My First Monet (…Kinda Blurry)
I recently earned a BA in Art History, currently run an art history blog, and have interned for multiple arts institutions. My love for museums and arts education is what drives me to create content to empower other less-inclined audiences to spend a few minutes a day looking at art. I believe you cannot be wrong with art… possibly misinformed, but really your visceral reaction is what really matters.
Confession: I had no emotion or connection the first time I saw a Monet in person. I didn’t “get it”. You could almost say it didn’t leave a strong impression (sorry). Really. How many paintings of the same church facade does one person need?
I was 8 years old and at the Phoenix Art Museum with my friends and our moms. The parents would quietly gather us in front of yet another splotchy painting of water lilies and point out the power of using color to depict a point in time. By the end, I learned how close I could stand to a painting before a guard yelled at me, what tone of voice I should use when talking about art, and how to correctly pronounce Monet at show-and-tell the next week. Also, I remember the colors being pretty next to each other.
The next year, we had an art teacher show us Picasso’s work at ages 15 vs. 72. I became seriously concerned with his deteriorating mental health (and my teacher’s).
A few years after that, I went to the National Gallery of Art Sculpture Garden and was bored by hundreds of marble busts but a metallic house gave me some weird (good weird) feelings. It literally presented two perspectives at once but reminded me of walking into a cartoon show. Why is this speaking to me more than the stoic heads of our founding fathers?
A few years after that, I became an Art History major and was still unclear on how to understand Damien Hirst. As an artist. As a person. As a person who hires other people to paint differently colored dots on large canvases.
Now, I can wax poetic over a sideways toilet with the best of them. I can rant about how the public response to Kara Walker’s “Marvelous Sugar Baby” shows the current state of intersectional feminism like anyone with a Tumblr account. I can now (thanks to an internship with the Slow Art Day tumblr) somewhat successfully look at a piece of art and tell whether it has the potential to go viral. I also still don’t fully understand Damien Hirst and am okay with that.
My point is, it’s okay. Not “getting it” is okay. You’re not dumb and you’re probably not the only one feeling that way.
Art museums have had a long-standing role as beautiful, well-funded, intimidating public institutions. Which is good. Great art deserves to be held in high respect with constant care and security. However, sometimes, museums forget that the general public is not as interested in the art as they are. They turn into our excited, nerdy friend whose carefully designed wall text exalts “the ways the artist bravely confronts the duality of light and space” without stopping to explain to you how this relates to four neon lights leaning against the wall.
I know I’ve been that friend. Put me in a room with an approachable sound art installation and I will give you an excited ten minute lecture on Alvin Lucier before you can flee through the gift shop.
Experiencing art can often be intimidating. What if you’re not feeling a connection? What if you just don’t like it? What if you share your opinion aloud at the Met and the ghost of John D. Rockefeller floats by only to give you some side eye and loudly sigh about how culture is wasted on the masses? There’s so many things that can go wrong! The thing is, you’re experiencing it. You’re there.
You made it this far! You stopped watching Gilmore Girls for this! So take a deep breath and a few minutes and sit in front of that painting. Here are a few things that can happen when you stop instagramming and give that artwork your undivided attention:
- become a step closer to nirvana
- realize you should quit your job
- realize you should find a job
- realize you could probs get a lot of likes with the caption “art? more like fart *smiley poop emoji*”
- become interested in the painting
- become interested in the colors used to create that shadow
- become interested in what inspired the artist
- become interested in the painting next to this one
- become angry you’re staring at a stupid painting with stupid color theory and stupid composition
- give your feet a rest
Going to the museum is like exercising in that it’s exhausting, gets you out of your head, potentially exhilarating, and we all don’t do it as often as we should. It’s easier with a friend who knows what’s coming ahead. That friend doesn’t even have to be Shelly, the girl who posts too many #artselfie’s. It could be an audio tour, an “art history for dummies” book, a docent, or a phone with access to wikipedia. But you’re doing it. You’re connecting with someone who is different than you by looking at their art. You’re connecting with people across the world and throughout time.
If Tom Haverford can do it, so can you. #TreatYoSelf2014
