I read this anecdote somewhere:
A visitor to the Louvre in Paris viewed the renowned Mona Lisa and stated loudly: "That painting is nothing special. I am unimpressed." A curator who was standing nearby said: "Sir, the painting is not on trial. You are."
Could have said the same thing about "Starry Night".
I wonder, is the quote trying to say something about pretentious audiences, or about pretentious curators?
The Mona Lisa is famous in no small part because it was stolen. Its fame gave it appeal, as did its out-of-copyright status that allowed so many derivatives. Now, I'm not saying "it's terrible", just "it's overrated" and "standards have risen".
People speak of Lisa del Giocondo's "enigmatic expression": I see simply a neutral, resting face, there is no enigma for me.
The composition? No, the background has some of the flaws used today to identify AI generated images: Look at the waterline on the right, just below her eye-line, that's at an angle, and contradicts the elements on the other side of her head.
This isn't to diss Leonardo, he and his peers had to invent a lot from first principles, and that's much more difficult than learning the same techniques from others; but at the same time, the fact that we don't need to invent it all from scratch and we can learn from others, means that it's much easier to get to a higher quality standard today — and the corollary, if you want to be seen as a genius on the level of Leonardo, the bar is much higher than "do what Leonardo did with the Mona Lisa".
I prefer the version in Prado, Madrid: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Gioconda_(copia_del_...
(Now one I will say "it's terrible", to the horror of those that love it, is Der Kuss by Klimt: the woman's head is at such an angle it seems to have been disconnected from her body, rotated 90°, and reattached at the ear).
This particular painting (Mona Lisa) is indeed famous because it got stolen, and that's also why people wait in line to take a selfie with it and completely ignore "The Virgin and Child with Saint Anne" that is in the next room. But still, its quality is undeniable. As is the quality of the other paintings around. Then of course, you may like the painting or not, that's orthogonal.
Da Vinci started a painting technique called "Sfumato", which is used there. Many other painters used and developed that technique, of course, but it means that Da Vinci created something meaningful there. Famous painters usually had an impact in their time.
About tourists pretending to be a museum audience.
>The Mona Lisa is famous in no small part because it was stolen. Its fame gave it appeal, as did its out-of-copyright status that allowed so many derivatives.
That's a myth, only applicable to mass audiences who wouldn't have the education to recognize, much less understand, the majority of what they saw in the museum in the first place. Da Vinci's work was in high esteem for centuries by the point the painting was stolen, which is also why Mona Lisa was displayed in the Louvre to begin with. That's regardless whether Joe and Jane Q. Public knew about it or read about it on magazine "must see" lists.
>just "it's overrated" and "standards have risen".
LOL
> LOL
If it were simply the art itself, and not the name attached to it, nobody would care if a piece in the style of Leonardo was forgery or an original, they would only care if it was good.
There wouldn't even be a word for forgery, in the context of art, if it was really about the art itself.
I would put Starry Night in that place if it were my decision to make. But it's not.
that's exactly what everyone else thinks, and so they just take it for granted
But yeah, defining "quality" may be difficult for art. Maybe rather for contemporary art, though. I think we tend to have some kind of consensus for older art?
Then for instance in cinema, I think it's pretty objective. It doesn't have to be related to how popular the movie is, though.
Though it seems that eventually, remarkable work does find its way up, even if the authors might not be around to enjoy the belated appraisal.
And in that case, what more can one do but do the work and hope for the best?