Although the main reason why we place a painting on our wall or let a statue inside our home should be because we love it, there can be no doubt that there are elements that differentiate great art from simply regular one. You can actually choose a course in university that will explain to you, in details, what makes an artwork or an artist great. I won’t pretend to provide such insights to you in one article, but this should help you look at an artwork with different eyes, the next time you find yourself in an art gallery or a museum.
History
An artist should fit in his time. That is one of the first rule that you would learn, if you attended the course that I mentioned in the introduction. When you look at a painting from another time, you need to try to see it as someone would have, back in the days. There should be signs that show how ingrained into the society the artist was, or not. If an artwork interests you, you should be willing to invest the time it will take to really understand it and to discover all the clues that have been left inside it. It will clear up the links that he or she had with their peers. Back in the days, painters would insert the image of their benefactor (the one that paid for the work to be produced). They could also add other important figures of their time. The subject, in itself, should touch upon important events taking place, in that period of history, as well.
Innovators
It is one thing to be part of the impressionist movement, and another one to be Renoir, Monet or Degas. There is always someone, or more often a group of persons, that participate in creating a new style. These are the real innovators in art, and they deserve to be considered in a class of their own. Although it does not mean that future painters will not be as good as their predecessors, they cannot be provided with the same exceptional status as those who came first on the scene.
Proven Technique show through in Great Art
Picasso is known for his cubist style. However, if you interest yourself in the painter, you will learn that the man was a master and could reproduce anything through painting. His technique was flawless. That is why he could let himself go into strange and wild creations, the way that he did. There was no need for
him to show the world that he could paint, because he already had done that previously. When you are an artist, it is your prerogative to choose the style that you want to create or even invent a new one,
if you have such capacities, but you will first need to learn the techniques of paintings no matter which style you choose. Otherwise, you are just putting paint on canvas, which just about anyone can do.
Stability
An artist can be considered great if his works show consistency through time. Creating one work of art that stands out won’t be sufficient to be considered as part of the masters. We can compare it to music, in order to understand it more easily. A one hit wonder will not be remembered by his name, but by the name of the famous song that he wrote. A true painter will impress with every new painting he or she will show to the public. That was true throughout history, and it is still true today.
Many other things will come and influence the status of an artwork or an artist, but these four elements should start pointing you in the right direction, in your quest for a great artwork, by a great artist.
-Lavinia
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