YOU ALREADY KNOW EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT ART







A Musing by Thomas Winterstein, OT Artist

About 20 years ago, I ran into my friend Andrea in a coffee shop.  She asked, "What are you doing today, Tom?"  I replied, "Going to the Minneapolis Institute of Art."  "Oh," she said.  "I like going there, but I don't know anything about art."  I was surprised at her comment.  Andrea was a smart, college-educated woman who had opinions about a lot of things.

At about the same time, I was walking with another friend, Ginger, at the Mall of America.  We walked past a gallery selling Thomas Kinkade prints.  I don't care much for his prints and was about to make a snarky comment when Ginger said, "I really like his art.  I have it on my tea towels.  It makes me feel happy."  I was relieved that I hadn't made that snarky comment. 

I had two revelations from these encounters.  First, visual art seems to be the only art about which many people feel too ignorant to have an opinion about a piece of art.  For example, these same persons probably offer their opinions on all sort of music without any fear of appearing ignorant.  I've never heard someone say "I don't know anything about music" before stating what they like.  Just as no one has to know the difference between music written in a minor key or a major key to enjoy it, no one has to know the difference between, say, abstract expressionism (for example, Composition VII, Wassily Kandinsky) and impressionism (below, Poppy Fields, Claude Monet) to enjoy art.  

Composition VII, Wassily Kandinsky

Composition VII, Wassily Kandinsky

Poppy Fields, Claude Monet

Poppy Fields, Claude Monet


I think that the fear of expressing an opinion about art comes from two sources.  First, we tend to think of art as something we see at an art show, gallery or museum.  I think of museums as temples devoted to art because they are like temples:  buildings set on high plinths, Greek or Roman columns surrounding the entrances, people moving silently and respectfully through the interior, paying homage to the images displayed reverently on the walls.  But, sometimes it is hard to understand why the art displayed is worthy of reverence; as a result, we may conclude that we don't know anything about art. 


Second, we hear about the extraordinary prices paid for art.  For instance,
 $120,000 was once paid for a ripe banana duct-taped to a wall (Someone at a $120,000 banana that an artist had taped to a wall | CNN), and we cannot comprehend why taping a banana to a wall is art.  As a result, we may conclude that we just don't know anything about art. 

There is a well-known observation by the science fiction author Theodore

 Sturgeon:  "Ninety percent of everything is crap" (Sturgeon's law -
 Wikipedia
).  Applying this to art museums means that only a fraction of
 the art in any museum is truly great.  The rest of the art is usually worth
 viewing, but may be from lesser artists or lesser works by famous artists.
  It is worth noting that museums display art for all sorts of reasons:  the
 art displayed may be the only piece they have from a great artists, but it
 is a minor work; the art may be displayed because it represents a period
 or style of art and is a minor work; or it may simply be art that the
 viewer  doesn't care for.


After reading "The $12 Million Stuffed Shark" by Don Thompson, I've concluded that the art market is like the market for Beanie Babies:  the prices paid don't necessarily represent the true value of the product.  Beanie Babies can be purchased from Walmart (Beanie Babies in Stuffed Animals & Plush Toys, Walmart.com).  However, the prices for vintage Beanie Babies can be in the thousands of dollars (41 Most Valuable Beanie Babies Worth Money (2024) - Parade).  Some, according to this post, are worth over $120,000 (Editor's note:  Right up there with the ripe banana taped to a wall). 

Mr. Thompson lists several reasons why art is sold for millions of dollars, none of which are related to the quality of the art.  He wrote, "Money itself has little meaning in the upper echelons of the art world - everyone has it.  What impresses is ownership of a rare and treasured work such as Jasper Johns' 1958 White Flag   He also wrote that art may be purchased "...over the phone or via the Internet, without first seeing the actual painting."  Art may be purchased for the same reason a Louis Vitton handbag or an Audemars Piguet watch is purchased, because it demonstrates the purchaser is a "...person of wealth and independent taste."

What do you need to know about art?  You like it or you don't.  That is all.  Just as a person likes a piece of music or doesn't.  We don't make a person justify why they like a piece of music, nor do we insist that a person knows something about music before they offer an opinion on a musical work.  

If you like a work of art - great.  If you don't like a work of art - great.  Just as we don't expect a person to like every kind of music, we can't expect a person to like every kind of art.  But the more you experience visual art, the more sophisticated and discerning your taste will be.  Similarly, at one time you may have like the nursery song, "The Wheels on the Bus," but now appreciate the complexity of a violin concerto or a performance by Eric Clapton.

I know a man who had been a counselor at a group home for teenage boys in Fall River, Massachusetts.  All the boys had been sent to the group home by the courts.  This man would take the boys on field trips to the Rhode Island School of Design Museum in Providence, Rhode Island.  He would say to them, "I want you to find something in the museum you like, and come back and tell me about it."

Off the boys would go into the museum, and would come back and insist that he go see what they had found.  They didn't "know" anything about art; they just found an object or a piece of art that spoke to them, something that made them excited, something they wanted to share.  Like the youth in the group home, all you need to do is find art that speaks to you, art that you want to share.  

You don't need to know anything else.


Author's Note

This musing is based upon my experiences creating art, selling art through group shows, attending art shows, visiting art museums, and many late-night discussions with other artists.  Three books that have helped me understand art, particularly contemporary art, are listed below.

All internet references used were accessed July 17, 2024.

Freeland, Cynthia, 2001.  But Is It Art? An introduction to art theory, New York, Oxford Press.

This is a very readable and slender book on western art theory.  Freeland traces art theory from Plato and Aristotle (who disagreed what about what art is) to the late 20th century.



Thompson, Don, 2008.  The $12 Million Stuffed Shark:  The curious economics of contemporary art, New York, St. Martin's Press.

A description of the very high-priced art market as it was in the mid-2000s.  The review on Amazon says it "...explores the money, lust and self-aggrandizement of the art world in an attempt to determine what makes a particular work valuable while others are ignored."



Wolfe, Tom, 1975.  The Painted Word, New York, Farrar, Straus and Giroux.

A very enjoyable read.  The review on Amazon says, "In 1975, [Tom Wolfe] turned his satirical pen to the pretensions of the contemporary art world - a world of social climbing, elitist posturing and ingeniously absurd self-justifying theorizing.

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