[Merged] Is it Art?

[joglynne]

Originally Posted by Maggy J

I like them both jo..The sunflowers because Van Gogh was trying so desperately to show the sunlight,the textures as well as the passion he was feeling and thinking he was failing..all because no one else could see what he saw..and Graafs because it is modern day versions of what the 17th century Dutch still life painters were producing..with some simply stunning skills considering they didn't have modern day photography to aid them. though of course they did have access to the Camera Obscura.

I use a camera a lot when doing the research for my artwork and it always feels a bit like cheating when I base my paintings solely on a single photo composition. So I guess my reaction to Graaf's work is influenced by this. I have no problem acknowledging the sheer brilliance of his skill in using acrylics, or his deft draftsmanship but would possibly have appreciated any artistic skill he has if I could have compared his finished work with the original photograph to be able to judge how much he had manipulated the original subject material to give his own interpretation. Ow, thinking that deep has strained my poor, slightly the worse for imbibing copious amounts of red wine, brain.

Originally Posted by Gary L

I've never liked the sunflowers. to me it's just amateurish in the way the whole lot is done. including the wonky vase.

The charm of the sunflowers to me is in their 'wonkyness'. The nice thing about art is that there is no rule that says we all have to like the same thing.

[Gary L]

Originally Posted by joglynne

The charm of the sunflowers to me is in their 'wonkyness'. The nice thing about art is that there is no rule that says we all have to like the same thing.

That's alright then. I've found something I'm allowed to not like without people disapproving that I don't like it

but it really is horrible.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-19146362

An installation made up of artificial dung, intended to pay tribute to a seminal work seized by the Nazis in 1937, has gone on display in Berlin.
Martin Gostner's work, The Oriel of the Blue Horses, features four piles of fake blue manure.

Sigh!

[joglynne]

Oh my, I can just see some over rich person displaying this pile of manure in his expensive, but tasteless, home. I have heard of "taking the p***" but this takes the art of parting a fool from his money to a whole new level.

[TheNorm]

Originally Posted by joglynne

Oh my, I can just see some over rich person displaying this pile of manure in his expensive, but tasteless, home. I have heard of "taking the p***" but this takes the art of parting a fool from his money to a whole new level.

Where there's muck there's brass.

[Peter_]

Lifted from another site with one word changed hence no link as the word hits the swear filter.

Damaged Spanish fresco now early favourite for Turner Prize

A highly-regarded Spanish fresco that was damaged by an 80 year-old woman is of such quality, officials for the British Turner prize have made it an early front runner for next year’s award.
Ecce Homo (Behold the Man) by Elias Garcia Martinez has held pride of place in the Sanctuary of Mercy Church near Zaragoza for more than 100 years, but now resembles something the parents of a toddler would pin to their fridge.
A spokesperson for the Turner Prize explained, “Sure, the artist might be a Spanish octogenarian, and this is a prize for British artists, but just look at it – it is truly breathtaking.”
“Anyone who has seen our previous winners will know that we value the incomprehensible, and where others see a child-like attempt to draw a human face, we see a tortured soul desperately seeking redemption.”
“Or something.”
Spanish Fresco

Art fans around the country have acknowledged the hidden genius in the revised painting, with some already dubbing it “Balaclava Jesus doing Stephen Hawking”.
Fan of the arts Simon Williams told us, “If I look at a piece of art and find myself asking, ‘what the hell is this all about then’, it tends to do well in the Turner prize. So I’m expecting big things of this piece.”
“If she wants a guaranteed win maybe she should think about stapling some dirty knickers to it, or submerging it in a tank of formaldehyde?”

Not impressed by the fresco that much anyway..Don't think I would go out of my way to see it.

[TheDaddy]

Is it art, almost certainly, is it sexist definitely

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotlan...-fife-19390354

I didn't post about this because as far as I'm concerned ART should be inclusive not exclusive.

[joglynne]

I too saw this report and was concerned about the exclusive slant.

Having grown up in a business environment where women were stereotypically typists and men were the bosses I fought for years to be treated as an equal with my male counterparts and feel that to put up barriers, in any area of life where none previously existed, is wrong. Maybe a good way of getting publicity and attracting attention but not something I would want to be associated with.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-19698006

Three oil paintings deemed fakes and locked away for half a century have been found to be genuine works by landscape artist JMW Turner.
The oils were left to the National Museum Wales in 1951 by Gwendoline and Margaret Davies of Llandinam, Powys, but discounted in 1956.
Curator Beth McIntyre said the works had "gone from being worth thousands to being worth millions".

Fantastic!

All seven Turner paintings bequeathed to the gallery will go on show at the National Museum Cardiff from Tuesday.

I'll be taking a look when I'm next in Cardiff.

[joglynne]

I watched the programme featuring the authentication of these paintings last night and was pleasantly surprised when the Turner expert Martin Butlin begrudgingly agreed that the evidence did in fact show that he had previously been wrong in declaring them to be fakes, seemingly he had been previously swayed by the moralistic views of earlier 'experts'. Watching him squirm and admit he had been wrong was delicious.

The story behind the paintings was fascinating, the reported comments of the art critics who first saw these paintings after Turners death and judged them to be fakes based on their own moralistic prejudices was an eye opener.

I wonder how many art pieces to-day would be treated as fake due to their respected creators having secret affairs with people judged to be socially unworthy? Not many I would guess, money speaks too loudly now.

Originally Posted by joglynne

I watched the programme featuring the authentication of these paintings last night and was pleasantly surprised when the Turner expert Martin Butlin begrudgingly agreed that the evidence did in fact show that he had previously been wrong in declaring them to be fakes, seemingly he had been previously swayed by the moralistic views of earlier 'experts'. Watching him squirm and admit he had been wrong was delicious.

The story behind the paintings was fascinating, the reported comments of the art critics who first saw these paintings after Turners death and judged them to be fakes based on their own moralistic prejudices was an eye opener.

I wonder how many art pieces to-day would be treated as fake due to their respected creators having secret affairs with people judged to be socially unworthy? Not many I would guess, money speaks too loudly now.

Much of authentication is down to personal prejudice and the almighty filthy lucre.

Many paintings done by women during the medieval period were deemed to have been done by their fathers,brothers or husbands or any other family male member or a male apprentice because no mere woman could produce art work the equal of any man.

[joglynne]

Maybe that is where the saying "Behind every successful man there lurks a woman who's in charge." comes from.

I once had to deal with a pompous idiot who wouldn't believe that I was the person who had been brought in to see if his 'precious' crumbling ceiling bosses could be restored in situ. He insisted in speaking to John who had driven me to the job. Painting and guilding 25ft up on top of scaffolding was man's work don't ya know.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-19477930

Great idea..celebrating uniqueness and diversity.