The Things That Matter in a Painting

Coastline
Oil on Canvas Panel
11 x 14 in /27.9 x 35.6 cm
Copyright Byrne Smith 2015

I hope the headline of today's blog intrigued you enough to open it and that you keep reading; that, after all, is the thing that matters in a blog.

However, I'm talking about paintings not blogs, and it may surprise you that not all the things that matter have to do with artistic ability in my humble opinion.

I think the thing that matters most in a painting is how it's received, or should I say perceived, by the viewer. Being human, we are all different and so are our reactions to art. If there's no reception/perception/reaction, then it's rather like the sound of a tree falling with no one around to hear it, wouldn't you agree?

Besides that, there's also the style of the painting that matters. If you like the old master's paintings, then you are not likely to be a collector of Andy Warhol's work, although you may have admired his gumption in putting it out there.

The mood also is near the top of this list. A watercolor of kittens playing with a ball of yarn in the morning light puts out a much different vibe than Mark Rothko's paintings, especially the ones hanging here locally at the Rothko Chapel.

OK, I will include artistic ability but with a caveat. That caveat is that it's nearly impossible to define artistic ability. "Good" artistic ability to you is probably not the same as the person standing next to you at the museum. To prove my point, just compare the portraits of John Singer Sargent and Pablo Picasso.

That gets back to reception/perception/reaction, so, you see, we have come full circle.