Time Spent Making Art: THE WHIMS OF TIME

Wednesday 24 December 2014

THE WHIMS OF TIME

FRAGMENTS

As time passes the fragments of our existence,

Memories gone astray,

Drift lazily away,

To places we know not where.

Some fragments will linger

And be shared,

By strangers who find significant,

Our thoughts, our cares.

But, with time,

All will disappear,

And we will join the rushing torrent

In an everlasting stream

Of fading dreams.

Ernest Andrew Somers 2013

I was perusing an art magazine and came across photographs of old paintings being put up for auction. The reserve bids for the paintings seemed a bit steep for paintings made by, as far as I could tell, artists with little history. Most of the paintings were made by 19th and early 20th Century American artists, and apart from the paintings having historic significance there was nothing spectacular that caught my eye. There was little information about the lives of the artists, and apart from the artist’s name, date of birth and date of death, nothing was known about the artists. I could only assume that the paintings were commissions, now antiques, and had turned up in estate sales.

It got me to thinking about the contemporary artists of today, and how most struggle to be recognized. Sad to realize that like the artists whose paintings were being auctioned all that will probably be remembered of contemporary artists of today by future generations should they be lucky, will be their name, date of birth, and date of death, and that little if anything will be remembered of their struggle.