Welcome home Peggy!

Your experience in Russia is a good reminder of the need to look beyond our own style of painting and understand the many factors that contribute to the manner and style of painting that develops over time depending on many factors that somehow drive the form and style of art.

It's a reminder that painting styles other than classic realism does not equal incompetence. It also makes the understanding and appreciation of art more enjoyable. Your comments about knowing the subjects/artists hits home. I don't know whether non artists are capable of the same reactions but I often experience a strong kinship with artists of the past and I too have a feeling that I am somehow connecting and know what they were attempting to pass on to me.

We are all part of a past, influenced by the present, and hopefully creating things that will touch our descendents. It's also a reminder that I should strive to make a good painting aside from the attempt to get a good likeness.

Twice while doing business in that part of the world I had to abort plans to take a side visit to Amsterdam. Your visit is a sad reminder.

I also share your enthusiasm for the Russian painters and include Nikolai Fechin among my favorite. There is a book titled Socialist Realist Painting by Matthew Cullerne Bown that you may wish to study.

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... forget it...

Please remove this

"Come Together"
 

Ok, I'll bite. Could it be because collectively we tend to sever the past? To see it as a separate thing instead of acknowledging continuity? Our culture rejects age, maturity, tears town old buildings, old trees, old cultures. By rejecting the past, we reject knowledge.

Here's what we CAN do:

• Approach everything with a heightened sense of significance
• Keep this question at the back of your mind: what have we become satisfied with?

(This last paragraph was pulled out of my sketchbook notes from a Jeffrey Mims anatomy lecture.)

Huh!?...we know NOTHING about painting compared to the artists living in the 16th, 17th or even the 19th century.

We are living in the middle ages of the art of painting.

If knowledge is cumulative and we aren

All things perfect themselves.

Once, having heart surgery was very dangerous. Now most people agree it's more dangerous NOT to have it.

Once Og did "good deer" with fire stick. Now it better. At some point all areas hit a mark when refinement is obvious. Secretariat set a record for the Kentucky derby that still stands. He won the Belmont by 33 lengths. This is maturity. Will horses get better? Maybe a few, but we are there as far as vast leaps of excellence.

Most paintings done before 1450 look very crude to me.

Arnolfini wedding
 

Tim,

The art of oil-painting began in its most perfect, most refined form with the work of one of the greatest artists ever.

No painter living today could create something that even comes close to this - but I think you already knew.

This piece of painting-jewellery was created in the year 1434.

Sorry, couldn't resist. ;)

The Ghent Altarpiece
 

This painting is the most perfect work of art (apart from the Vermeer's work) that I have ever seen. This was completed in 1432 by Jan van Eyck, his brother Hubert couldn't finish it.

It's in Ghent, Belgium. When visiting Antwerp to see Rubens, take the train to Ghent to go see this (and eat some of those 'Luikse wafels' on your way, in the meantime).