tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2987736854176165487.post4419462240100838544..comments2024-03-26T10:07:14.049-04:00Comments on Painting: Thinking back on more than twenty years of art criticism by Jed Perl on the occasion of the publication of his most recent collection of essays by the Eakins Press Foundation Martin Mugarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12799696151828817646noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2987736854176165487.post-37459430742115703682013-11-12T07:22:09.762-05:002013-11-12T07:22:09.762-05:00Mark,a colleague, when we both taught at UNC-Green...Mark,a colleague, when we both taught at UNC-Greensboro, was an enthusiastic follower of this blog and also inspired me to write my book on drawing which he tried to convince his editor at Watson-Guptill to publish.He was an acerbic critic of the contemporary scene.He will be missed.Martin Mugarhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12799696151828817646noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2987736854176165487.post-30434287563451286242013-11-12T07:18:04.043-05:002013-11-12T07:18:04.043-05:00Mark Gottsegen, the author of the "Painter...Mark Gottsegen, the author of the "Painter's Handbook", referenced above passed away in October.Martin Mugarhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12799696151828817646noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2987736854176165487.post-35507258418751996792013-01-18T07:58:10.970-05:002013-01-18T07:58:10.970-05:00Chris Busa in responding on Facebook to the issues...Chris Busa in responding on Facebook to the issues brought up in my article on Jed Perl’s new collection of essays drew a parallel between Perl’s disenchantment with the current art scene and that of Camille Paglia’s. He referenced an article she wrote for the “Wall Street Journal”, which made the odd claim that art would do well to look to capitalism to refresh its roots, which she feels have always been capitalistic. Odd on its surface as you would be hard to find an artist of the 20thc who espoused the tenets of capitalism; all claimed to be left -wing in their allegiance. However, when you think of the disruptive affect of say Cubism and Abstract Expressionism on the visual language of Western Art, with which we shape our world and our feelings it has a lot in common with Schumpeter’s vision of capitalism as “creative destruction”: as perennially disruptive of any sort of statism. What is odd is that the left in its embrace of Communism ignored that as an economic system it is most prone toward social control and rigidity: the very things that the avant garde in art has always disdained. Much has been written about how slow it was for the Left to realize the horror of the Stalinist regime which loved humanity in theory but not in practice. Moreover, the money to purchase the avant garde’s work came rarely from the state but more likely from capitalists who felt their business acumen also applies to picking the art of the future. And when it does come from the state, it tends toward the reactionary.Martin Mugarhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12799696151828817646noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2987736854176165487.post-78183171987126457892012-12-28T14:21:28.011-05:002012-12-28T14:21:28.011-05:00The responses to the Perl article have migrated to...The responses to the Perl article have migrated to Facebook where Carl Belz's comment above comes from: <br />Christopher Busa 7:34pm Dec 27<br />Well, this conversation is broadening and becoming intriguing about the differences between contemporary art trends and the standards set by<br />historical precedent. Listening to Camile Paglia on NPP on a long drive home from Boston, I heard her speak about her new book on visual art, damning<br />most art since Picasso. Paglia is an atheist who reveres the religious and spiritual grandeur of great art, so her standards are very high and<br />therefore very down on debasing the sacred beliefs of other faiths by using urine and elephant dung as a medium. I dont know, because anything can be a form for the expression of a feeling. I am prompted to pipe up because there seems a spontaneous concern about new art issues needing participation of communal voices. If a fruitful essay can be fashioned in the next few<br />months, perhaps Provincetown Arts could publish it in the 2013 issue, announcement attached.<br /><br /><br /><br />Chris BusaMartin Mugarhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12799696151828817646noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2987736854176165487.post-69058010579634938362012-12-23T20:37:13.923-05:002012-12-23T20:37:13.923-05:00Comments have not been as sympathetic on the "...Comments have not been as sympathetic on the "Berkshire Fine Arts"version of this article:<br />Criticism form David Bonetti<br /><br />12-19-2012, 07:16 pm<br />andy borowitz reported today that time magazine named mitt romney man or the year for 1912. i would like to nominate jed perl and martin mugar as art critics of the year 1888. i think they called the kind of painters they champion "pompiers" back in those days.<br /><br />Reply to Bonetti from "Martin Mugar"<br />12-22-2012, 09:07 pm<br />Good choice of words Mr.Bonetti in your use of "Pompiers". Pompiers was a term of derision used to describe the bombastic artists of the dominant and very arrogant French Academy. The painters that Perl criticizes such as Koons ,Currin and Yuskavage are the "pompiers" of the modern academy.<br /><br />Criticism from "Mark Favermann"<br />12-18-2012, 07:59 am<br />Martin, I found this rambling essay very confusing and lacking a real point. Should art have strict rules or stay the same course as previous generations? Or should it find its way in its own time? An iconoclast second tier art historian/critic like Jed Perl is not much of a model. Yours is a highly nihilistic view of the art world. There is a self-correcting nature to the art world, perhaps not immediate but long-term. Certainly there is more truth and beauty around than you flailing about at slow-moving windmills. <br /><br />Reply from "Martin Mugar"<br />12-19-2012, 03:57 pm<br />Mark, thanks for responding. Your first sentence was contradicted by the rest of what you said.i.e. you got the point of the essay:it is a highly nihilistic view of the art world. So as we wait for the scene to correct long term, what do we do.? I know the art magazines need fresh copy to fill their pages and so they hype the latest "movement". Your metaphor of the windmills is apt, except that they aren't slow but turn faster and faster and oddly stay the same. I respect Perl for saying the same thing again and again rather than pretend there is anything new. I do not think he is second tier.I think his writing has become richer and more poignant over the years. It has the feel of a religious lamentation.<br />Martin Mugarhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12799696151828817646noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2987736854176165487.post-30338817638060669312012-12-14T22:30:23.090-05:002012-12-14T22:30:23.090-05:00A comment from Carl Belz:
"A thorough and th...A comment from Carl Belz:<br /><br />"A thorough and thoughtful piece of work providing much to think about. I was particularly interested in your remarks about the changing status of the self within the constructs of modernism and postmodernism, a question I think about on a regularly basis but one that does't seem to get widely addressed. Likewise the question of freedom within modernism/postmodernism, which I referenced via a quote but didn't go into in my Weems review on Left Bank (which you saw and commented on with a remark I appreciated)."Martin Mugarhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12799696151828817646noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2987736854176165487.post-67588117084996044242012-12-14T09:50:58.583-05:002012-12-14T09:50:58.583-05:00Excerpt from Perl's reply to my essay:
Maybe ...Excerpt from Perl's reply to my essay:<br /><br />Maybe quality is just a battle in all times and in all places. Which brings us to your talking at the end about going around in circles. I could go on and on. Mostly, I want you to know how appreciative I am that you wrote this.<br /><br />Very best,<br />JedMartin Mugarhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12799696151828817646noreply@blogger.com