I have just spent the past three quarters of an hour reading your archived refutations of David Hockney, as well as your coverage of the Hirschl & Adler Galleries decision to exhibit only Realist artists.
All I can say is - THANK YOU FROM THE BOTTOM OF MY HEART.
I will admit to you right now, I am not one of the learned art collectors who probably make up the majority of visitors to your site. I am just a young woman from rural New Hampshire who is moved, as most people are (or should be) by the beauty of the world around us. It is currently autumn in New Hampshire, and early morning on a clear, crisp day this time of year is positively breathtaking. I look out my window and feel a swell of joy to be provided such a sight, and pride, to be in the right place at the right time to see it. That kind of experience - a physical gut reaction - is how I judge art I like versus art I don't like, and I imagine I'm not alone.
So imagine, if you will, the merry hell I've experienced for years on end, trying to make heads or tails of why squiggles on canvas count as art to anyone, when I've seen two-year olds do much the same thing without fanfare. I thought a piece of me was broken. I am an educated woman, not an ignorant bore; it was extremely depressing to think that I could never truly enjoy visiting an art gallery, because invariably I'd have to visit the "modern art" exhibits with my "hip" friends, and be bored out of my mind. Give me the great works of the masters any day over a bunch of potato prints on canvas, please.
So it was a great comfort - and delight! - to me to read your coverage and discover I WASN'T ALONE. Other people are just as bored with all this eye-crossing abstract art as I am; people who are "in the know," and have the right (due to years of study and experience that I just don't have) to actually SAY something about it. It warmed my heart to know that there are young artists out there who are striving to revive the old traditions of generations past, and I cannot wait to see the fruits of their labors in years to come. Having now seen the work of the likes of Kamille Corry and Paul S. Brown, I know that the future is in good hands, and my children will have some truly gifted living masters to admire.
So please, let me be among the first of the so-called "unwashed masses" to say, "Thank you," to all those at ARC and beyond who are working to keep the classical artistic traditions alive and well in the modern world. I, for one, will be watching eagerly to see what new masterpieces are created in the years to come, and look forward to seeing them in all their glory here at the ARC.
Sincerely,
Melissa R.
New Hampshire, USA
