When Goya painted “The 3rd of May, 1808” people had couches but he certainly wasn’t painting something to match the couch. I use that expression because it has been a standard joke among artists for as long as I can remember. It implies that people decorating their living room don’t really look for artwork that has meaning they just want something that matches the curtains and the cushions. That is not to say that people shouldn’t go to famous furniture suppliers and pick up a photographic print that is sold in the hundreds all over the continent. On the contrary, but they shouldn’t really be doing that with every purchase.
Even though the Spanish would have immediately recognized the meanings to be found in “The Third of May” that artwork has had lasting meaning from the day it was painted right up to our present times. Although there are obviously exceptions, most artists are looking to be thoughtful and meaningful in their creations in the hope that what they have done will speak to you in such a way that it will make a lasting and meaningful addition to your life, and maybe to a lot of other people too.
Ambitious artists have the added characteristic of wishing to be original in their work. They want to personally add to the long line of original artistic expression. It may take them a lifetime of work and study to arrive at that crucial point but perhaps all their work along the way has represented individual contributions to that long and interesting conclusion. I give you Broadway Boogie Woogie as an example:
Completed by Piet Mondrian in 1943, it wasn’t one of his first paintings, which were much more realistic in comparison to photographic reality. No it wasn’t. It was, rather, the completion of an extended study of two-dimensional expression and a very basic use of primary colours. Even though it is an interpretation of the exciting rhythms of Broadway it is also a study that has contributed to the proportional design of modern kitchens for example and likely the architecture of modernism.
So where are we ‘at’ as a public in relation to the artists of our own era? Where are artists of our era in relation to their public?
As Scarborough’s D. Paul Schafer has discussed in his recent book “THE ARTS: Gateway to a fulfilling Life and Cultural Age” meaningful artistic expression is a crucial ingredient in the formulation of a personally meaningful existence. Although one doesn’t have to love every artistic piece it is more important to realize that artwork is not created to match the couch, but rather to bring a meaningful message to you personally. If you are really touched by such a piece it is perhaps likely you will purchase it and keep it as a daily ‘friend’ for the rest of your life. But an artist’s job is not finished there. The artist has to determine the degree and honesty in one’s personal expression and how to maintain personal and public integrity in that regard. Artists get plenty of time to think about these issues when they are in the process of creation.
It would be nice to think that the public goes through these same gyrations when appreciating and obtaining artworks. Deciding what notes, what words, what colours, and what compositions are appropriate in the agonizing process of original creations. It behooves the public to compliment that process in their own thoughts of art appreciation. Understanding the intimate thoughts of artistic creation is what gives our personal life more meaning and more understanding. Although I am not a musician I can still appreciate the nuances of musical creativity, and the nature of individual musical expression. Not being a dancer, I can still enjoy and dissect the meaning of flowing forms and spatial creations.
Having these artistic vibrancies in our community is the embodiment of forward and positive thinking. Cultural artistic expression has a myriad of resources in our multicultural society and eventually it is the glue that joins our people together in exciting and meaningful ways. And funnily enough, from time to time, coincidently, those artistic expressions do serendipitously ‘match the couch’.
Peter Marsh CSPWC OSA SCA TWS
2023
1 Comments
Brad Burt
Love how the blues in your painting match the colours in the afghan on your…..oops, no, sorry…..not that. 🤪
I actually enjoyed your thoughtful analysis of why art, in all its forms, matters so much in our daily lives.
Would that everyone in our midst might have the wherewithal and time to similarly appreciate that.
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