Home Forums A simple assertion: going BEYOND photorealism

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  • #475844
    Hairy wolf
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        A grand work by Daniel Richter

        A grand work by Adrian Ghenie

        I think that we sort of came to a general agreement in another thread, beyond too much philosophizing, that money is quite likely the best measure in establishing the true value for a collector of a work of art. Each and every one of us, including people like myself who “paint for ourselves”, wants the world to see
        our work and even more so buy it. Let’s leave hypocrisy behind us, ok? How many of us want to be another Henry Darger? (A poor janitor who created wondrous works on very long and narrow rolls of paper that were only discovered after his death and are now among the most expensive items of “outsider art”).
        Ok, enough with that. But in this regard, I posted here two examples of works by two relatively young contemporary artists: one German, the other Romanian working in the UK. None of us should doubt their technicals abilities. They are superb. However, in comparison with photorealism masters (whose names I can not recall now, but Derek can help….) works of these two and others in this category sell for prices 10 or 20 times higher than super realistic pieces.
        Why? Because their work goes far beyond showing off technical ability. It reaches certain places in the souls of viewers and potential buyers by means exaggeration, distortion, arbitrary coloring, interesting made up compositions. All of these things are very meaningful and are worth a lot of money to those who know how to fully relate to them and can afford to buy them.
        Cheers!

        #856552
        Hairy wolf
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            Ps no relation between Daniel Richter and Gerhard Richter….

            #856540
            ianuk
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                The modern artists you show do no more in my estimation than copy the scream of munch, add a bit of Schiele and others, paint a distorted face because they know Basquiat was popular, make it messy and Bob’s your uncle, sold! to highest bidder. Unlike you and others, I see nothing original whatsoever.

                #856502
                musket
                Default

                    Since you paint for yourself, I assume you have some other form of income? I wasn’t a hobbyist. I had bills to pay.

                    Neither painting touches my soul. Maybe other people’s but not mine. I can do existential angst without outside help, thanks very much.

                    #856553
                    Hairy wolf
                    Default

                        The modern artists you show do no more in my estimation than copy the scream of munch, add a bit of Schiele and others, paint a distorted face because they know Basquiat was popular, make it messy and Bob’s your uncle, sold! to highest bidder. Unlike you and others, I see nothing original whatsoever.

                        The influences you managed to find here are remarkable. How many time can the wheel be reinvented?
                        And Munch, Schiele, Kirchner blah blah were not influenced by let’s say Goya, El Greco?
                        Are you saying that you prefer photorealism?
                        And yes, I have other sources of income. Thank God.

                        #856525
                        stlukesguild
                        Default

                            I posted here two examples of works by two relatively young contemporary artists: one German, the other Romanian working in the UK. None of us should doubt their technicals abilities. They are superb. However, in comparison with photorealism masters (whose names I can not recall now, but Derek can help….) works of these two and others in this category sell for prices 10 or 20 times higher than super realistic pieces.
                            Why? Because their work goes far beyond showing off technical ability.

                            Is that why they sell for such prices? There are plenty of artists whose work goes far beyond showing off technical ability who can’t sell for anything approaching these prices. And then we have the photo-realistic works of Chuck Close and Gerhard Richter (among others) who sell for prices in the stratosphere.

                            Superstar status and the corresponding stratospheric price range have little to do with anything beyond the desires of the super-wealthy collectors who view art objects as one of the ultimate luxury items… and those who pander to them (dealers, advisors, curators, etc…). Are we to assume they are the only ones who count? This doesn’t seem to be the situation in other art forms. Kaija Saariaho, John Adams, Philip Glass, Pierre Boulez, Krzysztof Penderecki, etc… may be musical giants within the “classical music” genre… supported by super-wealthy patrons. But they earn nothing like Lady Gaga or Katy Perry or Taylor Swift whose music sells to a mass audience. The same applies to literature. There are few real literary aficionados who would suggest that J. K. Rowling is one of the best writers of all time… or even just today… regardless of her financial success. Financial success and sales records have little if anything to do with artistic merit.

                            Returning to the traditional visual arts… painting, sculpture, etc… we find the majority of artists cannot count upon the patronage of the super-wealthy. A little research leads you to discover that the average sale price of a work of contemporary art is a bit over $25,000… but this average is greatly skewed by the astronomical prices of the highest-priced work of art. The median price of a work of contemporary art is just a bit over $1300. Within the vastly larger market of contemporary art… outside of the market of the super-wealthy… craftsmanship and technical skill remain at a premium. Highly-skilled “realists” can demand a higher price than the average neo-Impressionist/Expressionist/Abstract Artist. Those who find meaning in art and who know how to fully relate to works of art are not limited to the very rich. Marketing your art in response to the imagined desires of the super-wealthy collectors of the moment seems pretentious at best… and naive if not down-right foolish.

                            Saintlukesguild-http://stlukesguild.tumblr.com/
                            "Beauty is truth, truth beauty—that is all ye know on earth and all ye need to know." - John Keats
                            "Modern art is what happens when painters stop looking at girls and persuade themselves that they have a better idea."- John Ciardi

                            #856554
                            Hairy wolf
                            Default

                                Since you paint for yourself, I assume you have some other form of income? I wasn’t a hobbyist. I had bills to pay.

                                Neither painting touches my soul. Maybe other people’s but not mine. I can do existential angst without outside help, thanks very much.

                                As for people who make a living off selling their work, I keep on asking myself a simple question: are there enough walls in the world for all that stuff to be hung??…
                                After all, in many third world countries there are millions of buildings and huts where not one single work of art is hung.. 😔

                                #856503
                                musket
                                Default

                                    My stuff didn’t go on walls. I was a 3D guy, not 2D.

                                    Really, what is the big deal? What is this bee in your bonnet about money?

                                    What are you selling, if not your work?

                                    #856555
                                    Hairy wolf
                                    Default

                                        My stuff didn’t go on walls. I was a 3D guy, not 2D.

                                        Really, what is the big deal? What is this bee in your bonnet about money?

                                        What are [I]you[/I] selling, if not your work?

                                        I see…. ok… so we’re talking about tables, pedestals here. Ok.
                                        I sell financial services.

                                        #856543
                                        Dcam
                                        Default

                                            One of my professors at NYU was Idelle Weber, a leading woman photo-realist. She was so open to all the various ways and styles in which we students worked. She was a real appreciator of art in all its forms.
                                            I got so tired of the painterly professors who would yell loosen up loosen up constantly. You are working too tight.

                                            Why go beyond photo realism if it works for some?

                                            I don’t paint photo-realist, but I do adhere to good rendering because I like representational works.

                                            Hairy, you know that photo-realism is a major art movement from art history. Usually the artist would take the photo and then work from it.
                                            Idelle Weber is famous for her paintings of garbage……yes, trash in the street. Anyway what she and other photo-realists would arrive at were an excellent photo and a painting….TWO works of art. Not bad. She didn’t just walk around with a cell phone and shoot pictures. She too careful compositions with a professional camera.

                                            The images you posted remind me of the waking dreams I had when coming out of anesthesia……horror. I’m not sure I could live with these in my home.

                                            #856556
                                            Hairy wolf
                                            Default

                                                One of my professors at NYU was Idelle Weber, a leading woman photo-realist. She was so open to all the various ways and styles in which we students worked. She was a real appreciator of art in all its forms.
                                                I got so tired of the painterly professors who would yell loosen up loosen up constantly. You are working too tight.

                                                Why go beyond photo realism if it works for some?

                                                I don’t paint photo-realist, but I do adhere to good rendering because I like representational works.

                                                Hairy, you know that photo-realism is a major art movement from art history. Usually the artist would take the photo and then work from it.
                                                Idelle Weber is famous for her paintings of garbage……yes, trash in the street. Anyway what she and other photo-realists would arrive at were an excellent photo and a painting….TWO works of art. Not bad. She didn’t just walk around with a cell phone and shoot pictures. She too careful compositions with a professional camera.

                                                The images you posted remind me of the waking dreams I had when coming out of anesthesia……horror. I’m not sure I could live with these in my home.

                                                Thanks Derek! Waking from anesthesia, huh?!?…:😆😀
                                                I’m not sure about that Richter, but I wouldn’t mind the Ghenie in my living room.

                                                #856544
                                                Dcam
                                                Default
                                                    #856541
                                                    ianuk
                                                    Default

                                                        The influences you managed to find here are remarkable. How many time can the wheel be reinvented?
                                                        And Munch, Schiele, Kirchner blah blah were not influenced by let’s say Goya, El Greco?
                                                        Are you saying that you prefer photorealism?
                                                        And yes, I have other sources of income. Thank God.

                                                        I have no preference in art. Only what strikes me and touches some sense, some related memory. Nevertheless, I am not taken in by Kandinsky saying he saw an image hanging upside down and discovered abstract. Hans Schmithals was creating abstract when Kandinsky was still studying law and economics. That Kandinsky pioneered abstract, there is no doubt. However, I can’t be doing with all the hype. Warhole is interesting in that he was painting a consumerist society and expressing such with his vision.
                                                        The paintings in the original post are from a far lower league with no more vision than that of a rocking horse

                                                        I never requested your sources of income :)

                                                        #856504
                                                        musket
                                                        Default

                                                            I think that we sort of came to a general agreement in another thread, beyond too much philosophizing, that money is quite likely the best measure in establishing the true value for a collector of a work of art. Each and every one of us, including people like myself who “paint for ourselves”, wants the world to see our work and even more so buy it. Let’s leave hypocrisy behind us, ok?

                                                            I’m sorry to derail this one a little, but I myself sold three pieces to one of the most prominent collectors of art and antiquities in the world (now deceased). His collection was very eclectic. He owned de Koonings. He owned antique duck decoys. He owned the Guennol Lioness. The entire Guennol Collection in the Brooklyn Museum was on loan from him, as were many pieces in the Cloisters. He had enough money to buy anything he wanted to buy. I very much doubt money had anything to do with his decision to buy my work. I’m an unknown. My work had no investment value. He bought the pieces purely on what he considered to be artistic merit. As to how he found out about me, just another example of the power of connections and luck.

                                                            #856557
                                                            Hairy wolf
                                                            Default

                                                                I have no preference in art. Only what strikes me and touches some sense, some related memory. Nevertheless, I am not taken in by Kandinsky saying he saw an image hanging upside down and discovered abstract. Hans Schmithals was creating abstract when Kandinsky was still studying law and economics. That Kandinsky pioneered abstract, there is no doubt. However, I can’t be doing with all the hype. Warhole is interesting in that he was painting a consumerist society and expressing such with his vision.
                                                                The paintings in the original post are from a far lower league with no more vision than that of a rocking horse

                                                                I never requested your sources of income :)

                                                                Sorry, Ian. Someone else did…🤓

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