I went to an art show opening over the weekend. Seven artists, 14 pieces, so it was fairly small. One of the artists said to my friend and me, "Take another walk around and the art will say something else to you."

I enjoy art, but I don't feel like I "get" it. I'm not usually moved by it, but appreciate the work that goes into it.

So, is art appreciation something that I can learn, or is it something you're born with? I probably wouldn't mind going to more of these little art shows, but I find myself at an absolute loss for words around the art crowd.

I think art appreciation is like music appreciation--only with some digging and trial/error are you going to really learn what you like, and how to look/listen meaningfully. That said, my art appreciation is underdeveloped too. Doing it helps, I think more than learning to play an instrument helps you appreciate music.

Whatever you do, when someone who creates stuff shows it to you, do not comment on all of the work they've put into it, unless you have something genuinely complementary to say first. Because it's maybe the most transparently bullshit way of saying "I don't like this."

hell yeah. you can learn to appreciate art. you should go to a gallery/museum with me. i breaak a lot of art history criticism down to english. we'd have fun.

I know. I'm not usually one to stroke egos, so if I like or dislike something, you'll know about it.

IMO:

Appreciating art and "the art crowd" are totally different things.

I went to an art high school and did lots of art as a kid, and I'd say I have a serious appreciation of art... but the whole "gallery scene thing" totally freaks me out.

I went to an art show that a friend was part of a couple of years ago in Mtl and nearly threw up. The bullshit was so thick I could have cut it with a knife.

That said... like many other art-related things---e.g. music---it depends who the people are and their approach.

In terms of appreciating art I'd say approach it like you do music (or I assume you do): expose yourself to various things and see what strikes you. Go to the library and flip through one of those big art history books... maybe something will speak to you. If it doesn't there's no point in forcing it right? Maybe in will just happen one day for you.

There's piles of art out there that doesn't speak to me at all, I've just happened to come across some that has... I'm sure you will one day.

If you see it and like it that's all that matters right?

My current obsessions:

Hundertwasser


Paul Klee:
[img][380:500]http://www.mgf-kulmbach.de/bilderdaten/bilder/Bilder/paul%20klee%201879%20-%201940_jpg.jpg[/img]

Kandinsky:

Can we book tours with you or what?

i'd so love that dj. really. it's fun.

yes alex. there's a huge difference between art and the art world. what freaks you out about galleries? a lot of people are intimidated. these people are just clerks in shops. and usually not too bright.

With apologies to Mr. Vox, maybe you still haven't found what you're looking for.

My art appreciation isn't very deep at all, but I know what I like and I know when I see it. I don't really care about art history, either.

EDIT: By "deep", I mean obscure, or delving into the moldly reaches of some art underground or long forgotten apprentice of some master sculptor.

I can honestly say the only time I've actually felt emotion from art was at the Basquiat exhibit at the brooklyn museum last year. Everything was so in your face that my brain felt like jelly at the end of it.

I've hung out with beard stroking art snobs and I know a lot of people in art school and I'm not sure that any of them really understand the medium any more than I do.

besides, the best artwork is for records and concert posters...right?

Other favorites:

The Pre-Raphaelites:




1920s poster art / Art Nouveau:



Klimt & other Symbolist painters...:

[img][460:410]http://www.bezuprzedzen.pl/cywilizacja/zs/klimt.jpg[/img]

The list goes on & on...

i love this man's work!

I agree with this as much as anything I've ever read on this board. It's the kind of thing that kept me from getting a degree in Fine Art.

I have absolutely no problem going to museums and stuff, and many galleries, in fact D'Orsay and Pompidou were my most favorite and inspiring experiences in Paris...

It's just I have little tolerence or patience for the postering that sometimes goes on in the current art world. I'd say it's summed up quite nicely in "Me you and everyone we know"... with the whole art gallery sub-plot.

I'm talking about having to endure conversations about how so-and-so had her dress made by a fibers-artist especially for her art opening, etc...

It just rubs me the wrong way because I've been around people who make art but don't have all the attitude. It feels classist or something. It contributes to the other group of people who would assume I'm a snob because I like art.

okay... rant is over...

how else would you come to be able to appreciate it?

I agree with Polly.. art appreciation and art crowd.. two different things.

Have you seen the documentary on him? "Silent Angel"

http://movies2.nytimes.com/gst/movies/m ... _id=345451

I just rented it. I love it. Well put together too.

Yesterday I went a little wild... wandered into a book store and picked up two Taschen books one on Klee and one on Hundertwasser. I just couldn't help myself. They make such beautiful books.

galleries have the appearance of being classist yet they are all free or by appointment. i like to see what's going on out there. good, bad, what's deemed popular. i don't let that other stuff wreck it for me. the atmosphere is artificial, just another made up barbie world. i like to think i'm above it.

you are hun. you are.

(The attitude I'm talking about...) just pisses me off because I feel it keeps other people from getting into art.

I had this ex-bf who had been raised by rich parents and taught that he should know about art so he'd be "cultured". The result was that he basically "rebelled" against it as if it was some snobby thing. I've probably mentioned this before the one time we went to a museum together he ended up touching a Warhol. Guess it was his way of saying he didn't give a shit. Basically he was soooo threatened by it all. So lame.

Anyway. Like music, people should just like art for art.

Btw Red, thanks for the excuse to post art pics...

I actually had to be quite careful with the Symbolists and Pre-Raph ones to make sure they weren't "NSFW". heh.
(Sorry ayah, no Klimt-endorsed lez-orgies for you today!)

You prolly just haven't come across the right art....yet.

andy would have loved this.
alex, you would probably like bouguereau whom i have dubbed the best lil ass painter around. i couldn't find anything i really like by him online. get a book from the library. he was extremely popular but looked down upon by the real artists of the time like pisarro, monet, matisse. he was a fine craftsman but not into pushing any boundaries. my favorite painting by him is called "charity" and it's huge. check him out.

Yes, art appreciation can be learned, and naturally, they try to teach it in art schools primarily, I think, by having people critique each other's work. It forces you to go beyond "I like it" or "I don't like it" and figure out what the piece is "trying to say" and how successful it is.

I never had anything much to "say" with my artwork, and as such I always resisted the idea that art really needed to "say" anything other than just to be something aesthetically compelling. And really, I don't think most of the instructors I had were trying to teach anything otherwise, but in terms of what you can actually teach in art, getting students to keep their methods in line with their ideas and do everything for a reason is pretty important.

So anyway, through making art and talking to other people about the art they make and really making an effort to understand it and why they did things the way they did, you can learn some things about art appreciation. That said, I usually have very little to say about stuff I see in galleries, and I'm still somewhat intimidated by the gallery "scene".

Appreciation can be learned.
Talent cannot.

Yet both can be developed.

I'm in agreement with this as well. The best artists I know are modest, humble and rarely discuss their work. They basically let it speak for themselves. This applies to most musicians, writers, painters and photographers I have met. The people who are full of bullshit tend to lack any real creativity and originality and their work is usually pedestrian.

Uhgh. That's what he said.


Dude, this what on my bedroom wall for all of High School...

Oh... ayah... I saw a couple of his at D'Orsay... so wicked to see them "in person".

Gee, you don't say.