Monday, December 29, 2008

Your Art is Your Legacy.

Greetings!
The other day, I was thinking about how much art influenced my life - as a child, a teen, an adult - how of course, it keeps influencing my life on a daily basis as I am no longer just an observer or admirerer.. I am also a creator.
I was thinking about ways to convince people to buy art in this difficult economy...considering the idea of how your choice in acquiring and displaying pieces of art hanging on a wall, standing on a pedestal or shelf is about your legacy. How the pieces you own now will be part of your life forever, and influence your family and your children's lives.
Why?
Think of the art your parents had in their home and the memories it brings to mind. Emotions. I was reminded when I caught a glimpse of a book in a used book store - one I poured over as a child - "The Moderns." I remembered every image in that book!
I remember visiting MOMA and the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Whitney and the Guggenheim... and hundreds of galleries when I was a child in NYC... I remember hearing about Andy Warhol and Peter Max and Salvador Dali and Pablo Picasso... those memories are just as much a part of my childhood as sledding or school or piano lessons. I think of the paintings hanging on our walls... the Levier my Mom is so proud of... the Paris street scenes, the Hungarian peasants, the bronze sculptures, the embroidered tablecloths, the lamps with matching dolphin bases...
I'm not really a person about "things," but I am all about imagery. I am filled with images of art of all kinds, of music, of craft... I am a vessel filled with visions of Lalique, melodies by Brahms, songs from "Hair" on Broadway, the dress from Courreges, the ceilings in "Citizen Kane," the teak furniture, the tapestries, the turkish carpets, the crystal chandeliers, the imagery and craft - the hands of the countless artists and artisans who created art, objects of beauty, music, theatre, film... the thousands of images retained in my mind of Hagia Sofia's gold mosaic ceilings, the arts & crafts movement vases, a perfect pastry, the painting of my Grandmother painted by an anonymous Czech artist...
Yes - the art you display in your home - the art that you love and fell in love with - the art you talk about is the art you share with your children, your family, your friends. The art you own is your legacy - and you share that legacy with the artist who created it.