Category: Art

Jphn Marin

Essays need titles. But this discussion is more about fashion, criticism, and personal preference than about a painter who was unique, very good at what he tried to do, successful commercially, and still admired .

Those new to art assume criticism is eternal. The judgment of the ages is inviolate. There are geniuses, great masters, derivatives, and incompetents. Each nailed down firmly in critical art history, once and for all .

That is a lie. 

Beyond such illusion, individual perception can disagree. For example, as a person perhaps jaded by photographs and movies, I find a lot of Renaissance and (especially) rococo painting quite boring .

However, I am free to revise attitude. I once thought Marin quite a shallow lightweight. Thin pictures, rough technique. Yet now I enjoy most of them as beautifully constructed gateways to aesthetic and natural contemplation. Obviously, the paintings remain the same. On the other hand, my mind not so much.

The joy we find in almost anything boils down to how it increases our enchantment with existence. Please note _ NOT our understanding of existence. Lately, I find my enchantment quota quite elevated by Marin’s seemingly crude colorful splashes on watercolor paper. In contrast to how they failed to inspire me years ago .

Make of that what you will. I find it encouraging – even enchanting – that I am privileged to be flexible enough to change my mind .

Aesthetics

The old Roman saying went “there is no questioning taste”. Even if we hate what someone else likes, even if we think it is evil, it remains true that that person enjoys it. So aesthetics is an almost impossible ideal on which to base society, or even an activity like art .

Of course, within any subculture or social group, argument is possible. Religions thrive on it – the ultimate form of an aesthetic outlet is probably deep faith. Less life-changing agreements – as in art criticism – are all around us. Fashion, food, morality, even life purpose. What looks good to us? What constitutes a masterpiece ?

Unfortunately, an extremely finely tuned aesthetic sense in anything usually brings problems. The least is an individual obsession, the worst is mob madness. Fine art is littered with the judgments of serious critics which have aged into silly constipated irrelevance .

I found that I must spend effort – before making an aesthetic judgment _ to understand the context. “A beautiful tree” might mean almost anything depending on where your mind is coming from.  Are you painting a picture or evaluating lumber possibilities?

Realizing that – and understanding that most aesthetics are careful and often valid in one way or another may be one of the necessary conditions of wisdom .