Reviews for On art and artists

The average rating for On art and artists based on 2 reviews is 3 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2016-10-30 00:00:00 Elijah Seeker Modern Art by Thomas Craven, written in 1934, is a nonfiction book of essays with the author's very strong opinions as a major art critic of his time. But I need to begin by saying that for a scholarly work, this book is eminently readable, in fact difficult to put down for anyone interested in art. That being said, the author, without the benefit of hindsight (and I'm not sure he would care a whit whether or not his opinions are out of sync with later judgments), is whole heartedly condemnatory of the modern art movement exemplified by men like Picasso and Matisse. In a nutshell, Craven considered their art, however creative, to be sterile, superficial and soullessly abstracted from true emotion. Great art in his opinion needed to utilize technique of the past, but be transformed by sensitivity to the realities to Its environment and grounded in real experience. This may seem dated and wrongheaded given the present ubiquitous praise of non-representational art, but the pleasure of the book lies in the author's feisty allegiance to his point of view, and ability as a writer to make intriguing bon mots on virtually every page. He has very entertaining storytelling ability, giving mini-biographies and critiques of the artists and and art movements of his age, woven together with his own life experience to make his case about what creates great artists. And who knows. Unchallenged past giants of the art world are sometimes later virtually unrecognized, their once perceived masterpieces residing in storage basements of museums where they once hung. Craven is not being craven (pardon the pun) in his very sharp and severe, but equally heartfelt and sincere ideas and opinions.

Review # 2 was written on 2013-04-28 00:00:00 Max Allen A little hyperbolic, but I share his basic model for what does and doesn't produce good art, so I had a good time. Also, it's refreshing to read discussions of art apart from the promotional or academic material with which it's usually presented.