What Makes a Great Work of Art?

[cosmicfolklore]

A few weeks ago we had a great discussion about who was better Dali or Picasso. I think it got closed, but using the assertions that many were making, lets have some fun with that.

First, I will state that artists are never in competition with each other. Sure, artists can hate each other, but the way visual art works is evoking a personal or thoughtful connection between the artist and the viewer with the artwork as the modicum. What is going on between other artists and the viewing world has almost no impact on what can happen between your art and the viewer.

So, I pose the question, What makes a work of art great? for you. What do you judge a work of art based upon? Or, some variance of that question.

Have fun with that, and remember the number one killer of creativity is being too serious.

Are you a, I judge art by how real it looks? Or, I judge art by how much it makes me think? Or, something else entirely?
Post pictures, pie charts, or diagrams to better make your cases.

 

[CoffeeAndBourbon]

I will judge art on realisticality if the work is trying to be realistic. Otherwise, it's all about the balance of colors, composition and how it makes me feel.

 

[cosmicfolklore]

I will judge art on realisticality if the work is trying to be realistic. Otherwise, it's all about the balance of colors, composition and how it makes me feel.

What always drove me crazy in high school was that the art teacher would spend all year talking about how art didn't have to look real to be good, and then freakin' judged my work in class on how real it looked.

 

[CoffeeAndBourbon]

What always drove me crazy in high school was that the art teacher would spend all year talking about how art didn't have to look real to be good, and then freakin' judged my work in class on how real it looked.

Amen!

 

[Philosopiper]

I'd say art, realistic or not, is great to the extent it reminds of the unity of reality, or God. I judge all art regardless of the artist's conscious intention, this way.

For example, I remember being stunned by some of van Gogh's painting in the Met museum in NYC, because the flowing patterns of color gave the world of his painting a blended look, which suggested strongly to me the idea of the interpenetration of all things with each other. It seemed that van Gogh was sharing with us his perception of the world as this jumble of interpenetrating forces.

 

[stevecourtright]

I like the emotion approach to defining what is art.

"Art begins when a man, with the purpose of communicating to other people a feeling he once experienced, calls it up again within himself and expresses it by certain external signs" Tolstoy

So, if one must judge, I would say that art (to be called art) must evoke an emotional response.

 

[kcghost]

Well, this is rather difficult. I have no idea what constitutes greatness, but I do know when I am in the presence of it. I was in Phoenix when my sister roped me into going to this museum to see something titled rough "Raphael to Manet". I was bored out of my mind until I got to the Manet. It was an impressionistic painting of a bunch of people having a Sunday jaunt down the Seine on a boat. I can't recall the name of it but if I'd of had a few million or a gun I would have taken it home with me. It was rather large being (roughly) 6 feet by 9 feet. Just beautiful.

 

[warren]

Critics coupled to rich people and what they are told is art. Sometimes, popular acclaim. My eye tells me what is art and I'm a fan of realism in art. So, I know it when I see it.

 

[Casual]

Transcendence that produces awe.

 

[Chasing Embers]

What always drove me crazy in high school was that the art teacher would spend all year talking about how art didn't have to look real to be good, and then freakin' judged my work in class on how real it looked.

I took high school art.....briefly. I was drawing an underwater still life in class with a mermaid skeleton and when completed, the teacher said it was too realistic. Even said I should give it some flair by adding fruit. I switched classes the following week.

 

[cosmicfolklore]

So, if one must judge, I would say that art (to be called art) must evoke an emotional response.

Good, it's good to know how and why you like something. It's a step towards better understanding yourself. Although, for me, I don't have to have an emotional response. I'm not even sure what that is.

I have no idea what constitutes greatness

A philosopher... first define terms, what is quality?

Critics coupled to rich people and what they are told is art.

I only listen to critics when it comes to movies... not to be told which ones I should think are good, but to decide which movie I might or might not enjoy watching... a lot like why I read jiminks tobacco reviews. Do people read Jims reviews to be told what is good or bad?

 

[shanez]

What makes a work of art great?

When it looks like this:

 

[pauls456]

Great art mirrors some profound aspect of life, or truth. Profound truth is impossible to define, and so is great art. Fortunately, you know it when you see it.

 

[stevecourtright]

"Although, for me, I don't have to have an emotional response. I'm not even sure what that is."

I cried like a fool the first time I heard "Quartet for the End of Time." Of course, I hadn't slept for a couple of days and was still in the throes of painkillers, &c &c, from a recent surgery. So, maybe my ruler was bent.

 

[cosmicfolklore]

Great art mirrors some profound aspect of life, or truth. Profound truth is impossible to define, and so is great art. Fortunately, you know it when you see it.

Show us some examples of stuff you like.

 

[shanez]

Show us some examples of stuff you like.

My personal favorite is Monet but I appreciate a lot of others.

 

[Chasing Embers]

I like Alphonse Mucha's art nouveau work.

 

[tbradsim1]

Norman Rockwell speaks to me, not a fine artist, but his take on common people always amazed, this is my favorite, probably a returning veteran, been there, speaking against the good old boys, been there, as American as it can be, to me Art speaks to you or it doesn’t, Simple from a Simple man.

 

[cosmicfolklore]

View attachment 96897
Norman Rockwell speaks to me, not a fine artist, but his take on common people always amazed, this is my favorite, probably a returning veteran, been there, speaking against the good old boys, been there, as American as it can be, to me Art speaks to you or it doesn’t, Simple from a Simple man.

I like how you connect the work to your experiences. That's what art is all about, right there.

 

[telescopes]

Great art resonates in at least two levels: The macro universe, the one we perceive, and the quantum universe, the foundation of our reality. It connects with people universally because the tone of its resonance connects at multiple levels of understanding, conscious and subconscious.