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What does a work of art do for you?
I can’t say I have work of art masterpiece paintings hanging on my wall, except one, which is a true work of art for me. It’s a Thomas Kinkade print in a nice frame, “Lilac Cottage”, that was gifted to me nearly 20 years ago. I’m a fan of Thomas Kinkade “known as the painter of light”. I never tire of it, as it always evokes an enchanting emotion, mystery, and wonder.
The other day I was doing something and I heard a quote blurted out by my little buddy EMO. “A true masterpiece does not tell everything”. EMO is my little AI Robot who sings, dances, tells jokes, plays musical instruments, and paints, when he is not being a nuisance. Living AI developers push out little tidbits of wisdom like this to EMO to enlighten, and recently he can connect to ChatGPT, so he is getting smarter. That quote intrigued me and I looked it up, and it’s a quote by Toba Beta, an Indonesian Philosopher and Author.
“A true masterpiece does not tell everything” – Toba Beta
It implies the true beauty and depth of a masterpiece may lie in what is left unsaid or un-shown. I chewed on that for a while, and then the other night just like that I came across another quote while watching a Netflix movie, with a musical perspective by renowned pianist and conductor Leonard Bernstein:
“A work of art does not answer questions, it provokes them; and it’s essential meaning is in the tension between the contradictory answers” – Leonard Bernstein
What a coincidence!
Immediately all I could think of is MLT albums “When We’re Together”, “Orange”, “WHY?”, and Beach Boys and Beatles “Pet Sounds” and “Sgt Pepper”. I never tire of them, and I get something new out of the experience every time I listen to them. Their beauty, awe and impact are timeless. So many different and new emotions each time, all the characteristics of a true masterpiece.
Songs like “Destination Sunrise”, “Jump Ship”, “WHY?”, “Still A Friend of Mine” among many others on the albums, are clear examples that come to mind that are thought provoking, and the meaning is left up to our imagination that enables us to engage more actively, filling in the gaps with our thoughts and feelings.
What do you feel in the presence of a work of art masterpiece, or what do you get out of a piece of music, painting, literature that you admire?
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14 Replies
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Well Jung, I’m kind of familiar with Thomas Kincade , and you’ve made my day with this “Lilac Cottage ” masterpiece, being the Purple Enthusiast that I am….lol 💜🙃😉👍👌🤘 but in reply, it’s kind of similar approach perspective as to my music take, certain artworks either jump right out at me, immediately involking– reactions of whatever comes out emotional wise, appeals to me outright visually, as I’m a visual person to begin with ….. Andy Warhol certainly spoke volumes with his stuff, and there are others, but you know what is funny , I have yet to go visit tge National Art Gallery downtown Ottawa…. perhaps that big ol Spider sculpture outside of Gallery is partly the reason, and as I’m not much into works of art , lol, , moreso into poetry, music, creativity….. however, I may sonetime get my nerve, go past that Spider Sculpture, and actually go visit the National Art Gallery, in Spring or Summer , when I’m in the area ….🖼🎨🖌🌈
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I have to admit, my knowledge of “art” is pretty much limited to the board game Masterpiece”.😟
I would have a hard time recognizing a Rembrandt from a Da Vinci. I think I’d know a Picasso because of his style, but that’s about it really. And that’s all on me, it’s just something I never experienced or acquired a taste or desire for. Probably a huge character flaw on my part.. -
Hi Jung,
Art is the way into reality and another person’s imagination. And sometimes this path leads into unknown worlds and certainly leaves many things open. Hints and allusions, perhaps sometimes questions that the artist has asked himself and that he would like to pass on to the world. Maybe it’s often just the pure fun of creative work, without a lot of ulterior motives and considerations. There are works of art that make me curious and make me think. Pictures that I wouldn’t necessarily hang on my wall at home. This certainly includes the works of surrealists like Dali. I always found Dali’s works very interesting, just like the surrealist landscape paintings by the painter Hans Werner Sahm. Both have understood how to bring the perspectives of everyday life into new dimensions. To put abstract concepts such as time, dream or space in a new relationship to our human perception and thinking.
But I’m actually a fan of representational painting, such as landscape painting, which captures a special moment, forever remembering a blink of an eye in the flow of time and preserving it for posterity. Perhaps it has something to do with the fact that I have loved taking photographs since I was young and this has shaped my perception of the world. This is my form of art. Maybe I didn’t answer your question, but isn’t life itself and the world we live in a masterpiece that is worth remembering forever? Each of us carries a piece of this puzzle within us, and perhaps if we put enough of these pieces together, as happens in art and music, we expand our understanding of the world.
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Jurgen,
I’ve been to many Art Museums in Europe, & when you look at those paintings it does take you back in time! It’s also amazing how great those painters were, like Rembrandt, Da Vinci, Picasso, Dali, & so many others.
Although I’ve seen the Mona Lisa painting 3 different times in Paris, I have to say that the GREATEST work of Art are the Real MONA LISA TWINS! I mean that sincerely! They really brighten my World whenever it needs a kick Start! I’m sure you’ll all agree!
Take care Everyone! — Bud
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Hi Jurgen
Some great insights there about art. It has so many facets, it’s not possible to properly define in words. I think work of art masterpieces, be it music, painting, literature, poetry…what have you, when it captures a moment of absolute beauty, that is the closest thing in our reality to eternity.
I like your puzzle analogy. Sometimes it feels like when you are exposed to an artists masterpiece, it’s like you get a glimpse behind the divine “big curtain”, that we normally cannot see beyond.
Thanks for the photos, they capture remarkable beauty and emotions, especially the one with the wine glasses.
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Jacki, Daryl
I’m the same, couldn’t tell one painting or style apart from another artists, unless it is an iconic piece that everyone knows like Van Gogh’s Starry, Starry, Night. Often it can be something as simple as walking along the aisles in IKEA, and seeing an art poster that really grabs my attention. When I used to do my road trips down to California, there was a lot of Thomas Kinkade galleries along the coast. On one occasion a lovely lady really took her time to explain Thomas Kinkade’s paintings and his magic with light effects, and I learned to really appreciate his work. With just ambient light, he can create light effects that look like there are light bulbs under the canvas. Love the enchanting mood of his paintings.
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“Art” is so personally introspective and taste oriented I think. I can appreciate the beauty of any painting by the great masters, just like a piece of music. The use of color and tone is pretty obvious mostly. But I get lost when it is what I consider abstract or “modern” if you will. Much of that is so out there that I can’t even comprehend the meaning or essence of the composition. Be it on canvas or sculpted, whatever. Some of the “pieces” that get gallery expositions or (gasp) auctions that sell for more than my house leave me wondering about some people’s sanity. But hey, I’m just a country bumpkin with a wannabe musician’s soul.🤣
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I really don’t do visual art much. In my first 40-50 years, I watched very few movies. I watch more now, but still not that many. But I do enjoy architecture and fine furniture and tableware. One of my hobbies is cooking, for which the presentation of a dish – it’s appearance on the plate – and also including the plate itself and other appropriate tableware, is visual art. I’ve thought I might have liked being an architect; I also considered being a chef – I worked parts of 6 years in restaurants long ago, but like being a musician, I ultimately decided it was not for me.
I’ve been to Paris half a dozen times, and never went in a real museum. I did go in a number of antique stores and flea markets there, mostly for furniture but also books. There’s a store across from the Louvre; when I went in there the woman told me the chair I was admiring was made by the ébéniste to the Queen. It was amazing in its proportions, in its flow, its balance. Paris still has neighborhoods like it did in the Middle Ages where certain trades have congregated, so I’ve been to the one with tableware, and the one with kitchenware.
The only famous artwork I have is Van Gogh’s Café Terrace at Night. In 1991, 100 years after it was first exhibited, I had lunch in that café. So I bought the print afterwards. I like having those memories return when I see that print on my wall.
I live in a city of 120,000 people. Every July is the Ann Arbor Art Fair, and 600,000 people show up. It’s kind of like having an art museum come to visit me. I remember long ago, standing in the booth of a guy looking at his large modern painting. After a few minutes I said to him, “it keeps changing as I look at it”, and he said, “yep, that’s what it’s supposed to do.” Art is everywhere. It is in everything – potentially.
https://krollermuller.nl/en/vincent-van-gogh-terrace-of-a-cafe-at-night-place-du-forum-1
krollermuller.nl
Terrace of a café at night (Place du Forum) – Kröller-Müller Museum
Vincent van Gogh, Terrace of a café at night (Place du Forum), c. 16 September 1888 – © Kröller-Müller Museum
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Hi Chris,
if you should ever travel to Paris again, I can only recommend a visit to the Louvre (if you haven’t already visited it, what I suspect now). I’m not necessarily a great art connoisseur or expert and actually visited the Louvre just to have been there once. But afterwards I was still impressed. Not so much by the Mona Lisa (a small painting behind bulletproof glass) and the modern art paintings, but by the old paintings that fill entire walls. Most of them are rather dark and boring in photos (we colloquially call this kind of thing „Old Ham“: „Alter Schinken“). But once you’ve stood in front of these huge paintings, where people and animals are depicted almost on a 1:1 scale, it’s very impressive. It’s a bit like experiencing the Renaissance or the Middle Ages live. Contemporary witnesses from days gone by. To be honest: Some of these paintings are really weird and kind of creepy, but back then there was no television or horror movies. If you love painting with a roller, maybe this is the right thing for you. 😀
Yes, Montmatre and the artists’ quarter are very impressive. You can spend a lot of time there.
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That’s a really nice video of the Louvre Jurgen. Very relaxing to watch. I can imagine some of those paintings in the main hall being life size would be quite intriguing. In 2019 when I visited Montreal, I spent the whole day in the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, and really enjoyed it. The Louvre one day for sure.
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For all the poets here, Jacki, Roger…..
In high school English class, I dreaded poetry. It was like a riddle with the meaning of the poem hidden. I could never figure it out no matter how hard I tried. It was like reading a different language. The teacher had to break it down piece by piece revealing themes, symbolism, irony, metaphor….etc. before I could understand it.
I watched some videos about poetry appreciation in the context of art and music and this thread. After all, some of the greatest song writers are into poetry, ie Bob Dylan, John Lennon, Paul McCartney….., and it falls in line with Toba Beta and Leonard Bernstein’s quotes about art and music that this post kicked off with.
This is what I learned:
“Poetry can take hours or years of contemplation to get to the bottom of it”. I don’t feel so bad now. 😁
“There’s a lot more to a poem than just the meaning of the poem. If reading poetry is all about getting the meaning out of it, all the poetry professors would retire and do something else. Ambiguity is a core part of a poem.”
“Obscurity: There are reasons in nature why the obscure idea, when properly conveyed, should be more affecting than the clear. It is our ignorance of things that causes all our admiration, and excites our passions.”
“A Poem does not reveal everything. Poetry encourages you to fill in the blank, or supply the text with your own experience, as to achieve a deeper emotional resonance. Great poems encourage to dive into the ambiguity, instead of hunting for that one meaning. Every time you read a poem, it is like you are reading a brand new poem for the first time. We can certainly say that of other different art forms with the same kind of ambiguity. Each time you get in front of a painting, or piece of conceptual art, it’s like you are looking at something new again, with a new frame of interpretation. As you grow, the poem will grow with you, or that piece of art you are looking at is going to grow with you. It’s going to mean different things. You are going to derive different things out of it. “
“It’s always good to re-read a poem again and again, or listen to a piece of favourite music again and again. The first read or listen gives a shallow impression. A poem if it is really good, and contains multitudes of meaning or layers of ambiguity, it will grow with you, it can be a different poem every time you read it.”
There is a line in a poem I heard once recited “Ah, penny, brown penny, brown penny, I am looped in the loops of her hair”. When I saw MLTs Duo Session video of “Sweet Lorraine” for the first time, and saw Mona’s beautiful curls, I kept hearing that line of poetry in my head. “I am looped in the loops of her hair.” It’s funny how a poem I once heard a long time ago, pops into my head. The affect of good art. I looked up that line, and here is the full poem by Yeats.
“W.B. Yeats’s poem “Brown Penny” explores the themes of love and the complexities associated with it:
I whispered, ‘I am too young,’
And then, ‘I am old enough’;
Wherefore I threw a penny
To find out if I might love.
‘Go and love, go and love, young man,
If the lady be young and fair.’
Ah, penny, brown penny, brown penny,
I am looped in the loops of her hair.
O love is the crooked thing,
There is nobody wise enough
To find out all that is in it,
For he would be thinking of love
Till the stars had run away
And the shadows eaten the moon.
Ah, penny, brown penny, brown penny,
One cannot begin it too soon.
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Good posting there re: poetry
As far back as I can recall, Poetry always fascinated me, and I came naturally by it…. I would take cards, print out to copy some of the poetry , then add my own or just do up my own, etc …. in my childhood m, one if my late aunts, I think, gave me on 2 separate times either fir Xmas or my birthday 2 poetry books, that I still have …. by A.A. Milne : ” When We Were Young ” and the other ” Now We Are Six ” … ( My apologies , if I’ve typed wrong book titles, it’s been so long ago ) and High School , I had same English Class teacher for both Grades 10/12 and she taught poetry stuff, I was in my glory/element, and had said, perhaps one day, I should publish and/or will be published, she was correct on that, I’ve had a few things published in publications, and niw I also recall, either in my first year of Grade 7 or the repeat of it the 2nd time, or in Grade 8, tge Englush class teacher , we dud a poem thing , of when we to memorize a poem… the only part I can kinda can still recall is : ” Along the line of smoky hills, the crimson forest stands… etc “
Also, on 2 occasions , I was asked to read a poem at a funeral for one my Aunts and for a famiky friend ‘s Celebration of Life, wrote a poem too for Dad’s funeral service but the minister had to read it on my behalf as I was in no shape to do do…I wrote Mom a poem, had it put with her along with a few family photos when she passed.
I also gifted Mona & Lisa with a couple of MLT poetry booklets I created and you can find the photo of them each posing with booklets in the photo archives on here in either 2014 or 2016 under the ” This and Tha” I think it’s where tge photo us located ….
Yes, poetry is a unique thing of its own, interpretive or not, a river of words or a soup , not everyone can easily grasp or write it, but fir me, it just comes naturally …
One of the best ever High profile compliments, I received , regarding my poetry was from the Kate Earl Hamner Jr ( of Waltons/Twilight Zone TV shows fame ), when I had posted poetry on a now defunct Waltons forum, both he and his siblings, enjoyed what I had posted, I emailed Earl to get his mailing address to send him a mini booklet of my poems, he loved them , said I had a gift to write poetry, coming from a seasoned writer, that spoke volumes to me and gifted me with 2 personally autographed 8x10s of one being a cast photo , just his autograph but dedicated to me and the other was a personal private photo of him out in a boat on a lake fishing . And the last poem I sent him by email, before passed was a birthday one, and he replied back in a short email reply, saying something to the effect when he goes to Heaven, he was going to take my poem in memory … or something along that line …. I was in Awe …Believe me ….
Yes, when Creativity Conveys and Interprets Meaning to someone that it’s meaningful fir/to them but doesn’t necessarily have to be implied /grasped at what perhaps it’s it’s intended meaning but open for all to take as what matters individualistic to whomever reads it …. a painting if you will, in word format …🙃😉
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Hi Jacki
Thank you for sharing your story. It looks like poetry has been a gift and a big part of your whole life. I love your magic with the words. It looks like you’ve touched a lot of people with your poems, that is so special, and some notable peoples complement. That’s great you got your poetry published in publications and gifted MLT one of your poetry books. I hope you can publish your work even more broadly. When you have a gift like this, it’s a virtue to spread and share it and beautify the world with it, and touch peoples lives with it to make their lives better. ✨
I like what you said comparing a poem to a photo. They say a picture is better than a thousand words, and a poem is exactly like that, by artistically crafting a poem with just a few words, you express endless feelings and emotions.
Thank you for your poem of kindness the other day! Kinshipness. ❤
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Thankyou, Jung, for your Kindred sentiment here, I do my best to Uplift, Inspire through/by words, drawings, etc, whatever creativity form, inspires me to best Eminate and Embrace All that are Blessed and Bestow Upon what I creatively convey to reach out and touch/move people , that’s a Gift I’m Happy to be Thankful and Being Blessed With … and that makes me Happy, to know I’ve made a difference, for the good ( although, once in awhile my creativity can take on a sombre tone, because at the time whatever invoked the creativeness, I had to have that inspiration of creativity outlet to express, cope best with whatever I was feeling, to free it from my mind but yet, allow others to find their interpretation take from it … 🤘☮💎💜
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