Der Zeit ihre Kunst – Der Kunst ihre Freiheit
I really hate to admit this – absolutely hate it – but for a long time, I was one of those people that looked at the modern and oftentimes abstract art on the museum walls and thought, So what? If you’re still one of those people, no shame. I’m afraid that everything I'm about to say is dangerously close to sounding like a lecture, or at the very least too elitist. Believe me, that’s the last thing I want. Every time I want to say something new about the meaning and value of modern art, I get the feeling that I should really just keep my mouth shut. I'm not going to do that. Instead, I'm going to plunge ahead and see if I can't move you to understand a little of what makes modern art so special (which, consequently is an ongoing journey I've been on over the course of the past few years).
​
For me, the secret to all this great art seems to be encompassed by a notion that the Austrians captured in a magnificent fashion in the motto of their artists' secession (to be elaborated upon later): Der Zeit ihre Kunst – Der Kunst ihre Freiheit. In English, it means, “To every age, its art – to every art, its freedom.” I think that’s beautiful. Of course, quoting that line really ups the ante of pretentious in any situation, especially if I were to say it after the person standing in front of a Kandinsky at a museum throws out the classic line that art historians hate. My kid could have done this. That line stings now, but it didn’t use to. While I knew there was some greater meaning to that art, something that captured a feeling deeper than a few crayon-like strokes, I had no idea what it was, and I wasn’t about to admit my ineptitude to anyone. But secretly I couldn’t help but think that the dad donning socks with sandals and comparing a Pollock to their kindergartener’s finger painting was kind of…right.
Pierre Auguste Renoir, 1876
Piet Mondrian, 1942
Jackson Pollock, 1952
Some museum exhibitions are pretty easily understood. You can walk through and “get” what the artists were attempting to exhibit whether or not you understand the historical context or significance of any given piece. Even the Renoir above on the left is fairly easy to interpret visually, even without prior knowledge of the Impressionist movement in France. Prior to the mid-19th century, the purpose of art was basically to continue and perfect the styles of the classical tradition. Classical art, most easily recognizable as art from the Renaissance period, is generally classified as representational, meaning that it is a realistic depiction of life as we see it. The above Mondrian painting in the center and the Pollock painting to the right are polar opposites to the the idea of representational art – they're both about as abstract as it gets. As I’ll discuss later, some of the greatest rebellion in the world of European art history stemmed from the notion that artists should not have to zero in on this idealized version of realism.
​
For now, it’s worth taking a step back. Maybe by the time this is all finished, we won’t have so much in common with the socks-and-sandals guy.