Unlike music, an ephemerous, fleeting art form that can only be appreciated at the moment the composition is interpreted by the artist, a painting is a static representation of reality – a snapshot that remains unaltered no matter how long you look at it. The inner experience of the spectator, however, brings dynamism into the static. His perception brings movement into the unmoving. His imagination makes the painting alive.<\/p>\n
True art offers an aesthetic experience, but most importantly, it creates a response in the mind or heart of the perceiver. When I listen to impromptus Schubert, I feel a mixture of deep melancholy with a touch of hope, like a tiny growing plant struggling through thick layers of snow, conquering the harsh winter, bringing along its promise of new life. I feel the souffrance humaine, but also the meaning of it. Schubert shows that life will bring tears, but also smiles that make it worth living. Listening to his music is not entertainment \u2013 it is a highly spiritual experience. It is the contemplation of utter inner beauty. It makes me stop breathing, so I won\u2019t miss a note.<\/p>\n
Although I don\u2019t feel the same ecstasy when looking at paintings, they do trigger a whole array of emotions. \u2018The Scream\u2019 of M\u00fcnch, for example, brings about a malaise. The wide-open mouth of the protagonist betrays his horror. The spectator is left guessing who is pursuing him, and why. Maybe M\u00fcnch depicted the anxiety of his mentally ill sister. But a survivor of the Shoah might see something very different.<\/p>\n
The Death of Marat\u2019 depicts a murdered revolutionary in a bathtub, but David’s masterpiece doesn’t make me ill at ease. The soft colour palette and harmonious composition turn the lugubrious subject into an almost peaceful scene. Only the bloody water gives away something horrendous has taken place.<\/p>\n
The expressionist artist aims to highlight, literally and figuratively, the inner world of his subject, the public, and himself. The goal is not a truthful representation of objective reality, like it was for the naturalist painter Caravaggio. He was brought to trial at least eleven times for his in-your-face realism. Instead, the expressionist wants to convey a specific sentiment, sometimes through exaggeration of facial traits, like M\u00fcnch\u2019s screaming fugitive. Other expressionist tools are the non-naturalistic use of colours, free brushwork, and a highly textured application of paint.<\/p>\n
In his unique book The Story of Art, art historian Gombrich illustrates these differing goals with a fitting comparison between the realistic mother hen with her chicks, painted by the early Picasso, and the hot-temperedness of the rooster he sketched when he adopted the expressionist style.<\/p>\n
While expressionist painters mainly want to provoke a response within the spectator, Baroque and Rococo painters try to depict reality more beautifully than it is with their lavish, frivolous decorations. This can be endearing, like Fragonard\u2019s pastel-coloured damsel on a swing. However, the story behind this painting is naughtier than the tenderness it evokes: the girl on the swing is the mistress of the married courtier, lying on the ground beneath her and peeking into her skirts. The hand gesture of the chubby putto on the left indicates the secrecy of their affair. The swing is pushed by a man who, according to the client’s wishes, should have represented a bishop \u2013 but the irony of that request was a bridge too far for the artist, so he painted a layman.<\/p>\n
Paintings I can stare at for a long time are the mysterious jungles of the post-impressionist Rousseau. Between the blades of grass and exotic leaves that, one by one, flowed out of his brush with great meticulousness, I keep discovering details of preying predator’s eyes, fruits, and flowers. The artist’s amazement at nature amazes me.<\/p>\n
Coloured brush strokes on canvasses make you travel. To the past or the unknown, through memory or fantasy. Which paintings have touched you, and which emotions did they evoke?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Unlike music, an ephemerous, fleeting art form that can only be appreciated at the moment the composition is interpreted by the artist, a painting is a static representation of reality – a snapshot that remains unaltered no matter how long you look at it. The inner experience of the spectator, however, brings dynamism into the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-253","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-fine-arts"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t