A Twitter Controversy Arises Over A Debate Of Realism vs Impressionism
In the last month there was a Twitter controversy. It involved a tweet comparing a Van Gogh painting of Café Terrace at Night to Haixia Liu’s paint of the same subject matter. This particular person, made a comment as seen in the photo above. I qoute “Haixia Liu, 1962, (left) paints Van Gogh more skillfully than Van Gogh (right). Should expose how overrated Van Gogh is“. When someone makes such a comment about a great artist, you inadvertently invite a great many responses. Here’s mine
It Is Art In The End
What it all depends on is what you prefer. Paintings affect us differently; the same arguments have been made in music. The most complex piece known to man is unlikely to be the greatest piece of music to many, especially in music because of the fact that it uses complex and skillful patterns. It is easier for people to judge what is and isn’t complex. As a result people use this to feel superior to each other. We know that one of the reasons why we enjoy music, is the fact that people’s brain guess what is coming next in the piece, if they are correct they receive pleasurable, endorphins. This may explain why people who discover classical music are unlikely to go back to pop music and to consider it an equal art form. But music touches you in different ways as does art. It is irritating to see people put down a person for not enjoying what they consider a higher form of music. A piece of music or art evokes an emotion response or it was seen or heard at important moment in your life. Hearing it later elicits that same feeling. It creates a strong, emotional response which can have a profound effect on you. Our brains as well may prefer more colour or in music more rhythm, we may be predisposed to a certain type of music or medium. This Twitter user obviously prefers realistic art style, I disagree with comparing two distinct styles, realistic art requires a technical skill level, but it isn’t something Van Gogh was aspiring for with his art. I would also argue Haixa Liu is not aspiring for this either, as the painting has a warm, ambient light that echoes a romanticised perception of the Cafe. It is ridiculous to compare, as the point of art is not to make the most realistic artwork, it is to make art. We have cameras for perfect realism. Haixia Liu’s work still had a sense of colour and feeling that you would not have experienced from a photo, because it is a different artform. These paintings are from different eras. They were painted seventy-four years apart from each other, that in itself creates a different perception. In my opinion it is important to thoroughly research the subject matter, before you post a comment.
