Abstraction/Reality Part Deux!

So the art geek in me just cannot get enough of this looking waaaay up CLOSE to artwork and seeing the little abstractions in the BIG reality.  I blame (or thank) both Chuck Close with his gridded portraits of the 90s (zoom in close on one and see what I mean) as well as digital photography...

Yes it is such a geeky love of mine that I took about 1000 close ups photos of paintings in the louvre.  Just like these...

And yes sometime I spend my evenings just scrolling through them...

looking at them, I try to see the technique and palettes used, trying to guess what the artist was thinking and planning while creating their masterpiece ...

Forging for What? Aesthetic Experience vs. Financial Investment

Did you know that by some estimates, as much as 1 out of 3 pieces that you see in a museum are forgeries?

 In fact it is so prevalent that some museums are now hosting shows devoted to forged art!

Shocking, isn’t it?

Or is it?  Really?

Art forgeries are not as bad as say, terrorism, famine, and catastrophic illness... I think we would all agree. While it does sham many out of millions, could this be just a large scale buyer beware situation?

In fact, if you do not personally invest huge wads of $$$$ into the art market, it may actually be kind of intriguing...this Youtube video on the history of art forgery sum it up quite nicely.

This article from NPR puts an fresh perspective on it for the little museum goers, like you and me...Signature vs. Architecture in paintings (and other forgeries).   I really wish NPR still had the comments section for this one, would love to hear the overall reception of it.  It brings up a great point, should the average viewer really even care if it is a fake or not, should that come into play at all with the aesthetic interaction they are having with the piece right in front of them?

Happy Reading! And Pondering!