.3rdward.com/soloshowcurrent/al
It is an 'open call' for 'dynamic, inventive and provocative work in all mediums'. Of course I immediately thought of you and your political satire paintings.
By the way I really like the Sunflower painting you might editon as a print. It is interesting to see how the paintings have developed since you started.
Cheers,
Kathryn
Looking forward to meeting you too.
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