[Ditter]

"incompetence and gullibility"

That is pretty much the way I see abstract artists and their patrons too, and I am an artist.

[Joe 6-pack]

I'm an artist (by no means a professional) as well. I went to college from '87 - '91 and at that time, I noticed a very sharp and contentious divide between the history and studio folks (students and professors) who wanted little to do with one another.

I personally could not, and still can not see how you can have one without the other. The studio artist has to have a firm grounding in precedent regardless of whether they choose to perpetuate it or rebel against it. The historian or aesthetician, on the other hand, can not fully appreciate the true worth of a piece without at least a basic comprehension of the media and technical skills, involved in its creation.