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StyleThe Style Page is about what’s in, what’s out, and what’s to come. It will be updated and previous articles can be found in the archives. You can e-mail your own fashion ‘statements’ and let me know what you think is cool or uncool.
The "Art" Of Impressing PeopleKnowledge is Power. It's also a manifestation of Style. Sure, you can wear the Armani suit, the Rolex and carry the Luis Vuitton briefcase, but what do you do when someone talks to you? Looking the part is only the first step. And there is no substitute for a good education. Well, maybe. First, let's be absolutely clear about the limits to knowledge. Considering the relatively short amount of time one has for Life, you have to balance learning with action. There's a Professor somewhere who have spent their lives investigating the sex life of the cuttlefish and who can talk for three hours solid to 500 people at an International conference. But he wears a plaid button-down shirt with a bow-tie, has never surfed, skied or bungee-jumped; has no concept of the difference between Brittany Spears and Christina Aguillera; has never driven down the Pacific Coast Highway; wouldn't know an Armagnac from an Armalite; and couldn't name any team in the American League or English F.A. In short, brains alone don't guarantee style. So in order to enjoy life to the full, the Stylish person has to learn enough to appear intellectual, but not at the expensive of getting out there and LIVING! Remember, there are those who Do, and those who only talking about Doing. Choose the former at all costs! In this month's Style, on offer is an indispensable guide to 19th Century Art. What, you cry, the hell do I want to know about 19th Century Art?! Ah, think about it a little more. The key to appearing wordly-wise is to have a wide knowledge about as many things as possible. Your greatest friends are “Trivia” and “Bytes.” Trivia is information that is usually useless, but has the appearance of knowledge. For example, did you know that the barnacle has a penis which is 22 times its body length? No? But now you DO know and if you get the opportunity to spring this on someone, they may laugh at its trivial mature, but underneath will be impressed by the fact that you know something so banal! Bytes are pieces of information that suggest a deeper knowledge, which the speaker may or may not possess. Here's an example: In a conversation where the topic of investment crops up, you may casually slip in that “Of course, if you're returns are not out-performing the Standard and Poor index or the Dow, you may as well just settle for the safety of Mutual Funds.” Here you make a bold statement that has validity (it's all there in this months Book Review!) and also suggests a deeper understanding of investment techniques. Toss in a few more references to PE Ratios and how the the Dot.Com effect is pushing up the NASDAQ and you'll be sitting with the CEO before you know it. Clearly there are so many topics that you might want to take Bytes out of. One that doesn't always spring to mind is Art. Yet knowledge of the Arts suggests a cultured mind, one which is open to new ideas and yet critical when necessary. So being able to comment on Art is a good thing. 19th Century PaintingsFirst of all, stay away from Modern Art. Many people find it wither stupid or plain senseless. Whether this is true or not is completely irrelevant unless you are so knowledgeable about the subject that you would be comfortable trying to explain what Jasper Johns really means when he ties a piece of string across a canvas and then throws paint all over it. No, go for the 19th Century because most people can relate to the art of that time. At the same time, it is over 100 years ago, so you get the double benefit of appearing to be a Historian as well as an Art Lover! Buzzwords to use:Classicism: opposite of Romanticism. Refers to art of the
Classical periods of Greece and Rome. Sometimes used for art that is
"in the style of" antiquities. Aesthetic attitudes and principles
based on the culture, art and literature of ancient Greece and Rome,
and characterized by emphasis on form, simplicity, proportion, and restrained
emotion. Neoclassicism: Used to refer ONLY to items "in the style of" Classical antiquities. Some folks use Classicism for all art based on Greek and Roman styles. Romanticism: Artistic and intellectual movement
that originated in the late 18th century and stressed strong emotion,
imagination, freedom from classical correctness in art forms, and rebellion
against social conventions. It can be seen as a rejection of the ideas
of order, calm, harmony, balance, idealization, and rationality that
typified Classicism in general and late 18th-century Neoclassicism in
particular. Realism: As its name suggests, Realism focuses
on the accurate, detailed, unembellished depiction of nature or of contemporary
life. It rejects imaginative idealization in favor of a close observation
of outward appearances. Symbolism: Symbolist painters didn't want to represent
appearances but express "the Idea", and the imaginary therefore plays
an important part in their work. "Dream" was their credo; they possessed
a fanatical hatred for impressionism, realism, naturalism, and the scientific.
Symbolist paintings evoke the feeling "weird!" Pre-Raphaelites: The Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood
(or PRB) was a 19th century group of rebellious young artists who, disillusioned
with the artistic climate of their day, sought to rediscover the purity
of art by creating an entirely new artistic style that drew upon the
middle ages, the bible, classical mythology and nature for inspiration,
emulating the work of the great Italian artists before Raphael (hence
their name: pre-Raphaelite). Impressionism: This was a major movement, first
in painting and later in music, that developed chiefly in France during
the late 19th and early 20th centuries (so you can get extra kudos by
talking more specifically about French Impressionism in particular).
Impressionist painting comprises the work produced between about 1867
and 1886 by a group of artists who shared a set of related approaches
and techniques. The most conspicuous characteristic of Impressionism
was an attempt to accurately and objectively record visual reality in
terms of transient effects of light and color. Neo-Impressionism: A movement in painting which
was an outgrowth of and reaction to Impressionism. It was originated
by Georges-Pierre Seurat (French, 1859-1891), who employed a technique
called pointillism (also called divisionism, or confettiism), based
on the scientific juxtaposition of touches or dots of pure color. . Post-Impressionism: A French art movement that
immediately followed Impressionism and Neoimpressionism The artists
involved showed a greater concern for expression, structure and form
than did the Impressionist artists. Building on the works of the Neo-Impressionists,
these artists rejected the emphasis the Impressionists put on naturalism
and the depiction of fleeting effects of light.. So there you go! 19th Century art in the proverbial nutshell. Go forth and pontificate!
Copyright Russell T. Cross June 2000 |
