Abstract Art - why talk about it if you don't get it.

[i-need-a-martini]

I volunteer at a regional gallery and get to meet some wonderful, weird and wacky people.

But the ones that get up my goat are the ones who say "That looks like something a 5 year old would do." and expect me to agree with them.

And whilst we have a lot of community exhibitions that are amateurish enough (so perhaps the comment may be fair enough), the comment is usually reserved for iconic artists in major travelling exhibitions who are extremely well known.

Does anyone here like abstract art? And if you really hate it, why?

[gleee58]

---

@rabbitearbandicoot wrote:

---

@lind9650 wrote:

                                     Duchamp - Landscape

                        

I won't comment, but it makes me think.

Erica

---

Now, that's what I call art. Look at that depth, the way the colours meet and blend in perfect harmony. It's obvious what the artist is trying to covey.

---

Just curious, but what do you think the artist is trying to convey?

I don't think it's all that obvious and am interested in your take on it.  Is he embracing the landscape, as in becoming at one with nature, or something else altogether?  

[gleee58]

---

@poddster wrote:

This picture is open to critique by anyone who cares to critique it.

I have obliterated the artist's signature and changed the title.

Here is the chance for anyone to be an art critic 🙂

---

It's obviously about the seasons in one way or another.  It's not so easy to judge based on the image on a screen, which gives no idea of the size or the real depth.   It's interesting.

Is it a printed, in the style of a lithograph, painted, or some other medium?

[icyfroth]

---

@gleee58 wrote:

---

@rabbitearbandicoot wrote:

---

@lind9650 wrote:

                                     Duchamp - Landscape

                        

I won't comment, but it makes me think.

Erica

---

Now, that's what I call art. Look at that depth, the way the colours meet and blend in perfect harmony. It's obvious what the artist is trying to covey.

---

Just curious, but what do you think the artist is trying to convey?

I don't think it's all that obvious and am interested in your take on it.  Is he embracing the landscape, as in becoming at one with nature, or something else altogether?  

---

Probably that he can paint as good as any 5 yo kid.

[iapetus_rocks]

I think the Duchamp is brilliant. I love it.

The other reminds me of a folding Japanese screen and while it's very nice, I'd rather have Landscape on my wall. (in fact I looked for a print of it on ebay without success, so far)

The Duchamp wheel on a stool sculpture gives me a feeling of unease; of conflict; in that the wheel wants to be off and moving but is constantly confronted with the limits of the immobility of the stool.

I once saw some works in Hobart museum. A sandshoe nailed to a square-section column of wood. A few feet high; six inch nail.

Then there was a model of a pigeon sitting on a simialr piece of wood.

And then, what looked like a whole bunch of slashed-to-ribbons tractor or truck tyre  inner tubes, hanging from the ceiling.

I don't know what any of that meant, but I still think about those pieces of art, many years later.

[zanadoo_56]

---

@i-need-a-martini wrote:

I volunteer at a regional gallery and get to meet some wonderful, weird and wacky people.

But the ones that get up my goat are the ones who say "That looks like something a 5 year old would do." and expect me to agree with them.

And whilst we have a lot of community exhibitions that are amateurish enough (so perhaps the comment may be fair enough), the comment is usually reserved for iconic artists in major travelling exhibitions who are extremely well known.

Does anyone here like abstract art? And if you really hate it, why?

---

I like Mondrian's structured works.  Guess they remind me of office buildings or floor plans or something.  Sometimes I think I'd probalby colour in a few more squares than he did on some of the paintings.

When Jackson Pollock's Blue Poles was bought the controversy raged about the cost, the painting itself....blah blah blah.  Looking at images of it on TV and in the newspapers (in colour) it looked like rubbish to me too.  Then it was put on display in a small building (no big govt galleries in Canberra back then) along with some Rodin sculptures.  Hubby and I decided to go and see the exhibition.  I remember stepping into the room where the painting was, took a look at it....and was blown away.  I have no idea why or how but that painting has something that screams it was worth every cent.  I didn't expect that to happen...and it wasn't just me who realised it was a great painting.

You never know with abstract art.  Some of it might be ghastly, but the good stuff no matter what pre-concieved ideas you might have, will still shine through.  Well that's what I reckon anyway.

[i-need-a-martini]

---

@iapetus_rocks wrote:

I once saw some works in Hobart museum. A sandshoe nailed to a square-section column of wood. A few feet high; six inch nail.

Then there was a model of a pigeon sitting on a simialr piece of wood.

And then, what looked like a whole bunch of slashed-to-ribbons tractor or truck tyre  inner tubes, hanging from the ceiling.

I don't know what any of that meant, but I still think about those pieces of art, many years later.

---

Were you in the MONA in Hobart?

We went last year and spent the entire day in the gallery which is something we have never done in any other gallery or museum around the world. Yes there was a lot of weird and wacky but every piece was interesting. Even my husband, who hates museums and has no interest in art, didn't want to leave.

How lucky is Hobart to have this amazing place. 

[i-need-a-martini]

---

@lind9650 wrote:

                                     Duchamp - Landscape

                        

I won't comment, but it makes me think.

Erica

---

I've never seen that painting. That's beautiful.

I thought it must have been an early work (when he was dabbling with Impressionism) because it looks so different to any of his other paintings. But it was painted at the start of his Cubist series. 

[i-need-a-martini]

---

@polksaladallie wrote:

A Picasso masterpiece has sold for $US160 million ($203 million) in New York, smashing the world record for the most expensive art sold at auction.

        

---

I recall studying this painting at school. I didn't realise it was in private hands.

I wonder if a museum bought it or if it went to another private buyer?

[rabbitearbandicoot]

---

@i-need-a-martini wrote:

---

@lind9650 wrote:

                                     Duchamp - Landscape

                        

I won't comment, but it makes me think.

Erica

---

I've never seen that painting. That's beautiful.

I thought it must have been an early work (when he was dabbling with Impressionism) because it looks so different to any of his other paintings. But it was painted at the start of his Cubist series. 

---

Beautiful?? You MUST be joking? What's beautiful about it?

[rabbitearbandicoot]

---

@gleee58 wrote:

---

@rabbitearbandicoot wrote:

---

@lind9650 wrote:

                                     Duchamp - Landscape

                        

I won't comment, but it makes me think.

Erica

---

Now, that's what I call art. Look at that depth, the way the colours meet and blend in perfect harmony. It's obvious what the artist is trying to covey.

---

Just curious, but what do you think the artist is trying to convey?

I don't think it's all that obvious and am interested in your take on it.  Is he embracing the landscape, as in becoming at one with nature, or something else altogether?  

---

I was being sarcastic. It's a load of rubbish. Tak about 5 year olds! I would be ashamed if my 5 year old did something like that.