Winterglide— At West End Gallery
True art and true science possess two unmistakable marks: the first, an inward mark, which is this, that the servitor of art and science will fulfil his vocation, not for profit but with self- sacrifice; and the second, an external sign, his productions will be intelligible to all the people whose welfare he has in view.
–Leo Tolstoy, What to Do?: Thoughts Evoked by the Census of Moscow, 1887
Quite a few years ago, I was at an informal gathering of artists that included a critique of a new work from each of us. One young artist had a darkly shaded painting that had an even darker amorphous shape in it. Someone asked what it was or what it might mean. He responded that he was trying to trick people into thinking it was something that it was not, that he didn’t want them to know what it was.
I remember being pissed off. There was a smugness to his answer that still irks me. I don’t remember what I said in response. Looking back now, the passage at the top from Tolstoy very much sums up some of what I hoped I said.
True art– no matter what it is or how it is created–fulfills a meaningful purpose and the artist sacrifices some hidden, inner part of themself in order to create such art.
I believed, as I do now, that this purpose of art is to reveal the world, not to obscure it. To clarify, not confuse. To inspire, not belittle.
To be in on the joke, not the butt of it.
And, as Tolstoy points out, true art needs no translation. It speaks all languages to all people.
I thought of this last night while watching the Oscars and seeing the Osage Tribal Singers performing Best Original Song nominee Wahzhazhe (A Song for My People) from Killers of the Flower Moon. You didn’t have to be of the Osage tribe or understand the language to feel the power and meaning of the song. Powerful stuff– purposeful and intelligible. You can see it below.
Note: I am using one of my own paintings to illustrate this post. I am not inferring that it is true art. That is not for me to say nor has it been tested by time and exposure to say such a thing. I just need something to fill the space.
https://youtu.be/GL4UfegPpS0?si=Sb77o_S7zGmjbe2P
Who among us, looking back down the path of no return, can say they followed it in the right way? — Fernando Pessoa
Redtree Times 