How to Appreciate Modern Art

When was the last time you stood in a modern art gallery in front of a painting and thought to yourself, “Wow this looks like a 5 year old could have done it”. You then notice next to it, a small caption, with its selling price. You were dumbstruck. It was a five digit number. How could this be possible?!

“Well there is a lot more that meets the eye” says Charles Willingam. “The painting is merely the product of a perspective. You mustn’t just look at what stands before you. Consider the painter, his history and psychology, and only then will you actually realize the true value of a painting”.

Take for example, a Guatemalan painter, who has positioned himself quite well with art connoisseurs from around the world, Jose Francisco Tun. His painting, “The Red Desert”, is currently priced at $15,000. What does a normal person see? He sees a trembling black line over a red canvas. What does a connoisseur see? He sees a man of indigenous descent, who suffered from alcoholism and surfaced from poverty. A man, who with his utterly unique style was able to recreate his perspective of the world in a manner never before seen.

How then, can a work of art from such a humble man reach such an exorbitant price? We find that one of the fundamental principles of economics is that the price of a good is related to its relative scarcity. Under this same principle, we find that the works of Jose Francisco Tun fulfill such a standard. Having an unclassified style, makes him by principle quite scarce, therefore improving his price in the market.

As we have stated before in How To Appreciate Fine Art there is a great amount of other ways you can stare at a painting. Next time you visit an art gallery, you will start noticing things you did not see before, therefore prolonging the time you spend observing each painting. With this we leave you with the same words we ended our last post on fine art. Share your opinions! They will be truly valued.
Charles Willingham is a world wide art connoisseur who recently returned from an art hunting trip in Central America. He recommended we visit Proyectos Ultravioleta for its peculiar style, in order to get us better acquainted with the direction some contemporary art is taking.
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