I have been pondering this age old question for the past few weeks. Of course, I always think about this, but I keep coming to the fact that no matter how much I want to say that there is a standard of beauty that is universal, there is always an element of subjectiveness, no matter how neutral one tries to be. Judging student art work recently pushed me to admit this.
What makes art aesthetically pleasing? I have always thought that if you take a piece of art you enjoy, and broke it down systematically and analyzed it using the Principles of Design, that there are reasons why a piece works. And this is true. I always taught my students to critically look at art and think about it in this way. Take Starry Night by Van Gogh, for example...
This is one of the most beloved pieces of art ...ever.
It works because the positive and negative space is well proportioned, there is wonderful sharp contrast with values and colors, he created a sense of movement with the swirls in the sky. In addition, the texture adds depth and interest.
But that all takes a magical piece of art and breaks it down to boring information and facts.
I think its good to critically view art this way, for many reasons, but there is another element that should not be forgotten.
It is an unquantifiable quality of "magic". I think it may be credited to an individuals set of memories and tastes (some people prefer red over blue, for example), but it is that essence when you look at a piece of art and your heart stirs and you don't want to look away. It speaks to you.
My husbands favorite piece is this... The Bookworm by Carl Spitzweg
Although it could be analyzed by values and space and balance, this painting captures a commonplace moment and renders a supernatural beauty to it. That is the real power of it. And quite frankly not all good art needs to be pretty to be beautiful.
So, I am off to discover the secret of how to capture that essence myself. I want to create beauty and magic.
What makes art aesthetically pleasing? I have always thought that if you take a piece of art you enjoy, and broke it down systematically and analyzed it using the Principles of Design, that there are reasons why a piece works. And this is true. I always taught my students to critically look at art and think about it in this way. Take Starry Night by Van Gogh, for example...
It works because the positive and negative space is well proportioned, there is wonderful sharp contrast with values and colors, he created a sense of movement with the swirls in the sky. In addition, the texture adds depth and interest.
But that all takes a magical piece of art and breaks it down to boring information and facts.
I think its good to critically view art this way, for many reasons, but there is another element that should not be forgotten.
It is an unquantifiable quality of "magic". I think it may be credited to an individuals set of memories and tastes (some people prefer red over blue, for example), but it is that essence when you look at a piece of art and your heart stirs and you don't want to look away. It speaks to you.
My husbands favorite piece is this... The Bookworm by Carl Spitzweg
So, I am off to discover the secret of how to capture that essence myself. I want to create beauty and magic.
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