[vannrox]

THIS IS A GREAT ARTICLE. IT IS REPRESENTATIVE OF THE FEELINGS OF MANY, MANY PEOPLE WHO ARE ABSOLUTELY SICK AND TIRED OF BEING TOLD THAT JUNK IS ART AND ART IS JUNK AND THAT WE HAVE TO LIKE IT AND APPRECIATE IT. IF WE DON'T THEN WE ARE UNENLIGHTENED AND STUPID.

[Serb5150]

Great read over here...

[Dante3]

Very interesting.

[Zechariah11]

THIS IS A GREAT ARTICLE. IT IS REPRESENTATIVE OF THE FEELINGS OF MANY, MANY PEOPLE WHO ARE ABSOLUTELY SICK AND TIRED OF BEING TOLD THAT JUNK IS ART AND ART IS JUNK AND THAT WE HAVE TO LIKE IT AND APPRECIATE IT. IF WE DON'T THEN WE ARE UNENLIGHTENED AND STUPID.

I agree wholeheartedly.

[TheOtherOne]

Bump...great story.

[Musket]

Great article. Thanks!

[Jhensy]

At your next summer barbecue, ask someone to name a contemporary artist.

Christo might get mentioned, only because of the reams of publicity he recently recieved.

Perhaps a hip guest could namedrop a Damien Hirst, or a Jeff Koons.

But I would bet not one in a 100 average Joes could name a current artist beyond them. That tells you the cultural importance of today's gallery scene.

The Pollack/Warhol/Rothko era marked the end of modern art as "important" in the traditional sense. Once artists were portraying blank canvases, or garbage piles, or indeed, Brillo boxes... a certain wall was hit.

You could only do things bigger.... or more political... or more obscene. And now even that limit has been reached.

The true creative lineage, the real "important" artists, went to photography and film and now the computer world. The real talented kids are all there now, not applying oil paints to cloth canvas with an animal hair brush.

If Picasso or Van Gogh were born today, they would be more interested in recreating 3-dimensional life on the computer than on dabbling paint.

And the next art revolution, not in our lieftimes, will be the complete fabrication of articial reality in a way which we can barely perceive right now.

[walden]

I've been a subscriber to "Plein Air" magazine almost from its inception-- it's excellent. Also glad to see that they recognize Schmid, they're right about the artists represented at the John Pence Gallery ( http://www.johnpence.com/ ), also check out Tree's Place (back east somewhere-- here's the link http://www.treesplace.com/Gallery/gallery%201.htm ) and Greenhouse Gallery in San Antonio (link http://www.greenhousegallery.com/cgi-local/read.pl?file=../main/main.html&banner=YES&align=CENTER&cellpadding=0 ). Greenhouse is one of only two galleries representing Kevin Macpherson ( http://data.fineartstudioonline.com/dataviewer.asp?keyvalue=125 ). Macpherson's prices have skyrocketed in recent years, but his smaller works are still affordable. And, he's just a heck of a nice guy-- we drove up to San Antonio for his 2003 show-- absolutely splendid. After I get my kids' college paid for, I'm going to treat myself to one of his little plein air pieces. Matt Smith is also one of my favorite plein air painters working today-- here's his website: http://www.mattsmithstudio.com/ .

Great Stuff!

[Mr. Jeeves]

I have Bouguereau's La Vierge Aux Anges (a print, silly) hanging in my living room. It's good for stupefying visitors who think modernism is art:

La Vierge Aux Anges

[Antoninus]

From the "Current Communist Goals" ca. 1963:

22. Continue discrediting American culture by degrading all forms of artistic expression. An American Communist cell was told to "eliminate all good sculpture from parks and buildings, substitute shapeless, awkward and meaningless forms."

23. Control art critics and directors of art museums. "Our plan is to promote ugliness, repulsive, meaningless art."

24. Eliminate all laws governing obscenity by calling them "censorship" and a violation of free speech and free press.

[Isthatso]

Great Article, I have been saying essentially this same things for years. It isn’t just the fine art world that has been hijacked by poor artists with credentials and imposters. I am a self-taught artist and have made a living creating traditional Early American Folk art for over 24 years. These days, anyone who paints a horrid chicken or cow in ghastly colors on a piece of aged tin considers themselves a “folk artist.” Folk artists were/are people who have had little or no formal training but do have talent, BIG EMPHASIS ON TALENT. We have all seen the of the 19th century works such as ship mastheads, decoys, paper-cuttings, scrimshaw... Many of these are examples of the true masters of Folk-art.
Also, the first art that our children are exposed to is in children’s books. Take a look at 75% of the artwork in children’s books these days, most of it is cartoon-like, bang it out as fast as you can, garbage. Children should be exposed to good art from the beginning.

[NYer]

William Bouguereau (1825-1905)

Catholic Ping - Please freepmail me if you want on/off this list

[Blue Champagne]

Bookmarked for later reading.

[Fitzcarraldo]

William-Adolphe Bouguereau (1825-1905) - The Young Shepherdess (1885)

[Baraonda]

"Every form of art is propaganda." - George Orwell

[bert]

This to say that most of the art world is but a scam.

Charlatans selling crap who turn up their noses and spout expansive nothings about how sweet it smells.

[ELS]

vannrox, thank you so much for posting this article (and leading me to the ARC)!

Republicanprofessor and Sam Cree, please add me to your art-related ping lists. Thanks.

[Arizona]

I really liked this article and the website!

I presume this means that I no longer have to pretend to be impressed by the wonderful work of my nephew "the professor" according to his mother (my sister). (He's a college art teacher who teaches modern crap.) Happy day!

I never for the life of me could figure out why gluing lightbulbs onto PVC and throwing glitter on it was considered "art". (Obviously, since I have no college degree, I am considered totally dumb and unenlightened by that branch of the family.) Thanks for giving me a million smiles today.

az

[Bloody Sam Roberts]

"I don't know much about art. But I know what I like." - - Will Rogers

[Marie Antoinette]

Self ping, from a Bouguereau lover. :)

[Unknown Freeper]

Vannrox, thank you very much for this thread.