60 Minutes did a show on 'art' a few years back. They had all these weirdo 'artists' showing what they considered 'art' and people who were considered 'artists'. One 'art' object was a toilet seat within a picture frame. Many others, including a painting by an elephant, were just as insane. Anyways, when Leslie Stall asked them if Norman Rockwell was accepted in their circle as an 'artist', all agreed that he was not, just merely an 'illustrator'.
I happen to think elephant art, and some of the other animal art, is exactly that:art. Studies of these particular animal artists seems to show that they are genuinely trying to express some idea, rather than futzing around with a brush their keeper handed them. Human-generated "art" that looks like the stuff the animals do, on the other hand, is just scribbling. Art is (loosely) defined as sophisticated skill or that which is produced by sophisticated skill. Renaissance and Romantic paintings would qualify, as would most classical and romantic sculpture.
John Alan Maxwell is my favorite American illustrator.
He was my father.
Rockwell, himself, a really non-egotistical person, called himself an illustrator = but as any of you know who have ever stood in front of one of his paintings, he was a 'fine artist' - In addition, he did some private - non-illustration - paintings that I have never seen printed. They could hang on the wall with the best of the Masters.
(The boy on the running board is one of his sons)
"One 'art' object was a toilet seat within a picture frame."
This reminds me of a photo I took when in Vienna, Austria, about 20 years ago. We were in Sigmund Freud's office, where he practiced his shrinkness, and I had to go to the bathroom. I asked one of the clerks there where it was, went in to take care of business and noticed how old everything in there was (clean, but old). Also very quaint, as bathrooms go. When I went out, I asked the lady if this was the same toilet that Freud himself had used. She said yes, so I went back in, took a picture of the pot and when I got home, I was going to blow the picture up to an 8 by 10, caption it with "Freud Sat Here", frame it, and hang it. I guess I too would have had a "toilet picture", LOL! Unfortunately, I couldn't find the roll of film when I got home (don't know why), so it never got hung. I figure it would have made quite a conversation piece. C'est la vie.
Art Renewal Center ping.
http://www.artrenewal.org/