Article written by Valeria Lasso.
There are many opinions that come to play when we think about what makes a good painting. We want to believe that there is no such thing as an ‘ugly’ painting. But let’s be honest, we’ve all seen a painting at least once and thought damn that’s horrible and proceeded to question who on earth thought it was okay to put that up for display.
The truth is that art is one of the most subjective things we can talk about. The reason for this is that people have different tastes. We all have different responses to different stimuli and therefore, we’re bound to react very differently to the art that we see.
Some people like dark colors and paintings that have a deep meaning. Others maybe prefer light colors and like to look at things that make them feel happy and warm inside. Now, I’m not saying that the whole world fits into only those two options. There are countless combinations to explain people’s preferences. Personally, I like looking at paintings that show that there was a high level of effort, dedication and skills. To me, that shows how talented a person really is.
Even though it is hard to say exactly what makes a good painting, I believe we can all come to an agreement on some things.
Meaning. I have not met a single person that likes to look at art and is okay with thinking that it means nothing. It is important for the artist to create art that has meaning, if not for themselves, for the people that will look at it. It is essential for the meaning to be expressed through a focal point in the painting. This way the person admiring the art has at least some idea of what they’re supposed to be looking at and that there truly is meaning behind the painting. If it doesn’t hold any meaning, then what’s the point?
This leads me to my next point: Beauty. Again, subjective. Some people might think that abstract art is beautiful, others might think that realistic paintings are more beautiful. But when it comes down to it, our personal tastes have nothing to do with a painting being good. Good art will always be good. As art lovers, we intuitively know when the artists knew what they were doing. We can look at a painting and decipher whether or not the artist had the necessary skills it takes to make it.
It is one thing to react to a painting because of our likes and dislikes and to react to it because of its poor-making quality. We can tell when the colors make sense, and when the shapes and lines flow together accordingly.
To me, good art is when you can tell that a three-year-old wasn’t the one that made it. If you look at a painting and struggle to make out if a person with actual skills made it or if a child tripped and splashed all the paint on the floor and some of it accidentally hit the canvas in a funny way, then it can probably be submitted to a closer inspection.
The performance of the artist when it comes to the medium (brushwork, transparency, liquidity, thick layering, edge manipulation, color modulation and finishing) helps make a good painting. The artist must show that they master the medium that they are using in their painting. If they don’t, it doesn’t matter how much meaning the piece holds, it’ll just be a pretentious painting.
Talking about pretentious paintings, can we also talk about the pretentious pricing of some works of art?
Let’s pretend we’re talking about a good piece of work. A painting that conveys enough to be considered a good painting. What would be a reasonable price for it?
Aelita Andre is an eleven-year-old Australian girl that makes abstract paintings and sells them for a generous amount of money.
Aelita sells her paintings from $10,000 to $25,000.
I mean no offence to the girl, or to the people that willingly gave her thousands of dollars for her work. But, if you look her up and see a video of her painting, she is literally throwing paint all over the place. It is hard to tell whether the things she puts on the canvas are on purpose or accidental.
I’ll give her this: she’s creative and has – from a very young age – cracked the system. She knows that she can throw paint around, onto a canvas, talk about the cosmos and the universe, and make a pretty decent profit out of it. Her artwork is not bad at all. Most of the time, it even looks kind of good. But the level of skills that a person needs to do what she does is well… the skill of an eleven-year-old that can throw paint.
She’s managed to sell some paintings for as much as $50,000 dollars.
I don’t believe that those paintings are worth $10,000, let alone $50,000.
I’m sorry, but just considering that I could pay most of my tuition fees with one of her paintings, is enough for me to realize that the pricing is just ridiculous. I spend about $60 on groceries every week or so, that means that I could buy my groceries for a little over 7 years with just one of her paintings. What?
One of her paintings could cover over two months’ worth of chemotherapy for a cancer patient. It could easily cover for a woman’s in vitro fertilization and even pay for a C-section procedure.
If your mouth is not hanging open by this point, just wait.
How much would you say the Mona Lisa is really worth?
Last year, Salvator Mundi by Leonardo da Vinci was sold for $450 million USD. It broke the record for the most expensive painting ever sold at auction. It is estimated that in an auction, the Mona Lisa could be worth $500/600 million USD. The starting price and the considered real monetary value of the painting would be $150/200 million USD.
I guess you could consider the pricing in relation to who painted it, how old the piece is, and what it means to the world. But still, really?
Brunei Darussalam could be free of national debt with that kind of money. You could feed over 200,000 people. Build hundreds of houses for people who lost their homes due to natural disasters. That kind of money could make a huge change to the world, and it’s going to end up sitting in someone’s living room, or in an art gallery.
When I think of the things – that actually matter – that you could do with that money, I realize that it’s just not logical or reasonable for one painting to cost such a huge amount of money. It doesn’t matter who made it, or how long it’s been around.
I encourage you to analyze the art that you see the next time that you go to an art gallery. Determine whether it is a good piece of art, not because of your personal preference, but for the quality and work put into it. Think about the person who made it, how old they were and whether they knew how to display their skills.
Just for fun, give it a price if it doesn’t have one already. Consider what would and what would not be a reasonable price for it and think about the impact that kind of money could have on your life. Contemplate the impact it would have on the world. I guarantee you, you will not look at art the same.
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