And Here...We...Go!

Thomas Hoving once wrote, "To be a connoisseur you don't need an advanced degree in art history or archaeology [...] all you have to do is saturate yourself with endless thousands of works of art and let them do the rest." And he should know what he's talking about. He served as director of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York for a decade, and is most directly responsible for wresting the museum from the hands of ivory tower elites and making it accessible to the plebeian public. You know all those public exhibitions and special events that art museums commonly host these days? That's his legacy.

Anyway, that's also the point of this blog. People are often intimidated by art. Some people trivialize art. Hell, a few are even downright hostile toward art. I should know - I used to fit into a couple of those categories (I've only been openly hostile toward some contemporary art, but more on that later).

I liked art when I was young. I think most people like art before life has worn them down and made mindless consumer-drones of them. As soon as I had my driver's license, I would skip out of my high school classes and head straight for the Dallas Museum of Art where I would while away my time surrounded by paintings and sculptures. I would sketch what I liked in an effort to see if I had a glimmer of talent (is there a market for stick figures? Because I rock at those). But sometime in my mid-20s I stopped. I don't know why. Art became merely decorative and meaningless to me. It remained so for quite some time. The only art class I took in college was a required art history course, and I found the professor to be such an insufferable twat that it cemented my indifference to art.

But a couple of years ago, I was introduced to Simon Schama's The Power of Art documentary series. Here, Schama not only laid bare the tribulations faced by the artists, he showed the social impact of the works. Often they were scorned in their time, becoming iconic or even notorious much later. I was hooked. I began devouring art history books, watching art documentaries, and visiting art museums and galleries with an unprecedented exuberance. And the more I learned, the most exciting I found the affair.

I began to develop an eye for artistic style. I noticed similarities between artists, regions, and time periods. I saw how one movement would preface another. And I saw the ebb and flow of social movements and historical periods played out across the centuries through the art. Art didn't make me aware of the past, but it made the past visceral.

But understanding art doesn't mean that I like or even really appreciate all of it. And I think that's another misconception that turns people off to some art. It's okay not to like some of it. It's okay not to like most of it. Hell, when I see the work of Tracey Emin or Isa Genzken, I am filled with something more akin to rage than introspection or adoration. But hey, it's having an effect on me, just not one that I enjoy.

And this is why I started this blog. Everyone should have the ability to enjoy art. But the stereotype of the stodgy art connoisseur in his top hat and monocle, or the elitist hipster shaming the uninitiated out of the art gallery have made many understandably apprehensive about embracing art. While there are people who fit those stereotypes (well, maybe not the Monopoly Man one), they don't deserve the attention they get. Remember that even the most learned art scholar had to start someone.

I don't claim to have any special knowledge. I don't even claim to know what the hell I'm talking about most of the time. But I'm learning. If you'd care to join me, I think we should start here.