What makes art last?

It’s kind of a loaded question, isn’t it? There are a lot of factors. How well known the artist was. If he had backers that chose to endorse him (or her!). If he got a lot of commissions. If his work was preserved well enough. If he had a lot of friends or a lot of money. Even trivial things like what city he worked out of, whether or not he was a menace to society, or if he had powerful enemies.

But, then again, all of that could be thrown out the window. Van Gogh was never quite in line with the other painters of his time. Michelangelo and da Vinci hated each other. Marcel Duchamp is quite widely hated by those that don’t appreciate modern art, and yet he is one of the most recognizable names of that period.

La Guernica by Pablo PIcasso

I guess my question is more based on opinion and less based on fact. Why do certain artists and works speak to us after all this time? Some of them are no longer immediately relevant, like Picasso’s La Guernica. And it takes someone who has studied art to understand what is being depicted in this particular painting. It isn’t exactly for the layman.

And yet people flock to museums every day. They enjoy looking at these works, even if they don’t necessarily understand them. I have a B.A. in Art History, but I wouldn’t even begin to know the meanings of half the paintings I’ve seen. But they still speak to me. I still appreciate them. I still find them beautiful.

But why?

Is it because we’re meant to? Is it because we know that Michelangelo was an incredible artist? Or that da Vinci was a brilliant inventor? Or that Gauguin was truly ahead of his time? Is it based on fact, or is it based on opinion?

The Birth of Venus by Sandro Botticelli

If you were to look at a painting by Botticelli, without any preconceived biases or notions, would you still enjoy it? Would you still appreciate its beauty? Or, compared to what we can do with computers these days, would you find it primitive? Say it was The Birth of Venus. Could you still relate to its story? Could you understand the meaning?

I guess the notion is a morbid one. Do we appreciate art because we were told to? Because certain people in history, due to influence or money, preserved the works they liked the best? They say that history is told by the winning side. Can the same principle be applied here?

What do you think? Do we appreciate the Greats because we were told they are great, or do we appreciate them because we still connect to their artwork? If it’s the latter, what makes them still relevant to our modern world?

When Words Inspire Art

A few weeks ago I talked about fan-fiction. The debate continues about whether it’s considered copyright infringement, but one thing is certain – when an author inspires another person simply through the written word, it’s a beautiful thing.

Today is Wednesday, and although this post is much later than usual, I couldn’t let the day slip by without talking about art. Sometimes words inspire others to write. Sometimes those same words inspire others to create something a bit more visual. Here are a few examples.

Gustave Doré – Charon

This image was inspired by Dante’s The Divine Comedy, specifically Inferno. The artist drew this image of the ferryman, which came right from the story: “And lo! towards us coming in a boat / An old man, hoary with the hair of eld, / Crying: ‘Woe unto you, ye souls depraved!’” Charon was charged with taking the souls of the dead into the next life.

Pablo Picasso – Don Quixote

This next one is another drawing, this time by someone that you’ve probably heard of. Picasso depicts both Don Quixote and Sancho Panza here, though maybe not in a style that’s quite as detailed as Cervantes’ words were. You can see our hero on his horse, and his sidekick on his donkey. Those classic windmills are in the background.

Louis Lejuene – Battle of Moscow, 7th September 1812

Lastly, we have this somewhat depressing painting that was inspired by the events recorded in Tolstoy’s War and Peace. This is a much more detailed painting than the last, which is appropriate given the topic. This tells the story of a Russian battle in which many, many lives were lost.

These were just three random examples. There are countless others – especially if you take into consideration all the pieces created to depict stories from Greek mythology. Or Christianity. Or countless other religions and legends. The list is as close to endless as it could possibly be.

Would you like someone to turn a scene from your story into a painting someday? If so, what might you like to see? A battle scene or a portrait? A realistic and detailed portrayal, or maybe something funnier and more stylistic?