Neither of them are mine. The first one is a press photo showing the fighting over in Iraq. The other is a Gauguin painting. I want to see which one people would pick the most as art.
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Last edited by Dave The Dov on March 3rd, 2009, 2:31 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Well, comrade, though the bombing pic could be spruced up a bit--mangled bodies, rubble, grinning GIs, etc.-- its an obvious triumph over Paul G.'s somewhat ham-fisted opiated cartoons of everready island gals ..........
I don't really rate that Gauguin painting. It doesn't say anything to me. And, the colours look really vulgar and OTT. But it is art.
The photograph itself is art because there is an artistry involved in taking such a photograph. But the content is also art. Journalistic photos, such as this, can very often be incredibly beautiful (even, or especially, when they depict destruction).
I was looking through a book of photo-journalism the other day. And, excuse the pun, some of the photos really blew me away.
(I happen to disagree Mr. Dov. Personally I think TH Benton is objectively "better"--more creative, more profound, technically and formally superior-- to Pollock.)
Pollock studied under Benton and was greatly influanced by him. Matter of fact Pollack shows up in a painting by Benton called "Wreck Of The Old 97." Your opinon on Benton over Pollack is what I'm looking for and a cherish it highly.
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Last edited by Dave The Dov on March 3rd, 2009, 2:31 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Yes, I have heard that, but Pollock didn't study hard enough. Again, I think Pollock is WAY overrated, as is Picasso and many other modern "artists". Having perused quite a few of Benton's paintings online and in books, I think he was possibly the greatest American painter ever, and really comparable to old masters, or european greats, such as Delacroix or someone like that. His art is at least equal to Dali's or Rivera's, really surpassing it. And to be honest, I think a very great painter such as Benton puts poets and fiction writers to shame (though the painter defers in some sense to the authentic philosopher and scientist) . The same with great composers: Charles Ives is to me more profound than Wallace Stevens ever was. Apollo is Dionysius' top man: Fuck poetry, minstrelsy, and most fiction.
.....That's not to say the "art world" is not corrupt and decadent: it is, very much so.....I think it is beyond obscene that a van gogh lived in total poverty; 10-20 years later his paintings were worth thousands and now are worth millions---but the ones being sold are his "pretty" ones of landscapes, flowers, etc. The same with "impressionists"--the bourgeois loves pretty spattered landscapes by Claude Monet or stupid sentimental crap (that painter of light guy); they don't enjoy far better realist art by say Benton or Hopper, or surrealist masters such as Magritte (though they are still fairly popular) . I think the art auction and gallery biz, museums, etc. is quite evil, but what is the solution, apart from armed revolution?
That doesn't bother me that the rich pay so much when they buy art. What is obsence is that they will keep it to themselves after they buy it and then let no one else see it.
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