"I am good but not an angel. I do sin, but I am not the devil. I am just a small girl in a big world trying to find someone to love." -M. Monroe

she dreams in poetry but writes in prose // she lives in ballet flats but likes to feel the grass between her toes // she craves her Starbucks fix // she's pearls and she's politics // she makes her own sunshine on a rainy day // she gets her work done but she lives to play.


Monday, December 20, 2010

In the eye of the beholder

Not that taking History of Western Art and a few drawing classes makes me an art expert, but I absolutely love it.
I am a firm believer that you should read beautiful things and look at beautiful things everyday, which is why I like inspirational quotes and artwork so much.

But beauty isn't just a pretty picture, it's about something that speaks to you and it's something that you can carry inside you wherever you go. This is one of my favorites:



Something about this painting has always struck me; the motion, the colors, the odd angle has captivated me ever since I first saw it on a deck of cards that were intended for some sort of matching art game I had. I don't know enough about Degas and this piece to say much, but this is what beauty from a real artist looks like.




I chose the above Thomas Kinkade at random, as they all look pretty much alike, and no one painting has stuck with me. To me, looking at the painting is the equivalent of eating marshmallow peep after marshmallow peep; over processed and sickeningly sweet with no real substance. Yes, it portrays the (idealized) optical reality of the world we live in, but it doesn't say anything about what it means or feels like to be a citizen of that world. I guess it speaks to the triumph of mass-produced commercialism over taste, but I don't think that is his intended message. Sorry for the rant, but I really cannot understand the appeal of his "art." Maybe some people don't consider Duchamp's pieces to be art, but at least they make you think.


I would much rather have a print of the Degas painting than an actual Kinkade. I have an series of pastel drawings of Boston in my dorm room that I bought on the streets of Boston for about 20 dollars. An actual artist made it, and it captures the spirit of the city we are both from.


ab imo pectore,


Hannah

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