The Impressed Image
Blah ! .....11/99
Archived demented ramblings.......
for previous outbursts click here
Modern 'Art' - you must be joking!
Having been compelled by limited disposable income to confine myself to
'affordable art' and a deliberate policy of buying only those items that I really
like I was horrified to have found myself today accused of artistic snobbery
and purchasing for investment. Aaargh! I plead guilty, even though it was me
that made the accusations! I was at the viewing of a provincial Fine Art and Print
sale when I found myself seriously contemplating some lurid John Piper's with a
reserve of £40 on them. Even a casual look at the catalogues of the big Auction
Houses here in the UK reveals that the big money and activity is in the field
of Modern and Continental Prints. Anything pre-war is drying up in terms of
volume and quality, and prices, except for a few odd artists (particularly genre
subjects such as sailing or decorative pieces) are not in the same league. I'm afraid
I viewed the Pipers much as a row of dollar signs appearing on a slot machine rather
than art, and had I bid for them it would have been to stuff them in a drawer and rub
my hands in glee that I had got a bargain. OK, so you may think I'm making a fuss, but it did make me
wonder again about my motives in collecting art. Good lord!, I'll be acting like some nefarious, unscrupulous,
underhand, market manipulating and money-grabbing Art Dealer next.... I'd prefer to remain the '
stereotypical collector' with all the accompanying problems than descend to the depraved depths of regarding
art as currency and making money out of it! Only kidding Dealers - honest.....I promise to keep buying...
I confess to being grossly untutored with regard to the mysterious world of 'Modern Prints'. I find Antiquarian
and Victorian Prints worthy, technically fine, but rather cold, formulaic and dull in terms of subject matter. The
pre-war years of this century saw a lot of fine artists turn to printmaking with an emphasis on 'social realism',
good portraiture (in Intaglio Printmaking) and innovative decorative composition (in Wood and Linocut). A lot of this
'speaks' to me in a language I can understand, and I can discern the 'good' from the 'awful' even if I cannot
recognise the 'great'. There are fine Printmakers who have carried on this tradition to this day, and several
contemporary artists that can match the work of the very best of this period.
Modern Prints remain a fairly impenetrable jumble to me. Amongst the non-representational I can only discern the
categories of 'godawful', 'striking'
and 'interesting'. Would it be heresy to suggest that the 'value' of a lot of this work is governed more by the
artists renown in other media than their accomplishments in printmaking? No doubt the cogniscenti would suggest
that if I was to be tutored in this subject I would learn to appreciate them. But there again, I'm sure I could learn to like
hitting my head repeatedly with a mallet given enough time and suitable instruction by a mallet salesman. This
work is still plentiful and it suits the 'Art Trade' to push the value up, and if there is no way of the poor
collector differentiating the godawful, good and great; apart from by price, then so much the better. Till then
I will view the selection of random lines, colourful blotches and distorted reality that purports to be art with a
degree of dour and stubborn scepticism. It says nothing to me. I know not the language and have little incentive
to learn it. If it displayed technical virtuousity or craftsmanship I could at least admire it, but sadly much does
not even reach this basic level. Also, there is not the stratification in price and quality in all this bizarre genre
that seems to appear with a bit more hindsight and sensible reflection. One of Muirhead Bones best drypoints can
command many thousands of pounds, but you can still find some of his more mundane etchings for a hundred or so.
Time and some sanity in the market has generated realistic prices for his work. I hate to say it, but most of the
Modern stuff seems overpriced to me, and how many people would really buy it and stick it on a wall if it didn't have
a name like Hockney scrawled on it or a healthy price tag?
And that's just Prints - don't get me going on the rest of Modern 'Art' - you really don't want to hear my opinions
on elephant turd installations, piles of bricks, videos of bicycles underwater, performance sound and other things
that have the sole merit of being 'different' and 'challenging'........
I'd better shut up before I start getting hate-mail.
I remain an art peasant and luckily that suits my pocket.
Well, at least I've got that off my chest. Better go off and bid on those Pipers now before some other crafty beggar
gets the same idea. I may be opinionated and a complete art ignoramus, but I'm no fool - could swap them for Brockhurst
or something similar.....maybe a McBey.....or a Lumsden or two...ha! ha!
Photo Credits::
Top: Me and Sam, off climbing in the Alps; clean, fit, healthy and raring to go........
Bottom: 4 weeks later; dirty, emaciated, multiple dental abscesses, foot ulcers, dying to go home......
(Courtesy of Dr J. Coster. esq.)
Drop me a line if there is anything here that you profoundly disagree with, or maybe you would just like to point out my extreme ignorance and inadequate grasp of the subject.... I am not easily offended.
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