Skip to main content

Priest, Psychologist, and Art Critic

The other night on EWTN, Fr. Benedict Groeschel proudly proclaimed that he had never stepped foot in the MoMA, because he couldn't stand looking at all of the ugliness and disorderliness of "modern art". Apparently while he was doing his doctorate in psychology he took some courses in art history and art criticism. I couldn't disagree more with what he said. There is definite order in modern art - it might just not be readily apparent with some artists. Certainly the early work of people like Frank Stella, Leger, and many others, is very rigid and ordered. There is even order in Jackson Pollock paintings as Francis Schaffer showed in How Shall We Then Live. And besides that MoMA has many other paintings in it that are done in a more traditional style that he would probably enjoy. For example, I believe now there is a show of Lucian Freud prints and Seurat drawings. So I don't know what father was talking about in that interview. It really makes no sense to me.

Comments

Arturo Vasquez said…
Roman Catholics in particular can have such a knee jerk reactions when it comes to these things. It always pisses me off when I hear them. Just because a thing is contemporary does not mean that it's ugly, nor are all old things beautiful. If you do not look for beauty in places where you don't think you will find it, you will miss out on a whole lot of God's creation.
I agree. It also seems to be an attitude that comes from an overly conservative mind.
The last time I was there, Monet was in the hiz-owse. Although I normally love Fr. Groeschel's talks, I think he's way off base on this...

-j
Anonymous said…
Father Gordon,

While I agree with you that Fr. Groeschel is "off base" about much of Modern Art, I wonder about your comment "It also seems to be an attitude that comes from an overly conservative mind." Last time I checked, the APA (and the REC) are both CONSERVATIVE ANGLICAN bodies. Now often the RC church is conservative of bad things but being "Conservative" is what we (as REC/APA folks) are!

Chip in Annandale, VA
Chip,

From my experience there seems to be a correlation between many conservative Christians and a disdain for certain types of modern and postmodern art. I think it is because conservatives are naturally less open to new concepts and ideas. While I consider myself conservative in most ways, I guess I am less conservative in the area of art (though my art is actually quite traditional as far as contemporary art goes). So, there are many different grades of conservatism and liberalism I guess.

Gordon+

Popular posts from this blog

Some Observations About Light in Landscape Painting

As I slowly begin returning to painting landscapes the question of light arises. For most of my artistic career I have not been that interested in light in paintings, though I enjoy it in the works of other artists. However in landscape painting light is very important, so lately I've been examining the use of light by various landscapes painters, all of whom would be called "realists." What I found in closely studying their paintings is that they are not strict and mathematical, if you will, about where the light hits. In fact in many realist paintings – those of Andrew Wyeth come to mind – the light is very natural looking at a glance, but then upon closer examination is highly invented. I find nothing wrong with artists taking this liberty. The key to light in landscape painting seems to be to make an effort to simply include it in the work, and not obsess over where everything lines up and how it strikes each object in a uniform way... almost like a Bob Ross paintin

A Notice About My Recent Show Posted In The Parish Magazine

This month my art show at the Liriodendron ends. I want to thank everyone who came out for it, and for all of the nice and interesting comments on my work. Many of the works were familiar to us as they have been gracing the walls of the parish hall and my office for some time. The history behind that is that we needed some decorations for the walls but did not have any money budgeted for that. So, in consultation with the vestry, it was agreed that I could hang my works in the parish hall on a temporary basis. This was always meant to be temporary. One of my professors in college, a sculptor, once told us that it is not good for an artist to be around his own work all the time. I would tend to agree with that. So after the show is over only one or two large pieces will return to the parish hall and maybe a couple of small icons. The work currently hanging in the parish hall is that of my late first cousin once removed, Noel Kavanaugh Edwards. Noel was an artist and naturalist based