(no subject)

[solitary_summer]

Another picture from yesterday; no artistic pretensions, posted merely for the cuteness factor and the pretty colour contrast. :)



Lazy day, went to see the Paul Klee exhibition in the Albertina, and then walked, faster and somewhat less focused, through their second exhibition Monet bis Picasso - Die Sammlung Batliner. (And will probably go to see the Phantastische Realisten before I leave for Maishofen, too.)

Liked the Klee as well as parts of Monet bis Picasso (not so much Monet or Picasso, though; mainly the German expressionists and the Russians unless they're completely abstract; all those wild splashes of colour, as well as the dreaminess of Chagall and Miro; impressionism rather bores me at the moment) and would say more about it, if I could find the right words, but I've noticed that the longer I've been away from university, the harder I find it to intelligently talk about art. On the other hand my taste has broadened a lot and I tend to believe that the need to frame everything in thoughts and words has limited me. Maybe it's a lazy mental shortcut; maybe one should or even has to appreciate art more intellectually, and it's not as if I won't read the explanations and information, but I find that in most cases they adds little to the actual experience of looking at a painting, especially if it's modern art. The more individualistic a work of art is, the more it is rooted only in the artist's imagination and reflects his view of reality instead of being at least partly determined by a larger framework of social factors and values - a fixed iconographic canon, patrons' expectations, political or religious messages a contemporary audience was supposed to understand, etc., the less words touch the central experience of getting a glimpse into someone's mind and imagination for me.

Comments

[wlotus.livejournal.com]

Ooooooo...I like the contrast between the white animal and the blue sky. Is that a horse or a mule or something else?

[solitary-summer.livejournal.com]

It's a donkey. They're breeding the white ones there; from what I've read they're a special race, not albinos, and almost extinct.

lovely

[newwaytowrite.livejournal.com]

photograph. Thanks for sharing it.

Re: lovely

[solitary-summer.livejournal.com]

You're welcome, glad you liked it! :)

[fpb.livejournal.com]

YOU DON'T LIKE MONET??????

[solitary-summer.livejournal.com]

Not particularly, no. I don't hate his paintings, but generally speaking French impressionism doesn't do much for me.

[fpb.livejournal.com]

I place his late work next to Titian in my personal Olympus. I know that tastes are personal things, but from a visual artist of your stature, this is weird.

[solitary-summer.livejournal.com]

Blame my French teacher... Kidding. I think. Maybe not. My taste in art has always been rather eclectic, and over the last years it's mostly focused around German expressionism.