Are we still capable of traditional art?

In most large cities in the US or Europe, there is at least one art museum in which can be seen firsthand, oil paintings executed in centuries past by some of the greatest artists who ever lived.

We can’t help ourselves thinking “How did they do it?”, “Why can’t we do it again?”, “What is that we are missing?”.

Prior to the 20th century, there was no shortage of well-trained artists, the majority of them accepted students and assistants.

Art was taught by artists, innovations were passed on from one generation to another and as a Master was available, the path was clear if you wanted to make Art your profession.

Nowadays things are not so clear, also there is no shortage of teachers. Strangely to become one you don’t need anymore a high degree of technical ability anymore when in past was a necessary requirement.

The big result of this is that art has suffered and similarly this has happened in many other fields, both technological and artistic ones.

There is no reason to believe that through proper training, diligent effort, and dedication, we cannot still produce painters of equal ability to the great painters of the past.

Although we need to free ourselves of modern destructive influences. They are everywhere since most people are predisposed to failure by the wrong attitude. “I wish I could do that, I can’t” is a familiar saying and a pathetic one.¹

Erase that belief, and most people would be surprised how far they can go. Self-reliance must be cultivated, OWN JUDGMENT must reign supreme over all other influences.

We must not relinquish our responsibility for what we are doing in defence of any authority, or our individuality and artistic integrity.

In short, yes we are still capable of creating great artists, although we need to change our attitude toward education, work, and ethic. Teachers need to move away from just giving notions and foster someone’s own judgment, self-reliance and hard work. The world needs great artists so do our souls.

References

[1]: Traditional oil painting, Virgin Elliot (2007, watson- guptill publications)