Art Appreciation and Snobbery

John Graham

© 2006

The appreciation of art has always been tainted with snobbery of all kinds: snobbery that comes from knowing more about different artists than others might; or more about paint; or more about art history; or more about the different schools of art and their relationships. This is unfortunate because art is nothing more than a child picking up a crayon and describing a great big purple circle. The child knows what it wants to paint and paints as well as it can. It uses a crayon because it’s available. Furthermore, the child knows its mother will certainly enjoy the painting and may stick it on the refrigerator. Maybe they might even give the painting to the aunt that’s visiting this weekend. Translate that experience to fit a classic Flemish artist of the 16th century and his actions. He assembles his paints near at hand including that new perfect blue pigment that he managed to buy in Antwerp last month. He selects a canvas ready stretched and sets up the easel so that it’s lit from the north window. He tentatively sketches the outlines of an image in charcoal … thinking while he does so, “The Cardinal was very complimentary of the last “Adoration” but maybe if the animals in the stable had a more central position?” As he ponders, his hand describes a stable attached to a farmhouse that he remembers across the canal. It is the equivalent of a large purple circle … something he wants to draw and something he knows that the Bishop will buy for the eastern wall of the nave. Both artists have many of the same motivations. The child relies on its mother for appreciation while the artist relies on the Cardinal for both appreciation and payment. Mother might be even more pleased if the picture included some kisses at the bottom. Likewise, since the Cardinal is known to favor pretty young boys, the composition might include a few winged cherubs. Six hundred years later we may appreciate Caravaggio’s skill in painting cherubs but they were simply as effective as the child’s rough crosses … kisses at the bottom of the page. However, if you are not the child’s mother, nor the Cardinal, the appreciation of art in the two instances depends on whether you like a purple circle on the refrigerator or yet another Adoration of the Magi on that dark eastern wall. There is no magic to your appreciation … it is personal. One painting is neither ‘better’ nor ‘worse’ than the other. That’s why newcomers to art appreciation have been heard to say, “I know nothing about art, but I know what I like.” That’s appreciation of a painting in a nutshell.There can be more to it. Appreciation certainly deepens with greater knowledge. If you have painted, you begin to know the relative difficulties of painting with a single crayon on white paper or with brushes and oil paint on canvas. The artist knows that he can convey different impressions by perhaps using the canvas as part of the painting or by using different thicknesses of oils to convey depth or emphasis, just as the child soon realizes that the circle can have different sides if it presses the crayon lightly or heavily on the paper. Unfortunately, knowledge of techniques has engendered “paint snobs” among art viewers even though it is nothing more an appreciation of the technology of art. There is more of course. There are subtleties in painting … the ability to convey the meaning and the feeling while the canvas only shows blurred impressions; the ability to convey an entire detailed scene through simple individual points of paint; the ability to confuse the viewer with unreal scenes; and even nonsense art. If someone becomes a specialist in any genre it is easy to become a specialist snob … but, again, that has nothing to do with an art appreciation. Don’t get me wrong. Greater knowledge can increase your appreciation for a painting and for the techniques in it. Knowing that Schiele learnt from Lautrec, who learnt from Hiroshige, and knowing that each in turn added something original to the outlining of figures and objects makes you appreciate each artist with added value. Knowledge that assists our own selection of art should not make us a snob. Remember that the real heroes in art are the artist and the child not the person who wanders around the gallery proclaiming their knowledge. One writer proclaimed that paintings "possess an 'inner life', and existence and reason for being that doesn't care about imagery and subject matter or history or outside reality." That's what I am speaking about.