Everyone should learn at least a little art history.
The president will say I’m wrong. Unless he won’t because his public relations people won’t let him. In an address to General Electric workers on skilled manufacturing jobs and their economic viability to “make a really good living,” Obama remarked that they would probably make more money than people with Art History degrees. That might be true; it’s not necessarily true. But the true value of art history is not found in a monetary return on investment, and this is why everyone should learn at least a little art history.
I confess I will never take an art history class here at Hillsdale. That’s not hypocritical of me; it’s recognition of a limited resource, time in college, and satisfaction with the art history foundation my high school gave me.
It’s a pleasure to be able to look at a painting and understand its context, subject, style, and techniques exhibited in it. Familiarity with the history of art creates a framework for the general study of history and grants the student images to reference while enjoying the beauty of the world and experiencing life’s pain. Art provides the window through which we see the soul of a culture.
Everyone should have the satisfaction of seeing a painting, drawing, sculpture, or piece of architecture by one of the greats and recognizing it. Look at a painting full of bold, deep color constructed by rough swirls and know that it is Vincent van Gogh pouring his pain and passion onto a canvas as a post-Impressionist. See a sketch of a child nestled in its mother’s womb and recall the endless curiosity and genius of Leonardo Da Vinci and breadth of the Italian Renaissance. Encounter a crumbling statue of a nude athlete, his gaze focused and direct, feet staggered, strong, and remember the kouroi of the ancient Greeks and their lives celebrating the beauty of the human form and human strength. Step into 209 S. LaSalle St. in Chicago and rest in the Rookery created by Frank Lloyd Wright.
Everyone should have the benefit of art as a guide to history. A bust of Cicero grants a glimpse of the hard statesman defending virtue and the republic in the face of its decline and fall. Napoleon’s many portraits reveal both the fearless general and the man of imperial magnanimity. Picasso’s “Guernica” hurls the agony and horror of the Spanish Civil War at its viewers with contorted limbs writhing in cubistic terror.
Everyone should be able to reference art imitating life and life imitating art. Study a flower closely, like Georgia O’Keefe. Know that a woman is beautiful like pre-Raphaelite angels are beautiful. Catch the barest glimmer of understanding of the pain at Golgotha. Feel strong and triumphant like Michelangelo’s “David.” Empathize with the suffering and absurdity of Francis Bacon’s paintings.
Everyone should know the way art of the past reflected the past so they may know how the art of the present reflects the present. Recognize Banksy’s street art and graffiti as commentary on life in a consumer culture caught in a recession. Understand the nexus of politics, art, and philosophy in the installations and work of Ai Weiwei. Ask what it says about modern man’s view of himself when Andreas Gursky’s minimalist photograph, “Rhein II,” fetched $4,338,500 at auction.
Learn some art history. I was fortunate to go to a high school with a good fine arts program. Take a class here. If you, like me, don’t have time, then teach yourself. Find art as a frame of mind, a screen to see the world, interact with the world through.
Art is a thing that bypasses money in its contribution to the good life. It mediates reflections on reality, on Truth, Goodness, and Beauty for those familiar with it. The president may be right that a skilled craftsman will make more money than the average art history student, but that’s not the point of art history–especially for art history in the lives of those who aren’t majoring in it.
Besides, the president might be wrong on that one too. A New York Times economic analysis team found that 6 percent of Art History majors are considered to be part of the super-wealthy 1 percent. Michael Lewis, popular author of “Moneyball” and “The Blindside” among others, majored in Art History. That’s comfort for actual Art History majors.
For everyone else, remember the value knowledge of art holds in and of itself.
