This is day 8 of 75 Days of Media Literacy
What is the most beautiful artwork you’ve ever seen in real life? Is that the most beautiful you’ve seen online? In the last days of the election in a swing state, I need an intellectual break. I’ve been lucky to see so much art in real life, but as an art historian, I’ve often focused on history rather than the sheer pleasure of looking at the work. The other day, I put my phone down to focus on this exercise. I couldn’t come up with an answer. But even better, perhaps, I remembered many experiences with art. This copper work by Bosschaert was one I thought of. I fear it’s nothing special digitally. But in real life, the gradations of color pop, likely because the oil was laid over a copper surface. Plus, the painting is about the size of a piece of printer paper. The finesse at that scale is wondrous.
I’d also say Van Gogh’s, in general, are pretty spectacular in real life for the paint's texture and the sheer joy of the surface. In my mind, Van Gogh’s works are the type you’d touch if you didn’t have scruples, which I do, so I haven’t, though I’ve wanted to.
Even in Van Gogh’s, the ones I like most have no people. For me, once there is a person, I start going through so many other ideas of power and meaning. Does this mean you should find beauty in unpeopled spaces? Not at all. Instead, I invite you to try this too. What’s the most beautiful work you’ve seen? Don’t decide immediately. Create a short list. Then, interrogate why these were so spectacular. Was it the colors? The composition? The artist? How are your short-list choices similar to each other? Different?
For some people, beauty is the be-all and end-all of art. In academic settings, beauty is often seen as unimportant. I think focusing on beauty matters, just as looking beyond it matters. Also, sometimes centering beauty can feel cleansing.
