I feel very strongly that there is an indifference to painting in today’s society. In today’s technology age, a high value is not placed on aesthetics such as painting. American society is drawn more to television programs and sporting events than to operas and art galleries. Very few paintings or other works of art would garner massive publicity in today’s society. The artwork would have to stimulate the mind in a negative way to receive any attention at all. It would have to spark a major controversy by being vulgar or politically incorrect in some other way to spark conversation about it.
American society, in particular, is drawn to conflict as opposed to appreciating a work of art for its aesthetic brilliance. Painting is nearly dead in toady’s society. Most people view only music as an art form and place a high value on it. Painting is left to only school projects or murals on abandoned buildings. It is often overlooked and under appreciated. Painting cannot be appreciated by mainstream America because we are not educated on all of its intricacies. Public knowledge of painting and art as a whole is dismally low, and there is an indifference to painting mainly because people don’t understand it.
Many people don’t know what to look at, or what to look for when observing a painting, and therefore cover up their lack of knowledge by overlooking painting as an art form. Many American critics of today’s society would not have been able to appreciate Manet’s Luncheon on the Grass or Monet’s Impression Sunrise, because of its impressionist style. It would be viewed as “ugly” or “unattractive” because so many fine details were left off. People of today’s society would not take the time to sit down and try to interpret the art that Monet was trying to display on the canvas.
Americans of today want everything handed to them and would not have wanted to pick their brain to try to figure out exactly what Monet was trying convey to us as the viewer. Many Americans probably wouldn’t want so many of the details of Impressionism left off. They would want to look at it, interpret it at face value and leave it alone. They wouldn’t take the time to “read between the lines” of the painting, looking for hidden meanings and intricate details. I feel very strongly that in today’s society, painting has taken a backseat to the Internet and rock concerts.
Many Americans would place a higher value on their car’s paint job than on one of Monet’s impressionist works. Americans, however, aren’t going to place a high value on something they don’t know about. American schools should try to incorporate art into the classroom at an early age so Americans can appreciate it or at least be able to interpret it. No one is going to be able to appreciate something he or she doesn’t even understand. There is an indifference to painting in today’s society; however, we can change our outlook and try to bridge the gap and place a higher value on art and its aesthetic beauty.
