May 30, 2009
Worst Review Ever
Going to see this re-created William Blake exhibition today:
the poor man fancies himself a great master, and has painted a few wretched pictures, some of which are unintelligible allegory, others an attempt at sober character by caricature representation, and the whole 'blotted and blurred' and very badly drawn. These he calls an Exhibition, of which he has published a Catalogue, or rather a farrago of nonsense, unintelligibleness, and egregious vanity, the wild effusions of a distempered brain...
More WREs here.
Posted by Dr. Frank at May 30, 2009 09:43 AM | TrackBackThis is admittedly a badly drawn picture. However, I wish it was still acceptable to create "grand" thematic art. Today, it seems to be considered embarrassing, but in the long run, these are really the only pieces with any emotional impact. My favorite example of a series that would be unthinkably embarrassing for an artist today is Cole's "Voyage of Life".
http://images.google.com/images?q=cole+voyage+of+life&hl=en&client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&hs=Q36&sa=N&um=1&imgsz=huge
It actually works for some reason.
Of course every Madonna and child that hasn't been given a dirty sanchez or some other post modern twist would be unthinkable today as well. What a shame.
Posted by: josh at May 30, 2009 05:27 PMOld John with white hair, / Does laugh away care, / Sitting under the oak, / Among the old folk. / They laugh at our play, /
And soon they all say: / "Such, such were the joys / When we all, girls and boys, / In our youth time were seen / On the Echoing Green.
Blake=greatest artist of the 18th-century.
Ray Davies=greatest artist of the 19th-century.
Posted by: Cpt. at May 30, 2009 06:55 PM