The Death Of Truth And Beauty

“Beauty is truth, truth beauty—that is all ye know on Earth and all ye need know” John Keats

Regular readers know that my wife, Sandy, is an artist, and a good one at that. Her inner beauty shines forth in her lovingly created artworks. The blog, “My Funny Valentine” from February, 2023, will give you some insight into her and into our relationship in which her art career plays an important role.

Early in that relationship, Sandy confided to me that what she really wanted to study at college was art, but the financial drawbacks of a career in it gave her pause. Already knowing she was “the one” for me, this pre-med student told her not to concern herself with money, because she would marry a doctor who would support her and her art regardless of what level she achieved as an artist. At the time this indirect declaration of my desire to make her mine went over her head, but she did take my advice, switched her major and went on to become a terrific artist.

So committed to art was she that from the time I earned my first dollar she quit a job that held prospects for a lucrative career in favor of resuming the study and creation of art. Through hard work and continuing education, Sandy went on to become the consummate professional artist in her chosen specialty of jewelry and small precious metal sculpture. Because, to her, success lay in the quality of the work, not its financial rewards, she did not devote much time to promoting it or marketing. Then, as now, when she showed her work, she was more interested in it being seen than in selling it.

For many years, Sandy devoted hours and hours of unpaid time to the Designer Crafts Council, an organization with over a hundred craft artists under the auspices of the Schenectady Museum, that was dedicated to supporting fine crafts artists and making their work visible and accessible to the public. Later she was active in similar organizations for painters. When she took up painting, she founded The Firehouse Artists, a group of painters who meet monthly to share the paintings they do in response to mutually agreed on “challenges.” This group continued after she left New York to be focused on education and growth, not sales.

When her skill with metal had reached its peak, around the turn of the century, she felt she needed a new challenge and shifted her efforts to painting. She now shows her award winning paintings mostly at the Reston, (Va) Art Gallery and Studios nearby our current home. They can also be seen on her website, http://www.sandracdovbergart.com along with many of her museum quality metal works.

Lately, Sandy has been aware of how many artists she knows seem to define professionalism as slick advertising, promotion, packaging and sales. Some put copies of their original works on kitsch items like coffee mugs, T-shirts and pillows as opposed to protecting the inherent quality and authenticity of their original works. All to make a quick buck.

Sandy went into art for the love of it and a wish to create beauty in the world, but, sadly, the art world has been consumed by the same ugly commercialism and greed that characterizes our age. Most of the artists we know are financially secure by one means or another. They don’t need to depend on art sales to eat. Still they relentlessly pursue profit from their work regarding that as the measure of their success. That same attitude and value system is at the heart of the travesty that has befallen our nation and the world, in which what is right and real and beautiful has been swept away in favor of the insatiable accumulation of wealth, prestige and power.

In art, as in most other things, materialism has blinded too many people to what really matters in life. Essentially, because their groceries cost more than they care to pay, they elected a ruthless criminal as president, one who will inflict higher prices on them and worse, much worse.

No small thanks to this, the future looks like it will be grim and ugly beyond our wildest imaginings. The egregious choice America made on November 5th has sealed a fate that we could so easily have avoided were our value system not so warped. So sad given that, not all but many, had the option Sandy did, to put truth, beauty and quality ahead of profits, but chose instead to go after the almighty dollar.