The problem with art appreciation or lack thereof…
An essay…
If you have been following, you know I started teaching Art Appreciation last Monday. The textbook is Gateways to Art written by Debra DeWitte, Kathryn Shields, and Ralph Larmann. It is pretty good, easy to read, and its chapters are short. There are a significant number of resources which have been very helpful to me. Teaching a new course in the middle of the academic year adds a certain pressure. The time you might use in the summer months to prepare is simply not possible in between semesters. There is a sense of urgency and a little anxiety when it is a first time preparation.
This class is a GenEd course. Thus, my students are not art majors. They come from all other departments and colleges. And there are several international students, which I love to have in class. I thought it would be fun to start with what they think art is. To my surprise they were more than willing to jump in with their examples, including showing off their tattoos. I was delightfully surprised that they willingly came to the front to show off their body art.
When I was putting together the first lecture— which was a selection of visuals from diverse sources as art examples— I realized that the book did not include several artists whose fame and work have had an international exposure and success. I came to know some of these artists in 1990 on a trip to Venezuela; to the Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Caracas.
Because my undergraduate degree was Art Education I took several art history classes as well as studio classes. In our art history classes back home (University of Puerto Rico) we learn not only about European art and the classics but we also learn about Latin American and Caribbean art. Something I find sorely missing in art history textbooks, the one above mentioned included. And there are so many artists to learn about that made their mark in history. Being that Puerto Rico is a US Commonwealth (ahem, colony), you’d think our contributions to art and design history would be somehow acknowledged. The one museum mentioned in the book is the Museo de Arte de Ponce. It was mentioned because it houses Flaming June by Frederic Lord Leighton.
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Undoubtedly, Flaming June is a gorgeous painting following the classical tradition and the preparatory work behind it makes it even more profound. She, the woman, is wearing an ethereal gown and her curves are beautifully insinuated in the brush work. But, this painting fell off from favor for years until it was acquired by former governor and industrialist Luis Ferré in 1960. He bought the painting for less than an $1,000.00. Let me state that before it was sold, it was shown in a store window selling for $50.00. Of course, those amounts in that economy were a little higher than today’s. Still, it was nothing compared to its current worth.
I have seen Flaming June in person. But I have also seen art outside the European canon as well. Artworks that by all accounts should be in books, or at least shown in classes. I am sure you are now wondering with a little exasperation “what art Alma??” Of course, I will tell you.
My first experience confronting how little we know about art beyond European art was in a drawing class back at Iowa State University. The professor asked us to write a paper about an artist. Since I had not seen any examples of who I was thinking, I asked her if I could write about the Colombian artist Fernando Botero. She agreed because she had never heard of him. The thing is that Botero was internationally famous by then. She seemed genuinely interested and wanting to learn about him. I appreciated that and wrote about him.
Botero’s work shows situational portraitures and often but not always, these are domestic ones. His figures are voluminous and voluptuous heavily outlined, which echos Latin American art. Some of the portraits are even funny. Which is entirely on point, since the work may come across as satirical. Some are a criticism to excesses, opulence, and sometimes vices or “pecadillos”.
I had heard my professor and mentor Lope Max Diaz talk about Botero often in the art studio. Lope Max was my first official drawing professor and somehow he managed to keep my attention when talking about artists. I saw Botero’s work for the first time in an apartment my Dad was going to buy. He sent me to check it out. The owner had a Botero and a Degas. I gasped when I walked in. She offered to sell it to me. I was unable, of course.
But it was when I went to Caracas and saw several Botero’s, that my jaw dropped. I was standing in front of the work of a genius and had this moment of awe I could not get over from. I could look at it at no rush. Yes, the figures were exaggerated, large, monumental, and even felt that they did not fit their spaces. The article in Biography describes Botero’s influences, one of them is having visited the circus as a child. And yes, there is almost a circus like feel to his figures not only in their depiction but also in their style of makeup, wardrobe, and their rosy cheeks. Like when you are actually in a circus and watch the shows. There is always a sense of grandeur and humor. That is how I felt when I saw the work in Caracas.
Caracas incorporates art in their public spaces as well as private. The train stations exhibit work from artists, young and professional. The theater Teatro Teresa Carreño exhibits work from kinetic artist Jesus Rafael Soto and the airport’s mosaic (Aeropuerto Internacional Simón Bolívar) on the floor was created by Carlos Cruz-Diez. I walked those floors and remember feeling an immense sense of awe. Nothing replaces the impact seeing art and design of this magnitude and integrated in the spaces we frequent for work and life has in your life.
There should be a class called Art and Design Beyond Europe, or Art and Design Outside of Europe. And there are, of course. But not enough. We still look back to Europe as the birth of it all. But, if we do believe, and I do, that art, the impulse to make art is universal and its expression transcends language, then it stands to reason that other expressions should be equally valid and worthy of being documented. Maybe that is my next book. I am joking because I am not sure where to start on that one.
Art is not a waste of time as many seem to think. Neither it is a secure ticket to starvation as others believe. It is true that many artists did depend on others to make a living such as Van Gogh and that many do not live to see their work being hailed. But, we need not aim to be a rock star in the art world. Our appreciation of art making should extend beyond what we have accepted thus far. There is so much more.
For instance, my professor Lope Max. When I took classes with him, I did not know him or know about him. But, I started seeing his work in galleries in San Juan back then. I was always impressed by the use of geometry not only in the shapes depicted but also in the canvasses themselves. He makes his own canvasses because there is no canvas that will be shown in its conventional sizes and shapes. The canvas becomes art itself in his work. And his use of color is energetic and powerful. You can’t expect the usual color combinations as Lope Max challenges your senses with not only the canvasses’ shapes but also with the dynamic color contrasts he uses.
Art must be personal and in Lope Max’s work though it may seem it is not because of its geometry, the work is deeply personal. The work usually tells stories though it may take some time to decipher. Work that is personal does not need be easily understood.
One thing I am trying to teach my Art Appreciation students is that beyond looking at work and talking about the formalities, we need to make it personal. If you are in the work itself, what would you be? Or if the work is telling you a story or asking you a question, what do you say?
When we discussed Flaming June, I asked, “does this look like a woman who has to work to put food on the table?” “Does this look like a woman whose nails will be broken from scrubbing the floor?” “Does this look like a woman who is worried about her financial situation?” “No, of course not. So, what does it tell you?”
There is no right or wrong answer. The work is remarkable because it shows Leighton’s particular strength in shaping the human form and textures. Yes. But it also communicates ideals about life, the female form (I mean, those legs!!), and expectations.
The problem with art appreciation is that we do not appreciate it enough. Not enough to properly teach it, not enough to teach beyond the usual, and not beyond to incorporate it as a method of memorization and learning.
Until next week my dear friends,
Love,
Alma