I’m an artist, and I constantly hear from other artists that their work is not appreciated or understood. It looks like this is the problem for today’s artists as now the public has easy access to photo cameras, technologies, and AI. Art also became broader and changed its form dramatically bringing frustrations to the public and the artists themselves.

However, the art market was always saturated. It’s hard to believe, but in mid-17th century Holland there was one painter for every 650 inhabitants (in Canada now we have about one visual artist per 250 inhabitants, which is quite impressive too). Also, most artists who are famous now struggled during their lives impacted by rejection and financial problems: Van Gogh, Manet, Khalo, Toulouse Lautrec, Gaugin, Filonov and many others. All them have stories of rejection, but we neglect the “failures” as their works now are highly valued.

But what are the reasons why it’s so easy to appreciate IT, engineering, mechanic or trade labour jobs and it’s so hard to see and notice visual art? Let’s have a close look.

Visual art is always about creation and we expect art to be different creating NO ETALON to compare or value. In sports, the fastest wins. In ballet, we have certain expectations of how the perfect split looks like and how the rhythm sounds. In music, we also know how this or that composition should sound. But in visual art, after Malevich’s black square or Duchamp’s porcelain urinal, it’s hard to find certain criteria for art.

Art is irrational and personal and has a goal to provoke thoughts, feelings or emotions. Art awakens. And emotions can’t be measured. As Edward Hopper said, “If I could say it in words there would be no reason to paint.”

Also, we all have our aesthetic tastes and values. Furthermore, most artists have them too and “contribute” to under-appreciation and misunderstanding of art. When I was learning how to paint, I discovered for myself Marc Chagall and was fascinated with his illustrations of the Bible and how he decorated walls in different buildings. My friend, who was an artist and whose opinion was countable to me, just came back from Paris and was sharing his impressions from his visit to the Palais Garnier (Opera) saying that the Opera was amazing, except for Chagall’s ceiling painting.

As every art movement has its values any judgment or comparison sounds nonsense. For example, El Greco proposed to destroy ’s fresco Last Judgment in the Sistine Chapel because the figures there were “indecent”. Centuries later, Gustav Courbet brought his two pennies by saying “I have never seen either angels or goddesses, so I am not interested in painting them.” And added that “Art in painting should consist only of the representation of things that are visible and tangible.” Malevich “replied” that “a composition of naked women is not art”. This so-called battle is endless and creates broad opportunities for many interpretations of art.

Another category of people is sure that art can be measured by money and the better the piece the higher the price. And that’s not true either. Art market and art as a pure thing can intersect but can also live in parallel realities. Let’s take Rembrandt, whose number of works literally fluctuates. Yes, he died in 1669 and left the world puzzled.

In 1880 there were estimated to be about 350 extant paintings by Rembrandt. The catalogue from 1897 – 1905 validated 595 works. Then Wilhelm Valentiner was more generous, bringing his total, in 1921, to 711 paintings. Then the number was reduced to 630 paintings in 1935, and in 1968 Horst Gerson brought out a revised version of the catalogue that accepted only 420 works. Ernst van de Wetering, the head of the Rembrandt Research Project, estimates that it will reduce the number of Rembrandt’s paintings to about 350—the same figure put forth in 1880.

This painting, The Man with the Golden Helmet (c. 1650), housed in Gemäldegalerie in Berlin, is an oil-on-canvas painting formerly attributed to Rembrandt and today considered to be a work by someone in his circle. The picture shows an elderly man in front of a dark background with a striking golden helmet on his head.
The helmet is the dominant subject of the picture thanks to its colour and light and the impasto application, against which the half-illuminated face and the dark background become less important.
Categorized as a work by Rembrandt for many years, doubts were expressed as to its provenance in 1984 by a Dutch curators’ commission specifically created to investigate Rembrandt’s works of questionable authenticity. They made their remarks while viewing the painting in West Berlin.

In November 1985, Berlin-based art expert Jan Kelch announced that important details in the painting’s style did not match the style of Rembrandt’s known works and that the painting was probably painted in 1650 by one of Rembrandt’s students.

Does the fact that The Man with the Golden Helmet wasn’t painted by Rembrandt make this work less appreciated? What did change? I think nothing significant between October and November 1985. The painting remains gorgeous and shows epochs, light, shadows, materials, and techniques used by Rembrandt’s school, but the monetary value is not the same and we precept it differently, by only the fact if it’s painted by Rembrandt or an unknown painter.

So, how to learn appreciate and understand art if everything is so complicated? That’s the topic of my next articles. However, before judging any artwork, whether by an established artist or hobbyist, please remember the following:

• “I like it” or “I don’t like it” are not criteria in art, even though you have the right to like or dislike anything around you
• How well or unwell this or that painting matches your couch, walls or another part of the interior is not criteria either
• Every artwork should be seen in the context of the time of its creation, and the values, social tensions and political issues of this time
• You should know the artist and their cultural and personal background, symbols, school and aesthetics. These DO MATTER.
• You should ask the artist about the ideas behind and inspiration to paint.
• To appreciate craftsmanship, you should know the techniques and mediums used.