Why Modernism?

I'd very much like to go on and on about why modernism is and came to be but really, truly, honestly…my ideas are equal to my education which is next to none when it comes to formal education, so most of my ideas come from observation, personal reading and thinking about it way too damn much. So, this is what I take of it.

First off, let's talk about history of modernism and why people drew scribbles on their canvases and expected people to buy them. Back then, all you could get were representations of a natural environment. Not even natural, just environment. So, if you liked art, you could buy paintings of people, farm houses, boats, myths and legends, religious. If you were lucky, you'd find something really cool like something out of Bosch's work.

"The Garden of Earthly Delights" by Hieronymus Bosch

Regardless, there were limitations to what and how you could paint and this was all regulated by the art academy at the time. If the academy didn't recognize you, you didn't really exist as an artist (in their eyes anyway). Of course, there have always been people who think differently than the almighty institution. Some galleries who accepted different works for people with different tastes were called "avant-garde". You know, people who push the envelope. Anyway, these things were happening very gradually. Artists were always pushing in new directions. I think after the famous impressionists, people were getting a little more used to their art being a little funnier than the usual realism or rococo (super-macho paintings) so a paintings done by the post-impressionists or the art nouveau (new art) were better received and people actually bought them. 

"The Peacock Skirt" by Aubrey Beardsley. This is a good example of art nouveau.

Eventually you get stuff like cubism (which Picasso started), dadaism, bauhaus, surrealism, action painting, abstract expressionism and the list goes on and on.

 So why would someone buy something with a few lines on it?

You'd have to ask that person, but ever since art became more and more bizarre people started asking "well, what is art?" or "what's considered to be art" because at this point, it's comes to tampons in a tea cup (yes, that's from "Ghost World"). They had to change the definition from something aesthetical on your wall (not to say that realism is void of meaning) to having the definition of the work being more important than the content. Of course, there are a million and one theories to these pieces and people will rave about the blue or red square on white canvas. And, honestly…that's fine. And, I'll tell you why….

Tomorrow.

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"Artist Pablo Picasso surprised a burglar at work in his new chateau. The intruder got away, but Picasso told the police he could do a rough sketch of what he looked like. On the basis of his drawing, the police arrested a mother superior, the minister of finance, a washing machine, and the Eiffel tower."

"An artist had been working on a nude portrait for a long time. Every day, he was up early and worked late - bringing perfection with every stroke of his paint brush. As each day passed, he gained a better understanding of the female body and was able to really make his paintings shine.

After a month, the artist had become very weary from this non-stop effort and decided to take it easy for the day. Since his model had already shown up, he suggested they merely have a glass of wine and talk - since normally he preferred to do his painting in silence.

They talked for a few hours, getting to know each other better. Then as they were sipping their claret, the artist heard a car arriving outside. He jumped up and said, "Oh no! It's my wife! Quick, take off your clothes!" "

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Song of the day:

!!! (Chk chk chk) - Bend Over Beethoven 

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