PicassoMio Art Blog

Future of Art: Art Amongst the Masses

We have always been curious about the average joe and mary. What does he or she think about art? Do we bore her when we talk about Damien Hirst’s latest screw-up, the hip young artist who stripped down to her underpants at the last Art Basel and ended up selling more art than anyone else or even the latest Picasso show at the Tate.

 [screenshot of MyDeco.com]

A recent article in MyDeco.com shed some light to our perpetual dilemma, albeit in British terms. Mind you, this is a high street design site, so we expect their users to be somewhat knowledgeable. [image of Homer Simpson] According to the popular design site, while the art world is experiencing a new popularity, amongst the masses, we are actually three times more likely to recognise Homer Simpson (92%) and Postman Pat (95%) than Picasso’s most famous painting “Gurnicia” (MyDeco, it is spelled Guernica not Gurnica or Gernica) or Turner’s “The Fighting Temeraire”. These two paintings were recognised by only a quarter of us.

The next one is even more surprising, given that it ends up as a poster in every cheesy bar or restaurant. Barney the dinosaur (63%) is also twice as recognisable as Van Gogh’s most famous painting, “Starry Night” (32%), and nearly three times more recognisable than Rembrandt’s “The Night Watch” (25%). Their study ended on a positive note... According to MyDeco.com, all art knowledge is not lost however, as there is at least one painting we all do recognise; Leonardo da Vinci’s "Mona Lisa" was known to nearly all (92%).

[Image of Guernica]

Did this surprise us? No! Does it upset us? Yes, a little. At the same time, we do feel, that if you want the Homer’s portrait on your walls, that a beautiful abstract by a young Vietnamese artist, on your walls, it is your choice.

Posted at 07:18PM Mar 25, 2009 by picassomio in In English  |  Comments[0]