[justshutupandtakeit]

I would not disagree that artists are inclined to the Left. That appears to be a natural tendency since artists, by nature, must push the envelop and create new things. Conservative art is generally boring and doesn't experiment.
Art must question the status quo. A true artist in a communist country would wind up in a camp or dead since questioning the status quo is intolerable there.

Picasso was a Communist. Look at the difference between his early work (while still in Spain) it is conventional and quite beautiful but without the power to affect the viewer that some of the later work shows. Like it or not Guernica is not something that does not leave the viewer unaffected. Thus, it is a very effective work.

Dali is an exception. He was very conservative politically, religously and socially but his art was very affecting, in fact, he loved outrage for its own sake. Yet, at the same time some of his pieces were marvelous examples of techical virtuosity and often breathtakingly beautiful.

[Richard Kimball]

Like it or not Guernica is not something that does not leave the viewer unaffected. Thus, it is a very effective work.

I've posted this before, but a short story I used to tell students in my cartooning class:

"How many of you have heard of Picasso's painting, 'Guernica'? (usually not one hand goes up). This is considered one of the most important fine arts paintings of the twentieth century. It is a huge mural depicting the destruction of the town Guernica during the Spanish Civil War. It's painted totally in black and white. When Picasso was asked why, he said, 'because there is no color in a bomb blast.'"

I then ask them, "How many of you remember when Bambi's mother died?"

I believe this story is relevent because it indicates how irrelevent most "fine" art produced since around 1915 is to the general public. I recommend Thomas Wolfe's book, The Painted Word.

As a fine arts major back in the 70's, I would first state that my fine arts background taught me how to think outside the box, and to seek unique solutions to problems. However, politically, I simply cannot function in a fine arts environment. I tend to be a redneck, and do the work I like. As far as my tastes go, I like David Smith (the old steel sculptor), Kaye Nielson, Frank Frazetta, Norman Rockwell, Duane Hanson, Margaret Bourke-White, Hellenistic Greek sculpture, N. C. Wyeth, and in modern photography, the works of Vincent LaForet.

I started doing painting, then moved to sculpture, and now do exclusively digital photography. Here's one of my photos:

If anyone's interested, I have more posted here.