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What Art Education?

John W. Pinkerton


I've had an interest in art from the time I was a wee fellow.  My mom bought me a small part of an encyclopedia of art when I was about ten or eleven.  The books stopped at three---I think in the middle of the C's---probably because she ran out of money.  But I loved the books, and I still have  them.

I don't recall any art being taught at my high school, Pineville High School in central Louisiana.  They ran a pretty tight ship and apparently art wasn't considered necessary ballast.  Maybe they did have art, and I was just looking at the horizon and not the ship beneath me---probably not smart.

I stumbled into a little art at LSU, and they did have an honest-to-gawd art department, but  I didn't have a lot of contact with art there either although I occasionally dropped by to see what they were up to---unfortunately not much that interested me.

When I was in the army in Europe,  I managed to visit the Louvre and the Tate Gallery.  The Tate was wonderful.  I highly recommend any of their facilities.  I think these visits revived my interest in art.

I rarely run into anyone who has an interest in art let alone any knowledge of art or art history.

I blame the fact most folks are art illiterates on both public education and higher education.  Art in public schools is usually designated as a dumping ground for kids who aren't athletes or band members or just not interested in anything.  Too often the poor old art teachers end up with a bunch of malcontents not interested in art or, for that matter, not much else.  Lord, please help the poor put upon art teachers in public schools.

Have you noticed how common commercial art classes have become---usually for the young.  Well, there are a few reasons for this: parents need a little time away from their kids, they suspect Miss Suzy's art lessons  for the fourth graders are not the stuff of champions, and they suspect it couldn't hurt.  Not great motivations, but we shouldn't look a gift horse in the mouth. 

A&M, our local citadel of higher education, assiduously avoids getting involved in art.  Apparently, they consider it their krytonite.  Although I got one of those Masters degrees from there, I don't have much respect for their efforts to be a real university.  To make my case, one of the first things I noticed while attending A&M was that the philosophy department was cleverly disguised as a utility closet behind a pea green door partially obscured by a huge Coke machine on the ground level of Old Main.   Hmm, art is probably out of the question.

If you want a little art education, you might want to go my route, self-education.  Consider it a hobby.  I suspect your knowledge of art won't be on your final exam, but it certainly won't kill you to learn a little.

As part of your art education, you might want to visit a museum or two.  You can't buy the art in a museum, but you can get a pretty good idea what other folks consider good art, and for the most part, it is good art. For you locals, Houston has a first rate museum and San Antonio has a couple.  I don't know which ones charge a fee or how much, but it's cheaper than the cost of a movie as I recall.  If you can't find something you like, shoot them the bird and go get a soda…or a coffee…your choice.

To further your art education, you might want to overcome your fear of art galleries by actually going to one.  I blame this fear on snooty art gallery folks---well, that's the way they’re often portrayed in movies---who want to charge double or triple or quadruple the value of a work of art and act as though the artists are emissaries from the gods. Now, it's been my experience that in reality most galleries aren't at all snooty.  Find a gallery, walk in, browse the goods and see how you are treated.  If you're not treated well, shoot them the bird and go get a ham sandwich or hamburger---once again, your choice.

Speaking of dying arts, reading is another way to add to your education.  While I was teaching and while I was a librarian, I read a lot of books about art and artists.

If you're an art illiterate, I suggest Art History for Dummies.  Now if you feel that you're too sophisticated for this book, think about this.  When I was a young fellow, professors often made fun of The Readers Digest and folks who read it.  You may not have noticed, but most of those folks are dead now and the Readers Digest  is still around.  Just saying.  After reading this, Art History for Dummies, you'll probably learn enough to be your own guide through the world of art and art history.

Biographies of artists are a good way to learn a little and to be entertained.  Most of what folks think they know about famous artists is that they're strange.  Folks, if you read a biography of artists you think are strange, you would probably find that they're just folks. Now a few made it a point to give the impression that they were strange to help sell their art.  Of all the artists I personally know, they're just average folks; however, some of them have a ton of talent and excellent work ethics.  Well, there is that one weird guy.

Now, I know that my next suggestion to further your art education will solicit jeers from any intellectuals who have stumbled upon my words: movies.  Often these movies are biographies and, of course, are highly romanticized, but that's the nature of movies.  My friend John Grant has written an essay about “art” movies, “The Best Films about Art...Ever,” that you might want to review, and word has reached Somerville that a new movie about Van Gogh starring Wilem Defoe, At Eternity’s Gate, is soon to reach the movie theatres.   By the way, TV recently did a wonderful multi-part piece on Picasso as part of National Geographic’s Genius series entitled, of course, Picasso, starring Antonio Banderas.  Good work.

Now, I don't give a hoot if you purchase my “art,”---age and prosperity have hammered this down--- but I do care about your remaining ignorant about art.  Just read about it, see movies, go to galleries, go to museums.  One day maybe years from now, if you take my advice to heart, you might even say, “Thank you,” and with a little self-education you might even be able to explain why you don't like my art, and, believe me, there are plenty of reasons.