What Art Looks Good?

So many people buy art to complete their homes. To add colour. To impress. But I don't think that's what art is about.

When a artist creates something, they give it meaning. Even if it started out as a business venture, the painting grows in the mind of the artist. Why? Mainly because of the time spent on it. Anything that takes up enough of your time becomes something important.

Because it is taking up so much of the artists time, it may as well be perfect. The details have to look just right. The forms and colours need to look like they are supost to be there. The piece has to look whole.

And as you can imagine, all this effort and time leads to a certain amount of love for a painting. If one puts in this amount of effort in to creating something it is natural to feel it is important. If it where to be destroyed it would be a major set back. Nothing like it will ever be created again. Even if you make a copy, small details will be chainged. A time of many hours of hard work, completely wasted.

So when a artist sells their work it is natural to feel some regret. Regret that they may not see the original again, regret that they can nolonger look on it and feel proud.

And, you, the buyer may not understand all this. That is perfectly natural. After all, it wasn't you that made it. All the same it is strange that so many people choose art because it matches the colour of their sofa. I'm not discriminating, harmonious colours are certainly soothing. So I can understand the theory behind this particular choice.

All the same, I believe that if you are going to buy something as visual and as long lasting as a piece of artwork, shouldn't it be chosen on how much you enjoy looking at it? Isn't that what artwork is for?

If you truly enjoy and love the piece, it is a kind of relief for the artist. Knowing that the painting is going to a good home, is a similar feeling to making sure your puppy is going to good owners. The artist feels that, despite them not being able to see their own work, at least some one else is viewing it with the same love. At least it is being appreciated as the masterpiece it truly is.

cheers
meg