What is the value of a piece of art?
We have no quantifiable system appropriate for measuring the worth of art, as one might measure the length of a rope, so we are often left wondering, “ is this art?” or, “ why is this considered ‘good art’?”.
Times change, tastes change, and the definition of ‘quality’ is largely subjective, based on the thrust and development of a piece of art. We can, for instance, appreciate (though not measure) the value of the refined portraiture of the Renaissance, the soft renderings of Impressionism and the wild expression of the Fauves, despite the fact each presents its own character, neither overtly similar to the other.
We discard, continually, established notions of what is valuable or tasteful and rediscover notions of value that have been neglected and ignored. Art has no ‘true worth’ that is fixed and stable in time and circumstance, and each piece must be considered not only as it exists now, but as it existed in the age of its creation.
What story does any piece of art tell about the time in which it was made? What action or change might the artist have been seeking to incite? What social values informed and directed the creative impulse?
Where artists of early civilizations expressed a seeking for food, safety and survival, artists today may be responding to any number of positive or negative social experiences specific to our time. We cannot cannot quantify the influence of time and change on our impressions of art and so, we cannot objectively determine the merits of any piece of art.
Subjectively though, everyone has an opinion and it is interesting to consider what is molding our preferences today. What do we (the humans of the early 21st century) value in our society? What change or comfort are we seeking, and what do we consider worthy of expression?
Everything we do and see is being formed by the world around us and art, good or bad, is the storyteller of our time.
