Are We Being Duped?

Throughout history, art has always been an important element in the fabric of civilization, especially from the perspective of religion. There was a need to convey in the greatest detail, the conceptual significance of a painting in terms of religious doctrines and divine guidance, to cement these principles in the minds of the community. Religion, with its wealth and high status became the prime controlling influence within the artistic community, alongside the ruling dynasties.

There was a need for great artistic skill in defining in classical terms, the relationship between God and his human subjects. Giving majestic presence to works of art was a way of consolidating that feeling within the church and its followers that God was an intrinsic part of human endeavor. Thus it was that artists such as Michelangelo, Leonardo De Vinci and Caravaggio were employed to enhance and promote the religious fervor in the form of large murals and other works of art that represented the best of artistic ability of those times.

The consequences of religious influence over art and artistic style, whilst being restrictive, meant that we have a legacy from as far back as the 15th century, of paintings by the old masters, with a quality of realism of the human form that has us looking at such works with amazement and great admiration - even whilst in our present time we are surrounded by a 'modernist' culture.

During the latter half of the 19th Century, artists and critics would rebel against the 'classical' style and a whole new vista of art styles emerged, to challenge the old ways; and such turmoil is still relevant to this day.

What we now have is 'Pseudo-intellectualism' where even the most banal, childish or minimalist 'art' can be accepted for exhibition within the elite, high-status art Galleries world-wide. Somebody, somewhere is certainly having a good laugh at the 'Emperor's New Clothes'.

I know that despite such remarks, there are still many fine examples of quality work in the contemporary market - and I do have respect for abstract art also; I believe that if a work of art does genuinely give pleasure to a wide audience then it must surely have merit!

However, coming back to my main point....Pseudo-Intellectualism speaks for itself - paint a curved line on a blank canvas to represent a hill; add one hardly-discernible small, black figure with no detail then present your work for assessment, using your pseudo-intellectual prowess and hey-ho! You're in! You've sucked in the judges with mesmerizing eloquence that defines nothing of any real meaning and they (the judges) then add credibility to your meaningless description with one of two mind-sets: 1) They believe in the 'Emperor's New Clothes' or 2) They think "Quick money-spinner here - some daft pseudo-intellect will pay a small fortune for that!".

There is - fortunately - a fight-back against such abuse of power in the art world and perhaps the 21st Century will see a revival of true meaning to the world of genuine art; what it really stands for and how it should be revered and not neglected as sadly, the work of many great artists such as William Bouguereau and Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema were, in the 19th Century.

Perhaps many artists will be aware of this redeeming drive to re-assert the true meaning of great art: certainly, one such organization is the 'Art Renewal Center' based on the web. This site is very deserving of attention! You can easily find it by performing a Google search.

When you next look at a contemporary work of art, ask yourself... "Is this worthy of consideration as being truly artistic - or is it just another pseudo-intellectual scam?"

Cliff is a writer, artist, video producer and entertainer (singer).