Lileks wrote this today:
This was unknown to me: the new Denver Art Museum. It looks like a building devoted to the history of things your mother would not let you carry while running. It might come in handy if the earth is threatened by a giant balloon, but otherwise it is a perfect symbol of a culture that does not have the faintest clue what it stands for. I don’t mean our culture in general; I mean the culture of the curators of our artistic heritage. Really: this building is a warning. Within these walls you will find Lincoln Logs glued to a piece of plywood and titled “My Uncle, The Rapist.” The closest you’ll get to representative art – will be screaming popes! And you’ll like it! Of course, that’s not actually the case; the museum includes the old as well as the new. It even has a Bouguereau, although as usual they seem somewhat apologetic about it. For the record, I do think he’s sappy and sentimental, but at least he could paint. If I had to be in a cell with one painting for the rest of my life, I’d choose a Bouguereau over . . . well, this.
It has to be a masterpiece; it's ten feet wide.
What caught my eye was the Bouguereau reference (link), the first I’ve ever seen in a blog, or anywhere else that I can recall. And why did that catch my eye? Not because Bouguereau is a fave of mine, he’s not. No, it’s because when TSMP and I first moved to
The good doctor did TSMP and I a favor two years into our rental agreement. He accelerated our house hunting with a phone call one evening, telling us we were going to have to move in two months time because he was selling the house we were renting. And why was he selling the house? He wanted to buy another Bouguereau.
TSMP and I moved into our new home a little more than a month later...
It is amazing what people choose as art or "good art" and what they will spend on art. Most people I know choose art for their homes by the size and color - in other words, where it will fit in their homes. I tend to choose art because it means something to me or evokes some emotion in me. People who choose art based on who the artist is and how much it cost, well, it seems to say that they really know nothing and have no real opinion. I just wished I had money to buy origionals rather than prints. Then again, if I had that kind of money, I would probably not spend it on art. I would spend it on life.
ReplyDeleteI'll admit to choosing at least one piece of art in my previous life based (in part) on size and color. TSMP and I looked long and hard for something that would be the centerpiece in our home in Detroit. We settled on The Red Door, a print by California artist Henri Plisson. That print was one thing I saved from the wreckage of our marriage; it now hangs in my granddaughter's home in Albuquerque.
ReplyDeleteThen again, if I had that kind of money, I would probably not spend it on art. I would spend it on life.
Me, too!!!
:-)
Great links, as usual, Bec! Your fondness for things Russian extends to art as well, I see. (and why wouldn't it?)
ReplyDeleteOn another subject entirely, how's that blog coming?
:-)