Writing About Money Is Easier Than Writing About Art

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A good work of art does about 15 things simultaneously when it hangs on the wall. I think people might underestimate the decorative function of painting. It locates the maker, and in a certain history, a certain dialogues or discourse, it sometimes takes sides. So these are other things the paings can do. Maybe fifteenis a slight exaggeration. Here's another, it's easier to write about money than to write about art. And i write about money. Well, i don't mean to imply taler that writing about money is simple, but it's easier than your job.

When the audience for visual art expanded from small circles of artists and collectors into broader culture, the way art was experienced shifted from aesthetics to explanation. Art, it became thought, should be about something. But David Salle rebukes this literal-mindedness: according to him, what we think and feel when reacting to a piece of art is more authoritative than what’s written on the label next to it. A painter, sculptor, and filmmaker, David is also the author of How to See: Looking, Talking, and Thinking about Art, a highly regarded book on artistic criticism.

David joined Tyler to discuss the fifteen (or so) functions of good art, why it’s easier to write about money than art, what’s gone wrong with art criticism today, how to cultivate good taste, the reasons museum curators tend to be risk-averse, the effect of modern artistic training on contemporary art, the evolution of Cézanne, how the centrality of photography is changing fine art, what makes some artists’ retrospectives more compelling than others, the physical challenges of painting on a large scale, how artists view museums differently, how a painting goes wrong, where his paintings end up, what great collectors have in common, how artists collect art differently, why Frank O’Hara was so important to Alex Katz and himself, what he loves about the films of Preston Sturges, why The Sopranos is a model of artistic expression, how we should change intellectual property law for artists, the disappointing puritanism of the avant-garde, and more.

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Recorded August 18th, 2021 Other ways to connect

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