Our Visual Culture

Full List of 60 Artists in the Vatican Exhibit Celebrating 60th Anniversary of Ordination

2011-07-07T13:10:00.000-07:00

I recently visited the Vatican's "Lo Splendore Della Verita, La Bellezza Della Carita," ("The Splendor of Truth, The Beauty of Charity." Before visiting, I was curious who the sixty artists were, but I was unable to find this information online. For this reason I am publishing the list here.

Sculptors: (13)
Gustavo Aceves
Tito Amodei
El Anatsui
Kengira Azuma
Francesca Cataldi
Mario Ceroli
Laura Cretara
Giuseppe Ducrot
Giuliano Giuliani
Janis Kounellis
Mimo Paladino
Arnaldo Pomodoro
Oliviero Rainaldi

Painters: (17)
Agostino Bonalumi
Pedro Cano
Max Cole
Sidival Fila
Omar Galliani
Piero Guccione
Pierluigi Isola
Dominique Lomre
Carlo Nangeroni
Tullio Pericoli
Achille Perilli
Piero Pizzi Canella
Marco Rupnik
Guido Strazza
Natalia Tsarkova
Simona Weller
Giuseppe Zigaina

Goldsmiths: (7)
Anna Bini
Mariangela Crisciotti and Chiara Principe
Fausto Maria Franchi
Giulio Manfredi
Aurelio and Dante Mortet
Piero and Claudio Savi
Guido Veroi

Composers: (6)
Domenico Bartolucci
Leandro Espinosa
James MacMillan
Valentin Miserahis
Ennio Morrricone
Arvo Part

Poets: (4)
Pupi Avati
Luca Doninelli
Roberto Mussapi
Davide Ronodone

Photographers: (7)
Gianni Berengo Gardin
Christoph Brench
Luigi Fieni
Claudia Herzler
Mimmo Jodice
Jackie Niekerson
Matthias Shaller

Architects: (6)
Mario Botta
Santiago Calatrava
Imre Makovecz
Oscar Niemeyer
Renzo Piano
Paolo Portoghesi

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The link is either the personal website of the artist, the website of a studio which sells their work, or a website with more information about the artist.

Vatican Sessantannale? 60 Famous Artists From Around the World Celebrate the Pope's 60th Anniversary of Liturgical Service

2011-07-03T10:29:00.000-07:00

Starting July 4th 2011, the Vatican will host an exhibit of sixty famous artists from around the world at its Paul VI audience hall to commemorate the sixtieth anniversary of Pope Benedict XVI's ordination to the priesthood. (1)

Besides the importance of the unprecedented exhibit itself, it is important because it sets the foundation of the Vatican's future cultural policy. The exhibit may be used as a kind of laboratory to experiment with how to communicate the Vatican's message through modern art. This experimentation may center around questions about just how abstract or representational effective modern religious art should be. Cardinal Gianfranco Ravasi, head of the Pontifical Council for Culture, expressed the problems facing such modern religious art exhibits back in 2009 by saying "some will accuse us of giving credit to 'depraved' art and others will criticize our selection as being too 'religious.'"(2) The Holy See will need to navigate a middle path, and this sixty artist exhibit will help them to figure out how to do this.

Why is this particularly important now?.....................Venice Biennale 2013, the first in which the Vatican will participate.

Cardinal Gianfranco Ravasi has been working to get the Vatican to exhibit at the Biennale since 2009, at that time he was preparing for this year's Biennale.(3) Apparently the plans for the 2011 Biennale fell through due to difficulty in determining which art works would put forward the appropriate message.(4) As the director of the Vatican Museums expressed it at that time, "The Holy See wants to choose the best contemporary art and not expose itself to criticism.”(4) Cardinal Ravasi is also the driving force behind this sixty artist exhibit titled "The Splendor of Truth, Beauty of Charity." In addition to experimenting with what communicates to the audience, Cardinal Ravasi will likely use it to demonstrate to the Pontiff that there are works of modern art suitable for endorsement by the Holy See.(5)

As Cardinal Ravasi pointed out in 2009, the church has commissioned architecture that "kept pace with the modern," but the same was not true for religious figurative art.(3) At that time he also said there was a need for a "dialogue between the Church and artists," presumably to foster religious art that communicates in the same way as contemporary art.(3) Illustrating Card. Ravasi's point about modern church architecture, the exhibit will include the model of a cathedral being planned by the architect Oscar Niemeyer. One of Niemeyer's most famous buildings is the unmistakably modern Cathedral of Brasilia, commissioned just over forty years ago in 1970. Niemeyer, now over one hundred years old, could be considered a member of the orthodoxy of modern religious art; his oeuvre is well established and accepted. Similarly Ennio Moricone, the eighty-two year old Italian composer well known for his work included in the famous "spaghetti-westerns" including the soundtrack of The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly, has contributed a new song.(6)

While Niemeyer and Morricone are firmly established, the Holy See will be paving new ground by solidifying its links to younger artists. One of these younger artists is Oliviero Rainaldi, the Italian sculptor who recently completed the important commission for a statue of the late Saint Pope John Paul II outside of Rome's main train station.

The exhibit opens tomorrow, July 4th 2011, after an audience with the artists, and will continue until September 4th. It is located in the Vatican's Paul VI audience hall, which is partially in the Vatican and partially in Rome, Italy. I'm excited to visit it soon and will be monitoring its reception.

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Footnotes
(1)http://www.blessedsacramentuki.org/?p=4559
(2)http://www.lifeinitaly.com/news/en/55982
(3)http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/faith/article5477369.ece
(4) http://www.theartnewspaper.com/articles/Vatican-presence-at-Venice-Biennale-slips-to-2013/21777
(5) The occasion of the exhibit, a celebration of the Pope's ordination, will likely shift the internal criticism from negative critiques toward positive consensus building reviews.
(6) The score is arranged in a cross with the horizontal containing the orchestral music and the vertical containing the vocal text.

Ai Wei Wei's Release, a Cause for Mitigated Celebration

2011-06-26T12:41:00.000-07:00

Ai Wei Wei, a Chinese artist who used his art to criticize the Chinese government, was released under strict conditions on Tuesday after months of imprisonment. The Chinese reported that the arrest was for "tax evasion," and certainly had "nothing to do with human rights or freedom of expression."(1) (2)

Photo from Ai Wei Wei's "Fuck You" series

Considering the nature of Mr. Ai's works, such as the one above, and China's history of human rights and freedom of expression abuses which Ai was combatting, it is quite obvious to outsiders that this is a blatant lie. But, what I find particularly revealing is this video by The Guardian which interviews people in Beijing about his release. In the video citizens try to sidestep the issue without sounding too critical of the government, as one would expect, but apparently they 'didn't get the memo' that "it wasn't about freedom of expression."

"If Ai's remarks really endangered the unity of our country, then the judicial system has the right to subject him to judicial punishment. But, I hope these kinds of cases will happen less in our country." -anonymous male

"People like Ai Wei Wei are dissatisfied with the government...Some people may think his method was inappropriate, but this is the heartfelt aspiration of the Chinese people. I hope the government can be more tolerant about these extreme remarks..." -anonymous female

No, you guys, it wasn't about his remarks being critical of the Chinese government it was about....oh wait, you're right, it was.

Unfortunately, according to the stipulations of his release Mr. Ai "can't talk to media." (3) It seems probable that another stipulation is that he can't criticize the government in the same way he has. This presents Mr. Ai with a dilemma. Much of his artistic career has centered around criticism of the government, a legacy of dissent inherited from his poet father. He has maintained this commitment despite bullying by the government, including a beating in 2009 which required him to undergo brain surgery.(4) As he described it in a PBS documentary, "You can't just say that the system is flawed, you have to work through the system and show it in all its detail, that's the way that you make a critique."(5) (6)

Mr. Ai has shown tremendous courage, but no one can criticize him for laying low in the following months, which may in the long run be the most effective strategy for voicing his message. If he avoids arrest and keeps up appearances it may allow him a chance to escape to Hong Kong, or Germany, where his major So Sorry exhibit took place. The stakes are heightened by the fact that apparently "associates [are] still missing," (7) possibly held as a sort of insurance, a revolting idea that exposes just how little respect for human dignity is being displayed.

So while Ai Wei Wei has been "released," he is not exactly "free." The responsibility falls to those of us who are free to hold up Ai's courageous example, to spread his message and his art, and to continue the fight for truth and justice in all matters.

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Articles Referenced:
(1) http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/china/2011-06/22/c_13944511.htm
(2) http://chinadigitaltimes.net/2011/04/ai-weiweis-detention-nothing-to-do-with-human-rights-or-freedom-of-expression/
(3)http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-13878859
(4) http://www.artinfo.com/news/story/32619/ai-weiwei-undergoes-brain-surgery-after-beating/
(5)http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/ai-wei-wei/
(6) Also on youtube (for now) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-SsCEUh1qEg&NR=1
(7)http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/ai-weiweis-cousin-freed-but-associates-still-missing-2302040.html

More from the PBS video:
When the Chinese government demolished his newly built studio, he recorded it on video and published in online, declaring it one of his most powerful artworks ever.
When asked why he seemed so fearless his response was that he in fact is fearful and because of that he acts brave, because if you don't act that way then the danger does become real.
Ai Wei Wei: "To tell the truth, whether a big truth or small truth, is always justified."

Copywrong-- a Few Words on Carriou v Prince

2011-06-23T11:43:00.000-07:00

By: James Fletcher

Photographer Patrick Carriou successfully sued the "appropriation artist" Richard Prince for Prince's use of Carriou's photographs in eight works of "appropriation art" which sold for a total of over ten million dollars.(1) The result of the suit was a ruling that "[Richard Prince] shall..deliver up for impounding, destruction, or other disposition, as [Carriou] determines, all infringing copies."(2) The second result was a stream of commentaries. The positions of these commentaries, either in favor or in opposition to the result of the case, seemed to be decided mostly based on what the author thought about Prince's art.

The infringement of copyright in the production of art mostly hinges upon whether the use was transformative-- transforming the original meaning through commentary-- or derivative-- relying on the purpose of the original without making a commentary on it. Upon first seeing Prince's work I assumed Prince was making some kind of commentary on the anonymity of the subjects of anthropological photos and the importance of context. (A good comparison between Prince's work and Carriou's original is here). I set about preparing to write a commentary along these lines.
Then I read this in the documents of the case:

"Prince testified that he has no interest in the original meanings of the photographs he uses....Prince testified that he 'doesn't really have a message' he attempts to communicate when making art. In creating the paintings Prince did not intend to comment on any aspects of the original works or on the broader culture." (3)

Wait wait wait................REALLY!? No, really!? THIS is what he said?
About the meaning of the work where he pasted a guitar onto the photo of a Rasta he said:

"He's playing the guitar now, it looks like he's playing the guitar, it looks as if he's always played the guitar, that's what my message was." (4)

An artist whose works regularly sell in the millions of dollars apparently isn't trying to say anything with his art and describes it in the way a five year old might. But, perhaps we are judging him too quickly. After all, Prince surely could have afforded a good lawyer, the type who would have told him that the outcome of his case hinged largely upon his work's relationship to the borrowed photographs. Considering this, as well as the fact that he could quite painlessly forgo the realization of some millions of dollars, maybe we should instead read into this a high level of artistic integrity. Richard Prince showed his commitment to meaninglessness, and by doing so I believe he laid the groundwork for defending his work as a commentary on the original work in a more subtle way.

Richard Prince has hired the famous law firm of Boies and Shiller to represent him in the appeal. If they want to change the outcome they will need to demonstrate that his work is a commentary on the original. What he said cannot be taken back. Instead they could explain that within statements like "he's playing the guitar now, it looks as if he's always played the guitar," is an implicit commentary on how context impacts a viewer's interpretation and how this relates to anthropological photos. Additionally his commitment to the supposed meaninglessness of his work could be argued to be a comment on the meaninglessness of the "broader culture." But, if the judge holds that the commentary needs to be intentional instead of implicit then, well.....(This would be interesting to see. The judge probably would require intentional commentary because otherwise it may create precedent for all kinds of defenses. But on the other hand, ideas like reception theory hold that the creator isn't the only source of meaning in an artistic work.)

As I said, it will be interesting to see how the appeal turns out. If the ruling that Prince infringed on Carriou's copyright is upheld, there are good reasons why the decision to impound or destroy Prince's work should not be overturned in favor of monetary damages. As a lover of all art, the idea of impounding or destroying an art work horrifies me; I literally jumped back in my seat when I read it. But the only alternative would be to award Carriou monetary damages for Prince's use of his images. As I've discussed earlier, there is no essential value to an art work, only the market value, and even experts on the art market of a given artist have difficulty determining what that value is. (See this post about Sotheby's and Christie's). It is not the job of a legal court, nor should it be, to determine how much the use of the borrowed image added to the value of a work.

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(1) http://www.theartnewspaper.com/articles/Patrick+Cariou+wins+copyright+case+against+Richard+Prince+and+Gagosian/23387 As well as other works which hadn't yet sold. The price may only be relevant for explaining the extent of the ensuing storm of commentary.
(2) http://www.scribd.com/doc/51214313/Cariou-v-Richard-Prince Page 37
(3) Ibid, page 18
(4) Ibid, page 19

Other articles on the case:
http://hyperallergic.com/22424/cariou-prince-pick-side/
http://www.law.com/jsp/lawtechnologynews/PubArticleLTN.jsp?id=1202487821952&slreturn=1&hbxlogin=1
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/mar/23/richard-prince-artwork-copyright-breach

Sara Winston--Photographs From the Tidy Mess

2011-06-18T08:13:00.000-07:00

By: James Fletcher

Sara Winston is a young photographer whose photographic series Worn Out Joy asks us to question our relationships with domestic space, both as residents of such spaces and as viewers of the spaces of others. The photographs involve a mediation, literally between us and her space, and metaphorically between sets of opposites. On one level they confront our expectation of complete tidiness with a "tidy mess."(1) It involves the idea that our living space is a reflection of our personality and the fact that we expect a photograph of such a space to consciously present a certain image. This is a simplification of her work and her interests, but it is a useful place to start.

Likewise, a useful though simplifying comparison to start with is the photography of decorating magazines like Martha Stewart Living, with photographs of "simple and sleek" bathrooms like these.(2) The aesthetics of the two, Sara Winston's photos and photos in decorating magazines, are somewhat similar as they both offer a visually pleasing representation of similar subject-matter. This degree of similarity allows us to better understand the significance of their differences.

Sara Winston, Lesson 2, 2010. Archival inkjet
print, 10 x 15 inches. Courtesy of the artist.

While a photograph in a decorating magazine clearly presents the organization of the habitat, what first struck me about Lesson #2 was that I felt disoriented and that this corresponded to the disorientation of the swimmers who seemed to be in mid-air. At first I though it was maybe a picture of a mirror with stickers covering the reflection of a cityscape coming in through the window, but eventually realized that I was looking out through a shower curtain toward a window-sill with some bottle or canister (maybe hair spray?). This process could also be characterized as a mediation or navigation, between my initial perceptions and expectations and the actual space represented. Lesson #2 immediately forced me into this kind of mediation which is what struck me so strongly.

Other photographs in the series Worn Out Joy prompt us to mediate our expectations after first attracting us with their pleasant aesthetic. A great illustration of this is the sixteenth photo in this series (use your discretion) which presents a vulgar subject in an aesthetically pleasing way. In this example we must mediate between attraction and revulsion and between our initial perception of a visually pleasant photo and our eventual realization of vulgar subject matter.

Photographs objectively document their subject to present it to an audience (they are a mediation between the viewer and the subject).(3) Because of this level of objectivity I sometimes wonder what aspect or element of a photo is necessary to raise it from the level of documentary photo-journalism to the level of fine-art photography. I think the answer is that the photo must be conscious of this role as a mediation and must prompt the viewer to think about the nature of this mediation or to approach it in a new way. Sara Winston's Lesson #2 and her Worn Out Joy series accomplish this by subverting our expectations: expectations of clarity, expected subject matter, and the way we expect this subject matter to be presented. (4)

And after all this is said, it leaves us to ponder questions without any concrete answer, which in the end is one of the most noble purposes of art. If the audience's expectations are being played on, does that mean the audience has some agency in the creation of the work? And does this indirect agency (acted out by the artist) overemphasize the mess or the tidiness, or instead work itself out in a way that the audience wouldn't be able to expect?

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1. From a correspondence with the artist.
2. These types of images could be considered to construct society's expectations of a living space, or expectations of the photographs of such spaces.
3. The extent to which photographs are objective is arguable, because the photographers decisions of lens type, exposure, etc, will change the photo, but generally they are considered objective.
4. When she presents us with a "tidy mess" she still uses the aesthetic of tidiness.

Thanks to Sara Winston for permission to reproduce the image, and for her correspondence.

Sara Winston recently graduated from the Corcoran College of Art and Design in Washington D.C. with a BFA in Fine Art Photography. Her work there, which culminated in a series titled Worn Out Joy, earned her a faculty award. This series was exhibited at the Corcoran's annual NEXT exhibit which showcases the work of its graduating students.

Artist's Website: http://www.sjwinston.com/index.php?/in-pursuit/
Corcoran page about the artist: http://www2.corcoran.org/next/students/sara-jean-winston
Other work by Sara Winston is available online here.

Minipost: Pope John Paul II and Modern Art

2011-06-14T09:42:00.000-07:00

The other day I was visiting the Vatican City when I saw the banner pictured below. What I first noticed about the image was how moving it was, particularly because it was such an intimate close-up depiction of the former Pope. Seeing so much of his face, I was able to ignore his position for a moment and see him as a person. A person whose face tightened up in a moment of reflection. A person whose individual strands of hair were pushed here and there by the wind.

What I noticed next was the form of the crucifix he was carrying during this moment of thought and reflection captured in an image that the church chose to remember him by. It was a bronze crucifix produced in not quite realistic form. It reminded me of the type of modern form employed in the statue dedicated to Pope John Paul II that I discussed in an earlier post. It seemed to me that there could be no greater testament to Pope John Paul II's approval of such modern form than this image.

The Flip-Side of Cultural Diplomacy-- China's Exhibits of RomanticTibet

2011-06-05T09:43:00.000-07:00

Cultural diplomacy through the foreign exhibition of art is an extension of diplomacy which is usually positive and uncontroversial. But as the example in this article shows, countries can and do use cultural diplomacy to manipulate foreign opinion in support of their foreign or domestic policy.

In October 2009 the Chinese government sponsored an exhibit titled "Snow-Covered Plateau--Chinese Painting Works" that was displayed for six days in Milan, Italy. The explicit intent of the exhibit was to showcase the region's "social and economic development in past 50 years," and therefore the benefits of "cooperation" with China.(1) The purpose of having this exhibit in Italy instead of in Tibet or Beijing logically must have been to garner support for the cooperation between Tibet and China and to divert popular support for the cause of Tibetan independence, which has significant support in the rest of the world.

The main defense of China's occupation of Tibet has been that "they have modernized a country that had once been repressively backward." But the images chosen to garner support for China's occupation depict Tibet as a place dominated by tradition and religion. The assertion is that Tibetan culture has been relatively unchanged by the Chinese occupation. This focus on the most "exotic" aspects of Tibet romanticizes Tibetans and ultimately distances Tibetans from Han Chinese.

On the other hand, one of the main objections to China's occupation in the West has been that it is oppressive and destructive to traditional Tibetan life. The images in the exhibit could be used as supposed evidence to refute the idea that China has repressed Tibetan Buddhism, an idea that for good reason has been widely held outside of China. While claiming to show how Tibet has benefited from "cooperation," the exhibit instead is meant to convince Italians just how little Chinese occupation has affected the daily lives of Tibetans, and thus make occupation that much more acceptable to foreigners.

A more suitable type of image to indicate the extent of Tibet's modernization and integration might have been Tsewang Tashi's "Wineseller #1". "Wineseller #1", painted in 2009, depicts a Tibetan who experiences the reality of modern Tibet. Not only is she painted with the neon-esque palette of modern life, but presumably is meant to represent a wine seller at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, a testament to the integration Tibetan people in Chinese society.

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The short article by Xinhua includes pictures of two of the paintings and can be accessed here:
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/culture/2010-01/01/c_13132123.htm

The Mechak gallery has been featured in another post. There website page featuring a biography of Tsewang Tashi can be accessed here:
http://www.rossirossi.com/contemporary/artists/tsewang.tashi/biography
Tsewang Tashi is currently painting in Lhasa, Tibet.

The Design of the Rubells' Upcoming Contemporary Art Museum in D.C.

2011-05-29T14:37:00.000-07:00

The foundations or patrons funding art museums are aware of the importance of image. Because of this, the architecture of the museum is often chosen to make a statement. Most art museums are examples of "modernist" architecture, which can be characterized by its clarity and simplicity. The upcoming Rubell Contemporary Art Museum in D.C. ,which is still in development, can be considered an example of "post-modern" architecture, which can be generally described as eclectic. Is this an official endorsement of postmodern architecture, a style which has remained somewhat controversial since its beginnings in the late 1970s, by the contemporary art establishment and a shift away from modernist architecture?

The patrons of the new museum intend to keep the original facade of the Randall School in Southeast D.C. which was built in the "early 20th Century."(1)(2) Preliminary plans show that within this facade there will be dramatically modern architecture, although the firm Bing Thom Architects is still in the development phase.(3) This composition of modern within old style closely compares to an example of postmodern architecture, the Harold Washington Library in Chicago.
Many art museums hired the premier modernist architects of their time to design their buildings, to illustrate how in-touch they were with the prevalent architectural style and to give their endorsement to its intellectual concerns. (Or museums chose to move into already existing modernist buildings, showing that they considered it the appropriate setting for their art collection.) Examples of this include the Kreeger Museum in Washington D.C. designed by Phillip Johnson in 1974 and the National Museum of Western Art in Tokyo designed by Le Corbusier in 1959. Similarly the most important modernist architect to work in America, Mies van der Rohe, designed one of the buildings of Houston's Museum of Fine Arts.

National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo, 1959, Le Corbusier

Though "modernist" architecture is a broad term applied to many different architects with different outlooks, post-modern architecture can be (very simply) distinguished from it in that the latter makes use of references to earlier architectural styles as well as ornamentation. The pioneer of postmodern architecture, Robert Venturi, summed this up when he transformed Mies van der Rohe's saying "less is more," into "less is bore."

An example of postmodern architecture which serves as a good comparison to what the Rubell D.C. museum may look like is the Harold Washington Library in Chicago, designed in 1987 by the firm Hammond, Beeby and Babka. This building features a facade that intentionally imitates a facade from the late 19th or early 20th century. Behind this facade the building takes on a minimalist style that is similar to the modernist work of Mies van der Rohe, such as his IBM plaza building.

Harold Washington Library, Chicago, 1987-1991, Hammond, Beeby and Babka

Though the Rubell Contemporary Art Museum in D.C. is still in the development phase, the decision to keep the old facade along with the preliminary plans which use very "modern" architecture means that it will fit in with the conception of postmodern architecture. The Rubells are prominent international art collectors known for their support of the avant-garde of contemporary art. For them to go forward with a design featuring an old facade and a new interior at the very least indicates an acceptance of the use of reference, which was controversial when postmodern architects reintroduced it.(4) At the other extreme, it could be considered a full-on endorsement of postmodern architecture by the new contemporary art establishment, a big shift away from the dominance within the art-world that modernist architecture once enjoyed.

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(1) http://www.artinfo.com/news/story/33980/the-rubells-plan-private-dc-museum/
(2)http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/11/29/AR2006112901463.html
(3) http://dcmud.blogspot.com/2010/12/early-randall-school-redevelopment.html
(4) The use of references to past styles in contemporary architecture has been attacked by some on the grounds that those past styles used form which was designed for their specific time, and that contemporary architecture should use a 'contemporary form' that speaks to the contemporary human.

Auction Guessing 1 (Part 2): Fallibility of Christie's and Sotheby's?

2011-05-27T15:11:00.000-07:00

As you might imagine, my estimates for the works sold at Christie's were off by a substantial amount. The ratio of the actual price to the estimate provided by the auction house at Christie's was higher than at Sotheby's for two artists but lower for the third. If we assume that the market for Latin-American Art in New York City is fairly integrated, an assumption I believe is reasonable, what does it mean that their estimates were off in different ways?

I had assumed that the comparison between the actual prices and the estimates of the painting for both auction houses would simply reveal the difference between how the current market values the work and the "essential" or inherent value of the work. But unless the demand for two of the artists increased drastically overnight while demand for the third dropped (possible?), it simply reminds us that no matter how knowledgeable one is, it is impossible to accurately determine an "essential" price. Does this suggest there is no inherent value, only the value placed by the market?

Rufino Tamayo's Mujer Caminando outsold my estimate of $81,000 with its price of $98,500. Similarly Diego Rivera's Cargador outperformed my revised estimate of $45,800, realizing a price of $56,250. Surprisingly it seems Matta's Thistles didn't sell. This is perhaps too narrow of a look though, and instead we should look at the price/estimate ratio of all these artists' work sold at the Christie's auction in comparison to those of Sotheby's.

The price to estimate ratio (price realized/average estimate), hereafter referred to as P/E, of Tamayo's work at the Sotheby's auction was 1.0136, but at the Christie's auction it was 1.1281. The P/E of Rivera paintings at the Sotheby's was 1.144, while the P/E at Christie's was 1.08. Though the work by Matta which I featured didn't sell, the 11 works by Matta which did sell at Christies sold at a P/E ratio of 1.267, significantly higher than the Sotheby's P/E of 1.128.

Though it isn't very surprising that these "price to estimate" ratios vary between the two auction houses, it is somewhat surprising to me that they don't vary in a consistent way. The P/E of Tamayo and Matta were significantly higher for Christie's than they were at Sotheby's, while the P/E of Matta was much lower for Christie's. This negates the hypothesis that one is simply being more conservative in their estimates than the other. Though a lot of explanations could be hypothesized based on this evidence, for now it suffices to say that they show that neither auction house is infallible in making their estimates. Furthermore, the differences between their estimates and the prices achieved cannot be explained by simply saying that the aggregate demand for Latin American art in late May 2011 was x% higher than expected by the art (market) experts.

Auction Guessing 1: Estimating the Results of Christie's Latin American Auction Based on Sotheby's

2011-05-26T15:06:00.000-07:00

Sotheby's recently concluded its 2011 auction of Latin American art, with sessions on the 25th at 7 p.m. and the 26th at 10 a.m. In this post I use the results of that auction to estimate the forthcoming results of Christie's Latin American art auction, which has sessions on the 26th at 6:30 pm (NY time) and the 27th at 10 a.m.

I apply a very basic model based on the sold price/mean estimate ratio of works by specific artists, just to see how this compares to the eventual results. After the auction I will compare these revised estimates with their actual price.

Rufino Tamayo, Mujer Caminando, Christie's Lot 2 Sale 2446, estimate:70-90k, mean: 80,000
-5 works by Tamayo sold at the Sotheby's May 25th auction (N08794) had a combined mean estimate of $2,945,000 (lots 5, 8, 9, and 13) but sold for a combined $2,985,000. This gives a sold price/estimate ratio of 1.0136.
-Applying this to the mean estimate of Mujer Caminando provides an estimated sale price of $81,000.

Diego Rivera, Cargador, Christie's Lot 3 Sale 2446, estimate:35-45k, mean: 40,000
-2 works by Rivera sold at Sotheby's N08794 (lots 6 and 11) had a combined mean estimate of $1,100,000, but sold for a combined $1,259,00. This gives a sold price/estimate ratio of 1.144.
-Applying this to the mean estimate of Cargador provides a revised estimate of $45,800.

Matta, Thistles, Christie's Lot 33 Sale 2446, estimate: 150-200k, mean: 175,000
-1 work by Matta sold at Sotheby's N08794 (lot 4). It had a mean estimate of $800,000 but sold for $902,500, giving a price/estimate ratio of 1.128.
-This leads to a revised estimate of $197,400 for Thistles.

Considering how simple this estimate revision is, I am curious to see how it will compare to the actual results. ---Posted at 6:05 pm (NY time). (With only minutes to spare)

The Christie's catalogue is available here:
http://www.christies.com/LotFinder/searchresults.aspx?intSaleID=23055#action=refine&intSaleID=23055&sid=6235d15f-328a-4ded-a97d-7b31908ae219
The Sotheby's catalogue with results is available here:
http://www.sothebys.com/app/ecatalogue/fhtml/index.jsp?event_id=30498#/r=index-fhtml.jsp?event_id=30498|r.main=list.jsp?event_id=30498&pg=1&view=60&by=0&rhd=0.406032161321491/

The 'Summer of Sequels,' Information Costs, and Museum Exhibits

2011-05-26T00:16:00.000-07:00

Or: Why You Won't See a Nicolas de Largillière Exhibit, But May See Many of Joshua Reynolds.(1)

Costs of obtaining information incurred in consumption can explain both the recent prevalence of sequels and, at least partially, the choices by curators of museum exhibits. Consumers incur information costs in finding out a base level of necessary information about the movie or artist they are going to 'consume.'(2) Consumers incur less information costs when consuming something that has already become familiar to them, either through prequels or previous exhibits. Curators and movie producers, as experts in their field, are not as constrained by information costs as consumers. Instead the information costs of the consumers affect the choices of the 'producers' as they try to reduce barriers to consumption. Great curators attempt to introduce their audience to new artists or at least new aspects of these artists, but are still constrained by the willingness of their audience to incur information costs.

Figure 1: Nicolas de Largillière, Elizabeth Throckmorton, 1729

Due to the prevalence of sequels set to release this summer-I was able to count 12-some have termed it the "Summer of Sequels." Commentators have accurately attributed this phenomena to laziness. However, instead of the supposed laziness of the producers, who would have to work the same amount whether on a new film or a sequel, I suggest that it is because of the laziness of the audience. Viewers know what to expect when they see Hangover 2 or Pirates of the Caribbean 4, the same thing they've already seen one or three times respectively. If they have seen the previous movie(s) the information costs are practically non-existant, whereas new films require the (small) cost of researching some basic information about the film.

This same analysis can be applied to museum exhibits.

Today a portrait by an artist I was unfamiliar with stopped me in my tracks as I was walking toward a portrait by Sir Joshua Reynolds hanging next to it, the image was literally arresting. A different portrait by this artist, Nicolas de Largillière, is pictured above and can be compared to another portrait by Joshua Reynolds pictured below.

Figure 2: Sir Joshua Reynolds, Anne Bingham, 1786

Though it is a matter of taste, I find Largillière's faces (including Figure 1) to be more charming than those by Reynolds (including Figure 2). Their immaculate detail, modeling, and rosy cheeks give them true vitality. The image of the face reached out beyond the clothes that framed it within its specific historical and cultural context and I was able to engage it directly as a human face. And I am not alone in my attraction to his work. It is featured in the collections of New York's Metropolitan Museum, the J. Paul Getty Museum, Oxford's Ashmolean Museum, the Louvre, and the National Gallery of Art in Washington D.C. In his day he painted such notables as the King of Poland, the Infanta of Spain, and even Voltaire. There is no doubt that he is quite well-respected among enthusiasts of rococo portraiture, but outside this rather small group he is often overshadowed by rococo contemporaries such as Boucher or Fragonard and portraiture followers such as Reynolds.

Though Largillière arguably matches or exceeds the artistic ability of Reynolds, I argue that the information costs that the audience would have to incur prevent curators from presenting such an exhibition to their audience, at least for the moment. These costs of gathering information also explain the phenomenon of the "Summer of the Sequel." It is unlikely that all the producers suddenly became lazy, or that alternatively all the writers stopped coming up with new ideas. Instead it could be accounted for by a growing recognition of the laziness of the audience in terms of gathering information about movies before viewing them. It may be that this is peculiar to the summer, when groups of consumers who hadn't invested time into learning about and watching films now look for entertainment. In the same way, the big-name museums which present to a broader public which likely has less knowledge of artists than the audience of a small or specialized museum will avoid imposing information costs on their audience, instead exhibiting artists they are already familiar with.

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Footnotes:
(1) Most famously the 2005 exhibition at the Tate, "Joshua Reynolds: The Creation of Celebrity." http://www.tate.org.uk/britain/exhibitions/reynolds/
An exception is the "Exposition N. de Largillierre," at Paris' Palais des Beaux-Arts, but the fact that this exhibit was in 1928 supports my point. http://www.metmuseum.org/works_of_art/collection_database/european_paintings/andre_francois_alloys_de_theys_d_herculais_1692_1779_nicolas_de_largillierre/objectview.aspx?collID=11&OID=110001291

While the lack of recent Largillierre exhibits creates an information cost to the public, the celebrity of the recent Reynolds exhibit decreases information costs to the public.

(2) "Information Costs": The costs in time and energy spent to gather information. If information on a subject is relatively scarce, information costs will be higher.

Sarah Williams: Painting the New American Landscape

2011-05-23T13:39:00.000-07:00

The painted landscape can serve as the locus of a cultural identity in both a productive capacity (forming a conception around which others coalesce) and a "reflective" capacity (re-presenting the conception of a culture already shared by its members). Beyond, or within, this cultural meaning of landscape, the composition may create a narrative or allegory that subverts or supports the cultural message communicated. By working within a culture's shared conception of itself, an artist is able to more readily communicate the deeper messages and meanings at work in the painting. This dynamic is evident in the painting below.

St. Joseph, by Sarah Williams, 2011, oil on canvas, 24" x 24", in private collection.

Image reproduced with consent of the artist.

Sarah Williams, a Houston-based artist, paints scenes of modern America. She often paints night scenes, whose lack of life and serene lighting impart a sense of stillness and timelessness. At the same time, this lack of life and the lack of uniquely-identifying features maintain an ambiguity that would allow any American to identify with the scenes. As other critics have pointed out, it would be misguided to read into this a commentary on "the generic flavor of American life." (1) Instead, her choice of imagery is a result of her "connection to the rural Missouri where she grew up." (1) Williams' intimate familiarity with the imagery in addition to its ambiguity allow her paintings to have both an immediacy of communication to American audiences and a narrative depth.

In St. Joseph, Williams constructs a narrative by shielding us from one area of the canvas while leading us to the other. With the distinct associations of the two areas involved in this narrative, the work becomes an allegory of modern American life, with its division between a superficial and dizzying external world and the comfortable and placid internal world of the home.

A non-specific ice-cream store divides the landscape between the commercial area of business and capitalism and the residential realm of family, which assume particular associations within the silence of the night. The bright neon shop signs humming with energy cut through the still darkness, but the signs appeal to no audience--aside from us, to whom the signs are illegible. The energy of the signs makes the lack of human life and energy all the more noticeable, evoking feelings of emptiness or isolation akin to those experienced when alone in a city late at night or very early in the morning. But this isolation may not be the ultimate message of the painting, instead it provides the antithesis.

We are shielded from that isolation by the ice-cream store, which is painted with a familiarity and intimacy opposed to the fuzzy uncertainty of the distant shops. In front of the ice-cream store two arrows lead us to the right side of the painting, a device analogous to the rivers or roads of traditional landscape paintings, which were used to engage the viewer and guide their eye. Instead of the isolating loneliness of a deserted commercial district we are led to a comfortable residential district illuminated by a soft and welcoming light. Instead of the energy without life seen on the left side, we are led to a place of life without energy, or alternatively, a place of rest. This calming and comforting effect of the right-hand side is heightened through its contrast with the isolation shown on the left.

Painting realistic landscapes with imagery familiar to her American audience, Sarah Williams is able to construct narrative and allegory in works which at first glance may appear to some to be simply reproductions of a modern American experience. However one conceives of this modern experience, the emotions and associations evoked by its imagery are intimately familiar to those who experience it, (modern Americans). This intimacy allows for the imagery to communicate to its audience on a deeper level, as Sarah Williams does. In St. Joseph, Williams goes beyond representing the modern American experience and uses the visual language of this experience to create narrative that contrasts the emotions inherent in it.

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Thanks to Sarah Williams for permission to reproduce the image of St. Joseph for this blog.
More information about the artist and her work is available on her website: http://sarahwilliams-paintings.com/home.html

Sarah Williams received her BFA, Summa Cum Laude, from William Woods University in 2006 and her MFA from the University of North Texas in 2009. Since that time, she's already had six solo exhibitions in addition to her many group exhibitions.

Article Referenced:
(1)http://www.29-95.com/art/story/sarah-williams-nocturnal-visions-mcmurtrey-gallery

Il Papa, non Il Duce: a defense of Rainaldi's statue of Pope John Paul II

2011-05-21T19:14:00.000-07:00

By: James Fletcher
Recently a modernist sculpture of Pope John Paul II by Oliviero Rainaldi was placed in front of Rome's Termini Train Station. Soon afterward, the official newspaper of the Vatican condemned the statue as unfitting to the memory of the blessed Pope. (1) It has been condemned by Romans on two grounds: the similitude of the statue's head to the head of Mussolini, and the fact that it's non-representative, "it doesn't even resemble the late pontiff." (2) This post defends Rainaldi's statue against these objections.

Images provided by the artist, and reproduced here with his consent.

To the first objection, that the statue is non-representative, I would point out that the Vatican museum itself features a collection of "Modern Religious Art" inaugurated by Pope Paul VI in 1973. This collection features works by such paradigmatically non-representative artists as Paul Klee and Kandinsky. It is apparent in the address by Pope Paul VI upon the inauguration of the collection, excerpted below, that he conceived of modern religious art as (potentially) more effective at communicating to the modern man.

Translation: "We collectively asked ourselves: is there today, within the framework of our lived experience, a modern religious art, a child of our time and twin to our secular modern art, which likewise enchants the eye and the human spirit of our century?"(3)

Even Pope Paul VI recognized that modern art may be more able to communicate to modern man and engage with modernity, after all that is the purpose of "modern" art, whether produced in the 1880s or the 1990s it employs a "modern" aesthetic to engage the "modern" man.

Rainaldi's use of "modern" non-representative form is particularly appropriate considering the content of the message he communicates using this form. The sides of the statue open up like outstretched arms, welcoming the audience. It is a reference to John Paul's much celebrated legacy of reaching out to other religious communities and welcoming back members of the Catholic church who had been discouraged by controversy and regressive policies. The modern form of Rainaldi's expression supports its content, of a modern Pope engaging and welcoming the audience.

The second objection, that the head resembles that of Mussolini, is perhaps best understood as a reflection of the audience more than actual or intentional resemblance. The large and oddly-shaped head may instead be an intentional conflation of the Pope's bald head and the form of the Papal Tiara (seen here), one of the most representative symbols of Papal authority. The identification as Mussolini's head may be the result of the audience's association of monumental and modernist statuary with fascism and Mussolini. An example of the use of such monumental statuary is Mussolini's forum, and modernist Italian groups such as the Futurists actively courted the Fascist party to ensure their survival. This history, only briefly alluded to here, explains the ease with which an Italian audience would associate monumental modernist statuary with a fascist figure.

Non-representative art has been officially accepted by the Vatican as an appropriate modern expression of religious piety and sentiment. Rainaldi employed modern forms to communicate the message of a Pope fully engaged with the modern world, not only through the welcoming form he creates but through the choice to use modern form itself. The unfortunate association with Mussolini is a result of the audience's associations between such monumental sculpture and fascism. Unfortunately, this dramatically modern celebration of a modern Pope---a modern Saint!--may soon be removed from its current site.

Image from side showing outstretched cloak and the texture of the sculpture.

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Artist's Website:
http://www.olivierorainaldi.net/works.html

Articles Referenced:

(1)http://www.osservatoreromano.va/portal/dt?JSPTabContainer.setSelected=JSPTabContainer%2FDetail&last=false=&path=/news/cultura/2011/116q11-Una-scultura-per-Karol.html&title=%20%20%20Una%20scultura%20per%20Karol%20%20%20&locale=it

(2)http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/05/20/pope-john-paul-ii-sculpture-ugly-_n_864947.html

(3) http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/paul_vi/speeches/1973/june/documents/hf_p-vi_spe_19730623_collezione-arte-religiosa_it.html
"Ebbene, chiedevamo allora collettivamente a noi stessi: esiste oggi, proprio nel quadro della nostra vissuta esperienza, un’Arte religiosa, attuale, moderna, figlia del nostro tempo e gemella dell’Arte profana, che ancora assilla ed incanta l’occhio, ed anche lo spirito dell’uomo del nostro secolo?"

The Diary of Banned Frank

2011-05-20T15:53:00.000-07:00

T., Banned Frank, 2008, silkscreen print on paper

Banned Frank is a 2008 image that inspired a great deal of debate in the Netherlands and on that lightning rod of controversy we call the international blogosphere. In this post, I want to write about the image itself briefly and then discuss some of the controversy. The intent is not to feed the fire because honestly, the debate is over. I just recently learned about this image and wanted to offer my own perspective.

Banned Frank is a silkscreen print by a Dutch artist who goes by the pseudonym “T.” or alternately, “t.” It has been reproduced on t-shirts, postcards, and as street art in a couple of major European and American cities. The image depicts Anne Frank, the author of Diary of a Young Girl, wearing a keffiyeh. Westerners know the keffiyeh primarily as the scarf worn by Palestinian militants and radical figures such as Yasser Arafat and Leila Khaled. Because of this, the keffiyeh often functions in the West as a symbol of Arab Muslim identity in general and Palestinian identity in particular. While the keffiyeh in the image above is red, there are versions of this image in which the keffiyeh is blue, green, or pink, so we probably shouldn’t read much into the color.

Even though this is a silkscreen print, T. tried to make it look like graffiti done with a stencil. The thick, fuzzy lines, seemingly unclean application, and “paint drips” create the impression of a hastily-executed piece of street art. Graffiti itself is associated with all things counterculture, and it’s obvious that the artist was trying to capture this feeling. The technique, the dissonance created by the juxtaposition of the image of Anne Frank and the keffiyeh, and the distortion of Frank’s likeness result in this slightly unsettling image.

Obviously, using the image of an internationally-beloved young girl who passed away under horrific circumstances during the Holocaust in this way was not going to be received well. A lot of people accused the artist of anti-Semitism and a Dutch Jewish advocacy group, Centrum Informatie en Documentatie Israel (CIDI), called for the boycott of the image[1] on the grounds that the combination of a symbol of the Holocaust with a symbol of Palestinian nationalism was an allegory for the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in which the oppressed, represented by Anne Frank, are the Palestinians. Because of all the uproar, the company that was producing the postcards halted their sale and production, though you can still buy t-shirts and copies of the print on this website.

I don’t read this image as an allegory for the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. I also don’t think this image was intended to defame Israelis, Jews, or Anne Frank herself. I think this was actually a comment on the trend of wearing keffiyeh as scarves that was really popular in the Europe and the US in 2008. But what is the implication behind it?

I think we can understand Banned Frank better by looking at some of T.’s other work. I present Santa Ghraib and I Bombed New York. In both of these images, the “point” is the sardonic humor that results from mixing an iconic and appealing image with a disturbing one. Santa Ghraib presents the familiar image of rosy-cheeked Santa Claus and then “screws it up” (so to speak) with an Abu Ghraib victim dressed as a crude Christmas tree. Likewise, I Bombed New York twists the popular I Love New York logo by replacing the “I” and the heart with pictures of George W. Bush and an airplane, turning the pro-New York slogan into a reference to the decidedly anti-New York events of 9/11. The way T. achieves the desired effect on his viewers is by mixing the appealing with the repulsive.

Keeping this in mind, the message of Banned Frank becomes clear. Obviously, only a very strange individual could consider the image of bright, cheerful, cute Anne Frank to be repugnant or disturbing. I wish the same could be said of the keffiyeh, but obviously some people in the West have issues with it. In order for this image to make sense, viewers have to understand the keffiyeh as a piece of “hate couture” or "jihadi chic." The only problem with this reading is that the keffiyeh is not a symbol of religious or ethnic hatred. It’s a neck scarf in the West and a man’s head scarf in the Middle East. It has acquired these associations with terrorism and anti-Semitism in the West, but that’s only based on a very un-nuanced and simplistic understanding of what the keffiyeh means to people, both Muslim and Jewish, who have lived together in the Middle East for hundreds of years.

I’m not going to say that T. was intentionally trying to say anything about Jews, Muslims, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, or whatever because the artist has never made a statement about this work. I would be putting words in his mouth, and that’s unfair. So, for the record, I am not saying that T. is necessarily prejudiced in any way against any religion or ethnicity. But I will say that he is a Dutch artist, and anyone familiar with the Netherlands knows that there is a lot of anxiety and conflict over the recent waves of immigration from Muslim-majority countries. There’s been a lot of hateful language being bandied back and forth and even some violence. So it’s not surprising that a piece that expresses this anxiety like Banned Frank should come out of that cultural environment and that it should cause a lot of controversy. It's possible that this piece was intended to spark debate about the place of Muslims in Dutch society. Without the artist's statement, we can only guess.

Does Banned Frank push the limits of good taste? Yes, intentionally. Is it anti-Semitic? Probably not, but it definitely offended some people, so we need to recognize and respect that. Did I completely miss the point? Let me know in the comments!

Thank you to Arne and Birgit from Prints & The Revolution for giving me permission to use the images and link to the site! Visit their website www.printsandtherevolution.nl to see more "street art" by other affiliated artists.

[1] “CIDI roept op om Boomerangkaart ‘Banned Frank’ te boycotten” (“CIDI Calls for Boycott of Boomerang Card Banned Frank”), January 24, 2008, http://www.netwerk.tv/node/772.

Karma Phuntsok--Tibetan Thangka Painting in Australia

2011-05-03T12:44:00.000-07:00

Karma Phuntsok, a Tibetan-born artist now living in Australia, creates work that reflects this hybrid existence by using aspects of traditional Tibetan painting in new ways. After fleeing Tibet with his family following what is referred to as the Tibetan Uprising of 1959, Karma Phuntsok eventually studied the traditional Thanka style of painting from a Thanka master in Nepal. Since 1981 he has been living in Australia practicing his art. His application of traditional methods to new uses and settings is a reflection of the existence of the Tibetan culture in exile, forced to adapt to new settings while maintaining a cultural heritage and tradition. In doing so, this art offers his audience a visual model of the mediation between two cultures, which serves a social function within the exiled Tibetan community in addition to its aesthetic purpose.

Guru Rinpoche, Karma Phutsok, 2001


Image reproduced with consent of artist.

In the image above, Karma Phuntsok has depicted the Guru Rinpoche arriving at Ayers Rock, an iconic Australian landmark. The Guru Rinpoche, otherwise known as Padmasambhava, is credited with the introduction of Vajrayna Buddhism into Tibet, and is shown here transmitting Buddhism into Australia.

Guru Rinpoche differs from traditional Thanka, such as that shown below, in two ways. First, and most obviously, the traditionally depicted figure has been uprooted and now exists within a realistically rendered Australian landscape. The second and less obvious difference, at least to those unfamiliar with Thanka, is the non-central position of Rinpoche within the work. In the traditional Chenrezig Thangka below, the figure is positioned centrally within a composition that is nearly symmetrical. It depicts an ordered existence which creates harmony between Chenrezig and his setting.

Chenrezig Thangka, Tibetan artist, 1700-1800,

ink and colors on cotton, 28 1/8 x 20 3/8 in.

One can imagine the sense of harmony and stasis that would have been created in Guru Rinpoche if the Guru and Ayers Rock were depicted along one central vertical axis. Instead, the Guru has just arrived, with one tail of the cloud indicating the direction of his entrance. It doesn't simply represent the new existence of Tibetan Buddhists in Australia, but the nature of this existence. The Guru Rinpoche serves as a symbol of Tibetan Buddhism and its adherents, who like the Guru have just arrived in the new landscape of Australia. Considering the balanced and ordered compositions of traditional Tibetan painting, the composition of Guru Rinpoche reveals that Buddhist culture has yet to harmoniously align itself with Australia while implying the eventual realization of this harmonious existence.

The oppression of Tibet by China has partially dislocated Tibetan culture, forcing it to adapt to new settings. Karma Phuntsok and other Tibetan artists outside Tibet reflect this in their art by applying traditional Tibetan styles to new uses. Though arising from unfortunate conditions, these innovations have created a new imagery and a new style of painting. Considering the traditional training of artists such as Karma Phuntsok and the meditative and spiritual role of traditional Tibetan paintings, these new paintings serve as visual models of a negotiation with a new culture for their largely Buddhist audience, and as a locus for contemplation of this new existence.

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Thanks to Karma Phuntsok for permission to reproduce Guru Rinpoche for this blog.

More information about the artist and how to purchase his work is available on his website: http://www.karmaart.com/

The website of the Mechak Center for Contemporary Tibetan Art also includes images of Karma Phuntsok's work in addition to the work of other Tibetan artists.

http://www.mechak.org/gallery.html

Conventions and the Evolution of Imagery

2011-05-01T16:30:00.000-07:00

In some ways a successful image is characterized by a harmonious balance of familiarity and novelty. Visual conventions, pictorial devices which become standardized, allow for this balance by allowing the artist to adopt an accepted imagery to their novel purpose. In addition to creating an image that resonates with earlier successful images, it allows the audience to better read the image. One such convention, prevalent in Western-European portraits of royalty, was the use of a column and velvet drapery.

King Edward VII of England, by Sir Samuel Fildes, 1902, Oil on Canvas

In this example, the velvet drapery and column are used to symbolize the power of the King, relying on a convention established much earlier and legitimized through subsequent royal portraits, such as the one below.

King Willem III of Netherlands, Nicolaaas Pienemann, 1856, Oil on Canvas

Using convention allows artists to relate their image to the images already within the public consciousness, tapping in to the symbolism and meaning of those images. The application of extant conventions to new uses in some ways constitutes the evolution of imagery. It is like using a given formula (f(x)=2(a)+3(b); a=2,b=6) but changing some of the variables (f(x)=2(a)+3(b); a=1,b=4).

It is the same process for any image, a royal portrait or an advertisement. In fact, because of the legitimizing effect of convention, images made for popular consumption may rely more heavily on them.