Why Art History Matters (to me)
Our lives are built on a mosaic made of the art that came before us. This is why you should care.
What do you see in this image?
Recently, while my little brother was in town, we visited the Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art, to see an exhibition by the photographer Julie Blackmon.
This is a photograph by her, titled Bathers.
When my mom looks at this photograph, she sees herself. She is able to relate and connect to the work on a purely personal level. When I see the work I’m able to see the nod to Bathers at Asnières (1884) by George Seurat. I also have personal ties, but my academic background gives me a historical context. Blackmon made choices to contrast her work with this historical painting. Choosing to show modern midwestern domesticity, in a way that challenges Bathers at Asnières (1884).
How much do you know about art?
It’s a question most people don’t have to think about often.
While walking through Blackmon’s work, I discovered something I would never have considered. My knowledge of art and art history allowed me to better understand and know her work. In a way that those with me needed guidance to do.
Just looking at her work I can mentally catalogue who she is referencing, and from that I’m better able to understand what she’s trying to tell me as a viewer. Her work isn’t inaccessible to people without this knowledge, but it takes extra time and energy for them to read about and understand what she’s saying.
While my mother loves her work, and is able to connect and understand her on a personal level. She’s unable to make the connections that are reliant on speaking the language of academic art. While it’s true there’s certainly a lot everyone knows about art, there’s still a barrier to access for many in regard to art and its history.
I’d argue it’s a relic of the days when art was only for the elite, and the artists they were patrons to. Certainly with the internet there are now ways for anyone to learn, but still it takes time and energy most of us don’t have in our everyday life.
I spent that time and energy while I was in school. I took the art history classes. But I also had professors, artists to guide me. They pointed me towards artists to learn from. Inspiration in my pocket.
My mental bank of artists and their influence is larger than many. For that reason when I walk through an art museum with someone else, I often get to explain the exhibits. Pulling together what they already know, and what they’re seeing.
This isn’t to say I’m not learning, I always am. Simply that I start every tour of the Kemper or Nelson with a foundation, one that grows with every visit.
I love the experience of leading a friend through a museum, and explaining the art, the artist, my option, and how it effected my art.
That’s what I hope to do with this.
For other art history lovers, this likely won’t be new information. But I hope you enjoy reading my opinion, and seeing the art that was inspired by writing this.
For those unfamiliar with art history, I hope reading this teaches you history in a way that you can engage with, but I also hope you with love the art the way I did.
Why it matters today?
(Or. I don’t even go to art museums, how does this apply to me?)
Art (and its history) is the foundation that all pop culture is built on. Knowing more isn’t useless knowledge. Often it lets me see and interpret the music, the movies, the social media I consume.
We live in a world that revolves around consumption. It’s unrealistic to expect not to consume. I find understanding what I’m consuming is how I cope better with the world I live in.
I hope, if you’re reading, you receive a tool to better help you understand and contextualize what you consume in your day to day life.
Why I’m writing this?
I love art. That’s why I dedicated 5 years of education to it. I was born into a family of artists, and everyday I’m grateful for that fact. I hope to be able to share that love with you.
I’m also a massive nerd, so it makes sense to create an outlet for all this information sitting in my brain.
For every newsletter I plan to also release a print that you can purchase. My hope is to create structure for myself.
I’m challenging myself to not just write a newsletter weekly, but also consistently make art.
What next?
In the future I plan to write about Impressionism. I won’t just be including the most important or well known artists from the era. (Fair warning, I don’t plan to write about Monet this time around.) I hope to get to them eventually, but I’m excited to introduce you to some artists you may not know, as well as help you reconsider some you already know.
I don’t expect you to always agree with these newsletters, they’re my opinion. But I hope even if you don’t agree with my thoughts on an artist, at least now you will know why.
Thank you for reading, and for your consideration:
Bathroom Sink (2022)
So excited to learn more! I so enjoyed walking through the art gallery with you! It truly opened my eyes to the history and the thought behind the art!
Can’t wait to hear about all of the impressionists!