Get Real or Get Ideal! The Gist and Purpose of Art- ?

An essay on the functions of art- in our homes, museums, towns and media- Brian Keeler

Above- "July Light on Urban Chess" is a large oil of a Philadelphia street scene by the author. This genre scene could be considered in the context of this essay. Real life, yes, but in a golden light of drama. The palette of all warm hues suggests an artistic control and usage to bring about the desired effect of afternoon light.

Get Real or Get Ideal- The essay

Does the art in your home offer truth, a vision, an ideal, an encouragement or a combination of many attributes?  Or at worst, perhaps just a wallpaper substitute to fill space. Even further astray, would be art in the service of nefarious ends or outright evil. Most domestic interiors would not display such works- but then again there are Elvis paintings with Jesus on black velvet above some couches. And lets add one more that I just came across in a facebook review of restaurant. In that critique, the writer was lamenting the insufferable decibel level at a restaurant in Ithaca and thought the owners remiss, as they had no sound-abosorbing wall coverings! Yes, my friends, art is now devoid of its visual integrity or merit and functioning in a utilitarian way for auditory governance. As you can guess, this is not the end result I hope for with my paintings or would any artist.

This essay is a consideration of two opposites in art that have been around for a long time. On one side we could put paintings (and other forms of art) that seem to portray the unvarnished truth, conveyed without embellishment or lavished with dreamy wishful thinking. Works that convey a robust or vigorous truth that have a resonance to our values and experience are in this camp. We may think of the work of Thomas Eakins, Courbet, the Wyeths or Rembrandt in this regard. Their consummate skills and integrity of vision seem to proclaim veracity with every brushstroke. Art of myth, legend, history, Biblical themes or romantic visions would be part of the opposing or idealist group. And yet another branch, or subcategory of the latter would be art with an agenda, social mission, a political and polemic intent, or a moral lesson or spiritual program with the implied purpose of leading the viewer, reader or listener to a better version of themselves. We could add works that are personal explorations- autobiographical and emotional in nature. Sometimes works of art seem to intertwine and overlap and their allegiance is less-than-obvious.

Two recent books cover these essential aspects of art through the ages. The one that I've just finished is Art as Therapy by Alain de Botton and John Armstrong. The other book from several years ago is Authority and Freedom- A Defense of the Arts by Jed Perl.

 The first book lives up to the billing, as emblazoned on its cover; "one of the most intellectually exciting books I have read this year." This is an endorsement from The Times of London. The book provides contemplations of how and why art fits into our lives and how the context differs so much from the way art was created and lived with in the past.   I liked many of the authors' suggestions that so much of the art of the past is trying to nudge, cajole or entice us to be better versions of ourselves. Not always though, as I shall point out.

How and why art is made and how it is displayed is given its due in this book and we come away wondering how the museum experience differs from the context of original intent and settings. After reading certain passages of this book I felt as if I were in a privileged minority as a practicing artist.  The authors seem to assume that we contemporaries experience an alienation and disconnect from so much historical art.  When looking at art of the past, the authors suggest that we regard them as distant narratives and strange people of elitest social classes or vestiges of  long-gone religious sensibilities.  When I approach many paintings in museums I am enthralled by the mastery and the depictions of long-passed cultures and customs. 

Above- "Shades of NYC," a large oil by the author, also portrays a scene of everyday life. This painting from 1984 in a private collection in Scranton, PA.

The title,  Art as Therapy was a little off-putting and I don't think it really does justice to the text.  It seems like a title chosen for its appeal as a marketing tool rather than truly reflecting the content and admirable goals of the authors.  But art can be therapeutic in the wider sense and this book suggests a number of new approaches to viewing art and how curators could better serve this goal.

For example, the descriptive labels next to paintings in museums are a case in point. The authors point out how these labels ofen dwell on historic context and details and miss the timbre and main point of many works of art.  Here is the authors' take on labels:

"A caption seeks to tell you what you need to know in order to engage  fruitfully with a work of art."

They continue, stating that current labels focus on stylistic attributes instead of the essential qualities of the art on the wall.  I enjoyed the authors admonition that going after the original intent and elaborating on that would be more beneficial and  hence more therapeutic.  For religious art of the Renaissance and other periods was essentially interested in assisting our soul work.  Even though encumbered with dogma and centuries of obfuscation, we could now regard the beneficial intent of the artists and those who commissioned it.   Revealing and aligning our souls to the higher good certainly has a contemporary ring and relevancy.   Not exactly Chicken Soup for the Soul or the Road Less Traveled but still corresponding to aspirations of many today.

Here is a quote from the authors to the point of museums and art displayed:

"The point of museums should not primarily be to teach us how to love art, but to inspire us to love what artists have loved through the appreciation of their work: a minor but critical difference."

Hmm, yes, but I have written as marginalia, "But don't artists love art for art's sake?"  I think I was suggesting that artists revel in the masterpieces for their intrinsic merits of which there are many in works in museums.  Sometimes it is simply astounding to appreciate the wealth of virtuosity available to us.  It is indeed humbling and inspiring. 

Above- This painting, an 18" x 20" oil on linen by the author, a self-portrait depicts the process of sketching in a museum to appreciate and understand the art of the past. In this case, a painting by Caravaggio, The Supper at Emaus at the NGA iin London is being sketched. A copy of the Spanish painter, Velazques work, Las Meninas, is shown in the background.

The authors offer us a check list of the seven functions of art that I think are worth noting and considering. They offer a preamble before listing the seven qualities which I found worth sharing here:

"Art is a Tool- like other tools, art has the power to extend our capacities beyond those that nature originally endowed us with. Art compensates us for certain inborn weaknesses, in the case of the mind rather than the body, weaknesses that we can refer to as psychological frailties."

The Seven Functions of Art- according to the authors are:

1. Remembering 2. Hope 3. Sorrow 4. Rebalancing. 5. Self-understanding 6. Growth 7. Appreciation

In regards to this list, they all offer something and each one gets a full discourse in the book.  In art school one of our teacher rattled us students with a similar list of why people buy art.  At the top of the list was, nostalgia- which I suppose is related to number one here, remembering.  But we were disappointed as I think the students had hoped that there would instead be an appreciation for the inherent qualities of the art.

The authors are not accusing museums of fraud but there is an alternate goal here, that of finding what is needed for the soul.  In other words, the authors would like museums to be more like institutions for the alignment of our inner lives- perhaps more akin to churches- where the art often came from.  Perhaps this is unrealistic and out of the mandate of modern museums.  Here is a related quote addressed to contemporary gallerists:

"The chief skill of running a gallery should therefore not be salesmanship, but the ability to diagnose what is missing from the inner life of a client."

Perhaps this is too aspirational but worth considering. 

In regards to reproductions or prints in our collections, this is a rather grey area, as the public is often confused. We think of etchings, for example by Rembrandt, Goya and others and know these to be worthy of our museums and homes. Prints or reproductions today are another matter and I have to admit that I have a love/hate relation to them. They serve a purpose. Here's a quote from The Week Magazine,........ that fits in with the theme of this essay:

"The Real Thing, after a team of neurologists found that looking at an original painting stimulates about 10 times as much brain activity as looking at a poster reproduction of the same work "you become [mentally] richer" looking at orginals said Martine Gosselink, head of the Dutch museum that sponsored the research. "You make connections in your brain."

Another passage from Art as Therapy, in regards to the differing mandates and contexts of showing art between the Renaissance and Medieval cathedrals and to that of contemporary museums, in this case the Kimball Art Museum:

"It makes the right preparatory moves; it creates a luminous space, it assembles prestigious objects.  But then it stops short, and never encourages us to reform our lives under the guidance of art.  It is often said that the great museums are the cathedrals of the modern world, but the comparison reveals the weakness of contemporary secular galleries, rather than flattering them. Cathedrals were created as compelling statements of a complete theory of life; of our deepest needs, our spiritual destiny and guidance necessary to live the right life."

When art in the homes or on the streets of Renaissance Europe is considered, the purpose was often as a votive or a shrine. Hence, as the above paragraph implores- to sustain our deepest needs and spirituality. Even today in Italy we can see the ceramic Madonna and child of Della Robia or facsimilies in niches as encouragements to passersby.

Above- "Daphne and Apollo," a painting by the author based on Bernini's marble, which is inspired by Ovid's Metamorphosis. The mythic past and the ideal of virtue is presented here.

The initial thrust of the essay was to compare and contrast art with an agenda, which is what Art as Therapy is concerned with. And I admit that looking at art of any era is made more rich by understanding the context and goals of the creators.  Still,  the art that is made for the pure joy of making it and for the visual delight in the formalities of picture-making is often enough. This is what Jed Perl puts forth in his book.  The creative act of picture-making is enough of a social statement in itself.  

The defense of the arts in Perl's book boils down to a credo that asserts that art need not have a social, political or other agenda. Here is what Perl notes:

" The idea of the work of art as an imaginative achievement to which the audience freely responds is often replaced by the assumption that a work of art should promote a particular idea or ideology, or perform some clearly defined civic or community service." 

Well said, and this passage of Perl's quoted above could be a prime directive or manifesto of sorts for us plein air painters who find the act of painting a rewarding process.

But the contrast between idealized, agenda-driven art and the ocular splendor of, say, a Sorolla or Turner painting is worth considering. And then there is the idea of fidelity to the truth and to the narrative artifice of the created scene.  For instance,  we love and appreciate the calmness of Vermeer's work and accept the veracity and artistic integrity.  Yet, his domestic life with a dozen or so children could hardly be considered serene. Still, we do not accuse him of being disingenuous.  

Here's another quote from the Art As Therapy in regards to the ideal/real dichotomy:

"It is hardly surprising, then if being 'realistic,' the antidote to idealization - is judged as the cornerstone of maturity, which in turn accounts for certain artistic reputations."  

We could also bring the idea of sentimentalizing, which is, of course, a demeaning of altruism and a close cousin to overly idealized works.  A false presentation, in other words, is the gist of the complaint with the ideal. Speaking of truth in art, just this week Al Pacino reflected on this in the NY Times magazine interview, Oct. 14, 2024.  It was said that Marlon Brando regarded acting as glorified lying.  Pacino begged to differ, he said acting was a glorified truth.

I mentioned early in this essay about art being used for less-than-honorable purposes; as a tool to further the bad guys. We think of Leni Reiftenstahl's work in cinema assisting Hitler's agenda. Cartoons of the Third Reich also characterized Jews in unflattering terms. There were many visual artists involved in 1930's and 40's in Germany and there are some famous examples of posters in service of the communist agenda in Russia. Today there is no shortage of this ilk of art for the nefarious. I recently saw a painting depicting Trump as God with Kamala and Joe being expelled from the garden. This painting was as risible as it was bad. The theme and poses were taken from a sacred and famous work by Massacio in the Brancacci Chapel in Florence.

Then again we think of art by artists also making social statements that align with our (or at least my own) sensibilities. We can relate to the cartoons of Thomas Nast, or the political satire of Daumier and the social realsim of Diego Rivera. The general mission of these artists has generally been in favor of those not at top of the pyramid of power, the plebs if you will. And we naturally support the cause of those being oppressed, and therefore welcome these visual editorials.

The book certainly did serve up an abundance of stimulating  concerns and concepts.  Art serving politics or how art is obtained through means that are less than honorable and then donated to museums in their honor is one example.  This has been a long time method of atonement for those who have fallen from grace. We think of the amazing frescoes of Giotto in the Scrovegni Chapel in Padua as a case in point; the donor spent his life in usury and art was his ticket to salvation. Other examples here in America would be the Frick Museum, the Hyde Museum or the Carnegie Mellon Mueum. The art in these three were obtained through exploitive means. The authors delve into how art is funded, and in this case, asking for ethics in the act of money making to buy art.

In the end, I supppose it is personal and subjective. One man's idealism is another's purple prose. One man's truth is another's propaganda. And for artists, one of my favorites from an art director: one man's chroma is another man's mud.

To view more paintings by the author and lean about upcoming events- www.briankeeler.com