Why I like Art History: Julia

I love art. I particularly love really, really good art. The first few minutes I spent at the Muse Orsay, I had to concentrate on not hyperventilating. You think I'm kidding, but I'm really, really not.

History has always been a hobby of mine, it's sort of a family thing. We've all got this interest and a kind of sense of being born in the wrong time. So, put art and history together and you've pretty much entered my personal nirvana (I know, I'm soooo un-cool), but there is more too it than that.

I like art history because when I look at a painting by Van Gogh, or Rembrandt, Titian, Pollock, etc. etc. I have a better understanding of what I am looking at and a better appreciation for what the artist is trying to convey.

I’ll give you an example (I’ve over shared this with my friends, so they can just ignore me right about now). In the past I didn’t really like Van Gogh’s work, the best way to put it is that I just didn’t get it. It was too much of too much for me. Then I saw some of his work in person and my opinion completely changed. I stood there in front of ‘The Siesta’ and got it. I used to think that seeing his work in person was what changed it for me, but that’s really only part of it. The other 50% was knowing his story.

Van Gogh, "The Siesta"

He painted his (probably) most famous painting, “Starry Night”, from a cell in an asylum. His use of color was personal for him; he attached his own meanings to the colors he used.

Yellow = Hope and trust.

Red and Green = Terrible Passions of humanity

Blue = Spirituality

Knowing these three things, look at “Night Café” and then look at “Starry Night”.

Van Gogh, 'Night Cafe'

Van Gogh, 'Starry Night'

To me there is a huge difference between liking, “Starry Night” because it’s peaceful and lonely feeling and liking it because you know that the deep blue sky represents spirituality and the yellow stars represent hope and trust. Van Gogh said that stars were places he hadn't been to yet, places he'd be able to visit one day.

So, in a nutshell, that’s why I like art history.

Why I Dig Art History: Marie

There is a genre of novels that are considered dystopian. They take place in some future time when the world has either had or is coming to some kind of Armageddon. The characters in these books often learn about the betrayal of their government or the fact that while they lived in some "perfect world" there were things they were ignorant to.

One common thread many of these authors use: a lack of history. Either the people are hidden from their own history or it's distorted, but there is a truth in this approach that I think we can all learn from--our history is a part of what makes us who we are. A large part, actually. Our history tells us where we came from, what we can expect, and helps us in that daily battle of understanding who we are. Art history is the same for an artist's identity as any other type of history.

Alright, so you may think I'm being a little dramatic, but think about it... the artists who are most successful have someone else they were looking towards in one way or another. Picasso knew his history well enough to be influenced by Van Gogh. David was influenced by Caravaggio, like many others before and after him. There was an entire division between groups of people who preferred Ruben's style and another who followed the style of Poussin. Even visionaries knew what went before them; it's what made them able to analyze what had been done and see where their contributions could add to the genre.

Another reason I continue to dig through the writings of artists that have gone before me is the fact that so many times, I need their words of wisdom. While reading Edward Weston's Daybooks (at least the 80 pages I got to read before school took over my life), there was an experience that I really connected with. Weston talks about taking his portfolio to Alfred Stieglitz --a famous photographer from the generation before Weston. Now keep in mind, Weston was the photographer of Modernism. He was doing work that helped elevate photography to an art and he was a mover and shaker. During this early experience, however, Stieglitz took print after print, tossing them into the trash.

Weston took the experience and learned from it. He was humble and took the criticism and I believe the advice he was given about giving attention to every little detail was what helped improve his future work. This came at a time when I was struggling with what seemed to be an onslaught of evidence towards the lack of ability in my own work. I took comfort in knowing this has occurred to photographers much greater than myself.

I hope every artist out there is able to find some other artists that they can connect with, and if you're not an artist, I hope it can help you understand where these artists were coming from. And, of course, keep the history alive by sharing your insights!

Until next time!

Marie

A Baffling Series of Events: Kenna Likes Art History!

Don't get me wrong, world history is great. All those cultures and wars and politics and whatnot. I've taken a fair amount of history classes in my day, I've watched a fair amount of historical documentaries, I've even read books on the subject. And I've quite thoroughly enjoyed all of it. It's great, really.

But here's the thing: if you were to ask me for a sampling of my historical off-hand knowledge, I wouldn't be able to tell you diddly-squat. Zilch. Nada.

But why not?(as you may be asking yourself) If you really are as well-read as you claim to be, surely you could at least give us the cliff-notes version of what started WWI? Or a summary of the USSR? What about the Mongols? Tell us about the Mongols...

I'd love to, but no-can-do, friends. I read it, listen to it, study it, and none of it sticks. Names, dates, places...none of it sticks in my brain no matter how hard I try. My brain is like Teflon when it comes to world history.

And then I took my first Art History class. And everything changed... (*insert magical harp music*)

Now I find myself looking at paintings and recognizing things like chiaroscuro, contraposto, and tenebrism. Not only recognizing them, but remembering and understanding what those words mean and where they come from.

Now, much to my surprise, you could pick a random year and if I can think of a work of art or artist from that decade, I can extrapolate and tell you what was going on in the culture at that time, the socio-political structures being questioned, and innovations that were being made.

This all sounds very strange...why Art History and not History in general? (as you may be wondering)

Well I'll tell you!

(*insert crickets chirping*)

I really don't know.

As much as I would love to be able to impress people with random tidbits of information concerning the general history or our planet at dinner parties, I will have to settle for being the nerdy gal at the table whose only conversational contributions revolve around art (and sometimes in desperately obscure ways, I confess).

I have taken the time to theorize on this phenomenon, and here are my conclusions:

• Perhaps I gravitate to Art History because of the visual aspect. Being able to look at a picture, an image, and break it down to it's formal qualities and then relating those qualities to a time period, seems like an easier way to memorize dates and places.

• Perhaps it has to do with the creative aspect. I love drawing and painting and have great appreciation for literature. Studying the history of the evolution of human beings' creativity possibly sparks a part of my brain, inspires it to retain information, in a way that the history of The American Civil War simply does not.

• My final theory is that art provides a more vivid look into the minds of the people belonging to a certain time period. Their art provides us with insight as to what they were concerned about, the issues they were fighting over or defending, their hopes and fears and even examples of their every day lives. The art they've left us is a visual representation of their psyche, their imagination, their emotional state.

What other subject of study can give you that?

I'm interested to know if you are interested in Art History for the same reasons, or if you have reasons of your own. Why do we care about Art History, of all things? Totally open forum here. Let's discuss!

~Kenna