To not understand art?

[PourMeAnotherOne]

I read a novel recently, which was partly about the haggling of an expensive painting.

I started reading / googling about the most expensive paintings in the world just out of interest. They are literally hundreds of millions of pounds. Pablo Picasso for example. The thing is most of the paintings don't even make sense to me, they are complete nonsense to someone who hasn't studied art. Even portraits or whole body paintings, they just look... odd. Three eyes, or one leg or whatever. I know they are obviously very gifted people as they wouldn't be worth so much otherwise but I find it so odd.

What makes art so expensive?! How do people work out what it means without an explanation? Like a goat playing a violin or something...

(Light hearted BTW!)

I wouldn't worry. If you don't get it, you don't get it. (My mum was a painter so I grew up around art, so I suppose got indoctrinated early, but, for example, I just don't get ballet. At all.)

Yup, it's entirely lost on me. It used to make me feel stupid so not I mostly avoid art galleries 😂

I just googled some of Tracey Emin's work too.

What the fuck?!

Nah, I don't get it at all. I'd never have any paintings hanging in my house, I don't like them.

When I hear the prices people pay for art I'm just

Like a goat playing a violin or something...

I like art in as much as I can appreciate a good painting or drawing but I can't be dealing with a lot of the art-talk; I find it quite pretentious really. It's a good painting, that's it. I don't want to talk about the depth of blue that represents the demons in her soul or whatever.

The value comes from the paintings cultural influence and subsequent significance. Picasso for example was a hugely influential artist and his style and Cubism marked a historical turning point in art history.

I can understand landscapes and portraits - a way of remembering a familiar place or person from the years before photographs.

But abstract? Stylised? Nope. Lost on me.

Tracey Emin and her messy bedroom. I recall once slowly backing away from a group of people talking about it's 'brutal realism' or something like that. I could have taken a picture of my bedroom for free if they'd wanted...

I think you are looking at the wrong type of art.
You don’t have to understand it, it’s meant to make you feel something. So even feeling unsure or annoyed about it means it’s doing it’s job.

I admire really fine art, some portraits and landscapes are so lifelike, I don't really get a piece of string hanging on a box but hey no, each to their own.

I suppose it’s only the same as not understanding aspects of science, but you don’t rubbish science......

The works you are describing are cutting edge pieces of work which changed the course of the art work, they are expensive because there is only one of them and there are some very rich people in the world who collect art.

Most artists don’t greet those figures for their work, even relatively well known people in the art world.

Art world that should be...

And get not greet !

I don't really get a lot of it either, not at any deep level. I get that Picasso was breaking out of the more traditional style of paintings so was exciting at the time (a bit like punk music?) but it doesn't really speak to me.

Tbf I think a lot of the ridiculously high prices are now being driven by ridiculously rich people investing in art because they have stupid amounts of money and they keep going up in value.

I think some art is pretty and some is kind of fun (especially Magritte's paintings like La Clairvoyance or his Empire of Light series) but I only enjoy them in a very shallow way, in the same way I enjoy a catchy pop song.

Yes! Or a tent naming everyone she's ever slept with? Bought and displayed by Charles Saatchi.

Or a bunch of blue and green lines randomly scrawled across a canvas and worth 70 million pounds. You could have told me it was scribbled by a four year old. I'd believe you!

Maybe I'm just a bit thick 😂

Agree with @poster HoraceWimpIsThisYourLife

Art is meant to create a reaction.

I think of art as the punk of creativity

There’s no rules, you can do what you like . It’s great ! It’s a collection of individuals telling you about their perspective on the world.

At the end of the day everything is only worth what someone will pay for it. What makes certain works of art so expensive is as much to do with rarity as quality. Works by Picasso rarely come up for sale so anyone who wants one will pay as much as they can possibly afford to get one when there is a chance.

That's a very different question from understanding art. My top tip if you want to understand art is to go and see the real thing. I remember thinking that Van Gogh was dreadful and couldn't understand what anyone saw in his work. And then I went to the National Gallery and saw some in person, not just prints, and suddenly it all made sense.

Something like Picasso, or modern abstract art, I think it's important to remember that they are intended to make you think and/or feel, not be decorative (this is basically true of all art but it's most obvious with non-representational art). See what your gut response is - whether that's a negative or positive emotion. They are unsettling and that's deliberate. Look at the painting for a while. See what it does to you. Art's not supposed to be something we comprehend completely in a moment. It's supposed to take time and reflection and it's okay if we don't 'get it' instantly.

There is no one thing or style that is 'art'.
So many styles and tastes - from the more realistic to the abstract to the completely bizarre.
Art can be amazing, good, mediocre, meh or downright terrible and what I may put in these categories may be different to what you put in those categories.
It is subjective and just because it's expensive or lauded by 'experts' as good, doesn't mean that you or I have to agree with them.
Forget about the price tag with art, find something that speaks to you and makes you think it's awesome, beautiful or just very cool. I have a gorgeous beautiful piece of glass that I bought from a gallery that is my favourite piece in our house - it's got beautiful colours in it, cost a whole £60 and frankly I'd rather have it than some of those pieces that cost millions.
I do like some expensive pieces though and saw a Rothko in the LA MOMA when I was there. I'd seen it on posters and always thought it was ok but nothing special but seeing the scale and depth of colour in place transformed it to something really quite gorgeous. So I'd say sometimes seeing something in person makes a difference.
If you aren't an art gallery person fine, not everybody is but I suspect if you look around in life you will find something in the art world you do like even if it's not the same stuff as everybody else.

There is a really good podcast called A Piece of Work that might help you explore art appreciation if you want to. But art might just not be your thing and that’s ok too.

I agree with the poster that said about art making you feel something.

Years ago I could take or leave most art. And then I saw Jackson Pollocks "Summertime". I just felt "drawn" to it and couldn't (still can't) tell you why! Sounds crazy I know. But I know I don't "have" to explain it, it just "is".

That and The Scream make me feel "something". Also "Sunday Afternoon On The Island Of La Grand Jatte" though I know that's completely down to the Sondheim musical based on it.

Art doesn't have to "do" anything, it just has to "be". That's my take on it anyway

Willard Wigan is kind of fun too. He's the guy who makes tiny sculptures and puts them eg in the eye of needle or on the head of a pin. I can't really say it's high art but they are fun and he is incredibly skilled.

Most stuff is just lost on me though. I remember going to Juan Miro's gallery in Spain and he had this painting which was just a single wiggly line and the audio guide was saying how he spent months deciding where exactly the line should go He did have a fountain with mercury instead of water in it which was interesting, but the rest just seemed like a waste of time.

I agree that knowing the context or history can help, but tbh it’s all subjective - some art you like, some you don’t. There are probably pieces out there you would like you just haven’t seen. It’s a very personal thing.

There's a big problem with international money laundering in high value art that has contributed to price hikes.

Is the Picasso worth it, or just a way of cleaning dirty money?

One of many examples:
www.theartnewspaper.com/news/picasso-painting-offered-in-money-laundering-scheme-us-feds-say

I'm not ridiculing all art or saying it's all nonsense - just that some of it is nonsense to me specifically.

There are some paintings I like, but I'm talking a bit of wall art that features an ocean or a beach or somewhere I'd like to be when I look at it. Or even something with a few shapes and colours on that I think is eye catching.

But when something like a bird sitting on a penis is worth an obscene amount of money, or a picture of a woman with legs that to me genuinely looks like it's been drawn by a child, it just makes me curious as to how very rich people decide it is worth so much paying for that's all.

They obviously see something I don't understand glad I'm not the only one who doesn't feel sophisticated enough to appreciate art galleries

I like art in the sense that I like pretty pictures. I like Waterlillies and Starry Night and paintings with lovely colours. I also like art that has interesting things to look at and involves a very high level of skill, like classical paintings or Dali. Tracy Emin and Turner Prize type art is not for me, I just don’t get it and don’t care.