Favorite artwork

Karen is very artistically gifted.  I have difficulties drawing coherent stick figures.  Be that all as it may, I have an appreciation for visual media that's about as eclectic as my musical tastes.

First of all, I don't get certain art.  That's not to say that I find it less valuable or worthwhile, I just don't see the point of buying it or spending much time looking at it.  To be perfectly honest, art museums bore the stuffing out of me.  To put it simply, I know what I like and I like what I know.  In other words, I know what I'll like when I see it.

When it comes to painting, perhaps my favorite artist is Velázquez.  My favorite of his works is Las meninas.  For those of you unfamiliar with the painting, here it is:

A book I bought in Spain explains the absolute artistry that is the picture, but since I'm so wretched at art, I won't even try to explain it.

I also appreciate El Greco.  My favorite of his is El entierro del conde de Orgaz.  Again, for those unfamiliar with the work:

Both of these paintings surprised me by their sheer size.  How the artists were able to put them together to scale amazes me.  El Greco also put in some personal elements to his painting; I've always liked hidden meanings in paintings.

Norman Rockwell is also a favorite of mine.  I like just about anything he's painted.  I love Andrew Wyeth's Christina's World: 

I was particularly saddened to discover that three weeks after that painting was finished the model, Christina, who was afflicted with some disease that prevented her from walking, died. 

Photography is also another medium I appreciate.  There are plenty of photographers whose works I admire, but the non-pareil photog for me is Ansel Adams:

Moonrise over Hernández, New Mexico, is just one of the many photographs of his I enjoy.

But there's another medium that enthralls me and I don't know quite what to call it.  When commericals show liquids flowing in slow motion, or when a movie has a scene where a helicopter is flying over buildings and filming them from directly above, I'm mesmerized.  I can watch those things and sit there quiet as a churchmouse.

Other artistic endeavors confuse me more than please me.  I rarely understand modern art.  I don't understand performance art.  Surrealism confuses me.  Impressionism does nothing for me.

All this does is prove the maxim that art is in the eye of the beholder.

But show me milk chocolate being poured in slow motion and you have me in the bottom of your hand.


(c) 2013 The Truxton Spangler Chronicles