I'm just beginning to study art history, and although it is my dream to own a gallery one day, I'm exceedingly more interested in art NOW than I am about art back then. After all, there were no freelance artists- just commissioned painters who were asked to produce the Virgin Mary and St. John and the Crucifixion and King Whoever, over and over again. It's not like they're really capturing new ideas or abstract expression or their own interpretation of LIFE.
However, I realize art history's importance, and that I must push through what I consider "boring" (Renaissance, Medieval, etc) to get to what excites me. What I want to know is what YOU gain from studying the art from the past, and how you relate it to your life. What concepts and pieces do you find most interesting? How has it helped your world perspective? Why do you think it's important?
You have posed a really deep and difficult question which I keep reading and then thinking I'll answer that later.
Mainly I draw with pencil and charcoal and occasionally acrylic. But currently I have yet to unpack my painting supplies after moving from the US to Taiwan. I am hoping this year to move to a larger apartment where I'll have enough room. So for now I do pretty much only photography.
What little I've studied of art history gives me perspective on, well, 'perspective,' among other things and seeing how that element has developed over long periods of time has given me a lot of ideas on how to approach photographic subjects.
Another element I think art history has helped me with is composition. When I see something I want to capture, I aim and zoom back and forth until get a composition that feels right. If I can do that, I shoot. Otherwise I lower the camera and look around for a different place to shoot from.
It all makes my pictures better and my enjoyment of the whole process increases.
As for relating all this to my life... That's a big question all by itself. Art, though not necessarily art history, has certainly had an impact on the way I arrange my living environment and that affects my mood and my productivity.
Probably the pieces I find most interesting are by Mondrian along with a lot of the experimental work that was done at Bauhaus.
It's all important because my quality of life seems important, at least to me.
My only study of art history has been what I've done on my own. I'm a firm believer that a person should know at least a little about many, many subjects, just so they can be a well rounded personality. I have to say most of what I have learned I got from a Tele-course on our local PBS station. It is called Humanities Through the Arts, & is hosted by Maya Angelu. It teaches the history of the different arts through the people. Sculpture, writing, painting, music, film, etc. What I like most are the people stories. How people influenced the arts, & each other. Their trials, & tribulations. How the arts have evolved over time. I'm interested in true stories. I would rather read an autobiography, than a work of fiction. I find it interesting to read about the times these people lived in, & the cultures they tried to convey in their art.
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