Loving Art and Appreciating Art…. is there a difference?

Is loving art and appreciating art the same thing?

I know i definitely enjoy looking at art. When i look at the pieces of art i think about whether i can afford to buy it, and where i would put it in my dream home. I would also wonder what the artist, creator was thinking or wanting to say when they produced their work. Often creatives relate their art to something in their world or something they want in their world. Is that me being appreciative of art?

What is appreciation? Surely everyone enjoys appreciating pretty things…. I certainly do. But is that true appreciation? Appreciation has been defined as:

1. To recognize the quality, significance, or magnitude of

2. To be fully aware of or sensitive to; realize

3. To be thankful or show gratitude for

4. To admire greatly; value.

5. To raise in value or price, especially over time.

To the pieces i like and i question, i do follow the above actions. Perhaps loving and appreciating is the same thing. I suspect an artist may question that.

Over that last 5-6 years i have been spending my spare time going to art exhibitions in different parts of the world- including London,UK; Beijing and Shanghai, China; Istanbul, Turkey; Paris, France; and Milan, Italy. I love looking at art and designs and i really hope that this gives the readers a flavour of my personal views.

I hope to share some of my past visits of art exhibition in my future blogs.

More recently i have been to 2 amazing art exhibitions. At the beginning of March 2013, i went to Art 13 that was in London Olympia. It showed many galleries’ collections from all over the world under one roof. The photos below are just some of my shots of the event.

There was a mix of Asian, Arabic and European galleries all connecting with one another. For more information, you can check out their website.

Another recent exhibition i attended was at the Tate- it was the Liechtenstein exhibition. He is very famous for his Whaam art in 1963 and his other earlier pieces. He has tried out new styles in his life as an artist. The Tate Modern shows all his decades of work. The exhibition is still showing til 27th May 2013 and so i would highly recommend it. You can see more details here.

I have shared with you below some of Liechtenstein’s favourites of mine. My favourite and i am seriously thinking of buying a print of is the Landscape with Philosopher- the last image.

Whaam

Interior with Waterlillies

Landscape with Philosopher, 1997

On an ending note on this blog, I must share with you something exciting. I went to the Liechtenstein with an artist called Andrew McAttee who was inspired by Liechtenstein’s work. I have just commissioned Andrew to do a piece for me in my hallway- well that’s where i think it will go at the moment.

Here is what he has sent me – work in progress…