“ It is characteristic of great art that it should be at first, surprise to an indifferent degree, after which, continuing and augmenting, surprise is changed to wonder and admiration.” (Montesquieu..Sent by Mark Talaba) Can you recall a piece of great art that you have seen and its influence upon you? I saw Rodin’s The Thinker at a DIA exhibit. I didn’t realize that The Thinker was part of a larger sculpture based on Dante’s Inferno. I saw that The Thinker was contemplating life after death. Aha! ;-) Jack
FROM R.I. IN BOSTON: I suggest that the underlying idea here is applicable to more than great art. Creative food, fine furniture, elegant clothing, inspired writing, and perhaps most of all, human personality, can all catch our attention initially and upon scrutiny will capture our admiration.
MORE FROM R.I.: Getting back to your earlier question, "can you recall a piece of great art...and its influence on you?", one work that frequently comes back into my thoughts is what I saw quite a few years ago. It was a block of white marble about a cubic yard in size, with its base still entirely square, quarried marble, and the top was a man's head and part of the torso, with his hands pulling himself out of the crystalline block. Clearly man emerging from raw matter, done as I recall by a Polish sculptor. The concept and the artist's expression of it were bold to me.
FROM S.H. IN MICHIGAN: It's pleasant to think this morning and to read what you wrote about "The Thinker". I didn't realize the background of that sculpture but it is very wonderful to think that he is thinking about life after death and not what he should have for dinner or something.
FROM GOOD DEBT JON IN OHIO: Neat. I always imagined he was contemplating something much more complicated, perhaps the tax code.
FROM MOLINER C.F.: While not considered "fine art", Prince Valiant had a great influence on my career choice... from the age of seven. Truly imaginative and faithful to the times, Harold Foster told a great story, magnificently drawn. Consider me shallow, but great art is not decided by the critics as far as I'm concerned.
FROM M.S. IN MICHIGAN: i saw Rodin in Paris years ago with my daughter and she asked me the same question I did not have a good answer. Now I can tell her something that makes sense and is thought provoking.
FROM S.G. IN MICHIGAN: I did not know that either. Don't you just love to learn and in doing so, become further enlightened!
FROM D.S. IN SAN DIEGO: Yes I have, Jack. When I was in Hawaii with my family, probably 35 years ago we were strolling through an art gallery and I focused upon a painting by Picasso, which I ordinarily do
not "appreciate", however, this one was of Christ, and in order to see him clearly you had
to look through a narrow prism. It was a wonderful piece and I have never forgotten it.
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