You had me at "Ivan Shishkin, Ilya Repin, William Adolphe Bouguereau, Frederick Leighton"! Actually, you had me earlier, in the first paragraph, with, "...the horrid glass pyramid put in front of the louvre is vomitrocious...". I confess that when I inevitably use that word myself, I will likely not give a proper attribution, but otherwise I'll be memorizing bits and pieces of your essay for my own discourses with students and others -- especially the parts about Lord Leighton -- and will definitely attribute to you. I'm looking forward to reading through your other essays, for sure, having just "discovered" you (via restack from John Carter). It was cool to discover the current artists you posted, too, since I did not know any of them previously despite my already knowing of many others (too many to mention) "out there". By the way, are you familiar with the 20th Century artist, Pietro Annigoni? He was not only one of the century's great painters, he was also an excellent writer. In his essays he shares his thoughts on the decadent (decayed) transition into "Modernism" in the late 19th to early 20th centuries and its effects on art and culture. They correspond to much of what you are saying and I consider that to be high praise. Brava, Megha!
My 2022 literary novel The City Mother got great reviews from Helen Roy, Dale Ahlquist & others and won a Catholic Media Award for fiction. I think you'd enjoy it as a new mom, Megha! As a high-openness Catholic writer, I appreciate this post.
"Vision and creativity must pair with discipline and judgement to create excellent art." There it is. Both sides of the brain in harmony in order to advance excellence. No small task or talent required.
Why do you think the modern art revolution came about? Who supported it then? Who champions it now? Tom Wolfe tells us about the role of NY critics in The Painted Word.
"... in the nineteenth century, when Van Gogh and Picasso and Monet were being celebrated by the academy for creating the first generation of degeneracy..." Much confusion in this half a sentence I'm afraid. Van Gogh and Picasso weren't celebrated in the 19th century. Picasso was all of 13. Monet wasn't really lauded until the 20th century by which time his painting had loosened considerably and MOMA could embrace him. The 19th century academy was actually the antithesis of the 20th century art establishment, as you acknowledge earlier in your essay.
I have no names of current great artists to offer. However, I thank you for your suggested list. I'll look into them. What I do have are names of 20th century so-called modern artists whose work I appreciate. Surely not all of it was rubbish.
You had me at "Ivan Shishkin, Ilya Repin, William Adolphe Bouguereau, Frederick Leighton"! Actually, you had me earlier, in the first paragraph, with, "...the horrid glass pyramid put in front of the louvre is vomitrocious...". I confess that when I inevitably use that word myself, I will likely not give a proper attribution, but otherwise I'll be memorizing bits and pieces of your essay for my own discourses with students and others -- especially the parts about Lord Leighton -- and will definitely attribute to you. I'm looking forward to reading through your other essays, for sure, having just "discovered" you (via restack from John Carter). It was cool to discover the current artists you posted, too, since I did not know any of them previously despite my already knowing of many others (too many to mention) "out there". By the way, are you familiar with the 20th Century artist, Pietro Annigoni? He was not only one of the century's great painters, he was also an excellent writer. In his essays he shares his thoughts on the decadent (decayed) transition into "Modernism" in the late 19th to early 20th centuries and its effects on art and culture. They correspond to much of what you are saying and I consider that to be high praise. Brava, Megha!
Wonderful article. Here's an artist who honors the foundations with unorthodox media accidentalgenre.net
My 2022 literary novel The City Mother got great reviews from Helen Roy, Dale Ahlquist & others and won a Catholic Media Award for fiction. I think you'd enjoy it as a new mom, Megha! As a high-openness Catholic writer, I appreciate this post.
https://www.amazon.com/City-Mother-Maya-Sinha/dp/1941720811/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?crid=1GGM3FSDTDSXW&keywords=city+mother+sinha&qid=1706547123&sprefix=city+mother+sinha%2Caps%2C197&sr=8-1
"Vision and creativity must pair with discipline and judgement to create excellent art." There it is. Both sides of the brain in harmony in order to advance excellence. No small task or talent required.
Why do you think the modern art revolution came about? Who supported it then? Who champions it now? Tom Wolfe tells us about the role of NY critics in The Painted Word.
"... in the nineteenth century, when Van Gogh and Picasso and Monet were being celebrated by the academy for creating the first generation of degeneracy..." Much confusion in this half a sentence I'm afraid. Van Gogh and Picasso weren't celebrated in the 19th century. Picasso was all of 13. Monet wasn't really lauded until the 20th century by which time his painting had loosened considerably and MOMA could embrace him. The 19th century academy was actually the antithesis of the 20th century art establishment, as you acknowledge earlier in your essay.
I have no names of current great artists to offer. However, I thank you for your suggested list. I'll look into them. What I do have are names of 20th century so-called modern artists whose work I appreciate. Surely not all of it was rubbish.
Where do you classify Jean-Francois Millet?