Art or Ornament?
The other day I
was astonished by a statement by one of my friends who, after his retirement as
lawyer, became a full-time fine artist creating brilliant acrylic paintings. You have actually already met him as "Philistine" in our very first Let's Talk Art article.Well, this
troublesome remark by my friend was sparked by the following incident. I have namely
emailed him some pictures of amazing art pottery made by another very gifted friend
of mine. The lawyer’s wife immediately fell in love with one of the pottery
masterpieces and I, in my true nature as serious advocate of art sales, then
swiftly took up the opportunity to suggest that the lawyer acquire the piece.
To my horror, this fellow remarked that his spouse has plenty of “ornaments”
already. Of course, he was just making fun at me. He has always been very
articulate and true to his profession thoroughly recognize the significance of expressive
terms in a court of law. Therefore, when this well-spoken law-man presented to
“court” this true piece of art as just another specimen of a variety of decorative
objects, it forced the “jury” to question their frame of reference and to reconsider
their longstanding beliefs. It left the bench with the aenigma that all ornaments
in the general sense of the word cannot easily be defined as art but that ALL
art may well be classified as ornamental.
Still in awe, I
then countered another friend of mine. This serious artist likewise has the
gift of the gap and a way with words, spoken as well as written and she is fiery
by nature. You know me, I like to stir…… As expected, this lady totally lost it
when I suggested that she assist me in exploring the possibility that art may
only be decorating our homes.
This was her
response.
There is a vast
difference between decorative and academic art. In previous centuries, original
art were honored items in households and homes were never jam-packed with
wooden crosses, baskets or welded geckos. Art was admired, original items that
could only be afforded by stink-wealthy folks. The exception was less well-off art
lovers that saved money and made down payments on original assignments for the
reason that they simply could not live without it. I tend to have more admiration
for the latter, because it is an indication that the buyer recognized the
artist's soul in that workpiece.
Decorative items,
on the other hand, is a fairly new trend. The stuff are usually the product of
crafts and mass production and unfortunately also include replicas, prints and
copies of real artwork. This commercially driven industry made it affordable for
people to embellish their homes, floor to ceiling, with items very often
reflecting the brand MADE IN CHINA. Décor fads and whims are sheepishly trailed
by people with money and whose knowledge of art is diminutive. Decorative items
can thus easily end up on the garbage heap amongst other rubbish, because
people soon get tired of it, or it goes out of fashion and they then seek
another trend or decor tendency to waste money on.
One tiny step up
from the above, there is furthermore undeniably a trend of so-called artists, who
in sausage-machine-style, one after the other, turn out paintings of flowerpots,
bicycles or scrubbing megapode hens under a washing line. Emotion and
thoughtful topics and abstraction play no role in the childlike version of
topics which the masses adore. Ignorant buyers will then pay astronomical
amounts for an “original” piece signed by an artist with a household name, only
a) because the neighbor and everyone else owns one b) the item is decorative
and c) the buyer look at it and they "understand" the subject. These
“artists” are especially successful when they have a marketing strategy that
attracts particularly feminine "groupies". "Art" then becomes
a ridiculous method to catch the herd animal. These are the types of artists
that make art banal and insignificant. Like DEFY, it becomes public ownership.
Yes, nowadays "kitsch" is high fashion, but can
one really compare a Fabergé egg to an ostrich egg featuring a painted image of
an ostrich or put a Lalique glassware item next to a Consol glass item? So, by
the way, I also despise poor art being mounted in most expensive frames that
are worth ten times the artwork. Another thing - true art is not a style or
subject which repeats itself on every tomdickanharry’s walls and therefore
mass-produced copies and prints can easily degenerate true art into a
Tretchikoff-like decorative item.
True art, on the
other hand, is a reflection of the soul. It is original work created by man's
hand, inspired by emotion and passion. This process involves visions, color, detail, texture and even odor. Influences
and several aspects and facets of an artist's life journey and their emotional
life space at the time of the creation are notable in the outcome. It then takes
a real fine artist, a serious art collector or an art expert to recognize the
subtle nuances of genuine art, to interpret the technique, subject and soul
meaning thereof and to occasionally make their own observations. If this can be
done, only then can we call it real art.
.
People who buy real
art are in two distinctive categories - some buy to make an investment; others
acquire artwork for the intrinsic value thereof. I personally believe a lover
of fine art will always have an original piece, even if it is very small, has
been made by an unknown artist or has no sales value at all. Yes, and it is sadly true, many real fine
artists with excellent training and sometimes genial talent are never
recognized. Luckily true artists are not dependent on approval of others,
neither is money the driving force behind the creation of real art. Most excellent
artists can only make a reasonable living as only a very small number of them get
a lucky break and become famous. But this never kills the inspiration to
create.
Therefore, it all
depends on taste, culture, environment, training and viewpoint, whether you see
a real artwork as a decorative item or as an ornament.
What I referred
to above is an based on 45 years of being a professional artist
Regards
Dorothy Laguerenne
Wannenburgh Mathews
My notes:
Here are some adjectives for ornaments: noncommittal and ostentatious (showy), wonderfully beautiful and complex, single meretricious, fragile native, exterior and adventitious, false or unseasonable, fragile and priceless, deformed but indispensable, gaudy and technical, flexible, circular, slender and charming, chief and ...https://describingwords.io/for/ornaments
Ps. You can view
Dorothy’s art on Facebook at:
