90x200
oil on canvas
2015
Previously, people used to be little aware of the reality they lived in. People were guided by illusory ideals, blind faith and little knowledge about the universe. That is why an artist had to reflect the environment as authentically and realistically as possible for people to understand them. The things he depicted should look simple and clear. With gradual destruction of myths, scholasticism, and bigotry, with the victory of science over superstitions, with important scientific discoveries, space exploration, and other scientific achievements people stopped to look for simplicity and obviousness in arts and cinema. Art turned into a visual puzzle and a logic test.
As a result, artists forgot about admiration and contemplation being too involved in the game of transformation. Modern art is often called a one-day art, because after gripping the concepts and solving the puzzles, we start to look for other concepts, forgetting about the previous ones. A painter often becomes a clown while trying to pursue a constant attention of the audience.
Probably a purely conceptual art has exhausted itself and, in my opinion, became rather boring. What place does a classic art take in today’s world? We return back to the works of old masters and modern artists do not care much whether the world will see their creations or not. Classic works are eternal and they remain always relevant. Inscrutability of “Mona Lisa” by Leonardo Da Vinci, self-understanding in Rembrandt’s “Return of the Prodigal Son” or search of man’s place in the world in the philosophical works of Bruegel, not to mention the galaxy of other international artists remain in the centre of today’s interest, numerous discussions, research quest even despite of their antiquity. Besides, classical art works are the constant source of inspiration, citation and following for many modern artists.
