Picasso’s Turd
By which, of course, I mean his collected work. Picasso represents everything I hate about modern “art.” Picasso did not believe in truth, he despised beauty, art training, planning of compositions. He once pointed to an old sheet of tin and said it was the greatest painting he ever saw. He was an ardent Communist who wanted to tear it all down. But unfortunately, there are hundreds of frothing nihilists like him. The saddest part is, Picasso had enormous talent. He once pointed to some children’s paintings and said that when he was their age he could draw like Raphael but that it was only as an adult that he learned to draw like a little kid.
The good news is, all modern art is not crap. There are many, many examples of fabulous modern art. But many people never see it because they see the label “modern art,” and figure it looks like someone threw up on a canvas. Most of the excellent art of the past 100 years gets dismissed by the avant garde as “mere illustration.” For example, something like the picture “Etaine” might be regarded as not even art by some modern critics.
I got into this subject a while back with my post, “Modern Art and My Artistic Taste.” In the comments, someone did in fact say, “Royo’s stuff is interesting and well done, but I don’t quite consider it art.” This sort of talk is just baffling to me. Luis Royo isn’t an artist? What is he then? A sheepherder?
So, I got so sick and tired of trying to find decent art, that I decided just to make my own damn page, and I invite you to take a look. It’s simply called Art Blog, and the goal is to highlight good modern art from 1800-to present day. I will keep a link to the page on the right. There are already a number of good works up, and I plan on continuing to add to them.
I’m into fantasy or mythical themed art myself, but I also like modern art (modernism/post-modernism). I don’t think you can compare the two genres like that. Fantasy art is good because it gives me an aesthetical pleasure, I mean, who doesn’t like to look at beautiful, lightly clad, nymph-like women? But if I analyse a work by e.g. Luis Royo, I wouldn’t find much else but a beautiful, lightly clad woman. On the other hand I could look at Picasso’s “Three Dancers” and interpret it in ways that I never could with fantasy art. I would be able to find so many messages and meanings in its’ symbolism. The bright colors and odd geometrical shapes, that one sees at first, is but a layer to peel away to reveal a story etc. Many modern artists also use their works to express social criticism.
So next time you see a painting that looks likes a child’s scribblings, try asking yourself: “why did the artist make it this way? Does he want to tell something? Perhaps he is refering to the connotations of childhood?”