A masterpiece is out of this world, pre-eminent, and exceptionally good. An artwork considered to be a masterpiece is so good and distinctive that it cannot be copied giving it that scarcely attainable rare status. It is beyond and above the confines of normal art expectations; incomparable, and unequaled.
Create More Makartistry Notepad – Silhouette book
A masterpiece has the power to transform the individual experience of the artist into a global experience. A masterpiece is an artwork that showcases the virtuoso manipulation of blanks or the emptiness on a canvas and area depending on the kind of art; visual, performance, sculpture, installation, etc.
An art piece that is a masterpiece is one that withstands the pressure of competition and is resilient to live through adverse conditions and rough handling over generations.
Read More SIT-DOWN CHAT WITH ARTEASY NIGERIA C.O.O ON WINNING THE MOST OUTSTANDING MARKETPLACE STARTUP 2021
All of the above put together would normally make any artwork known or talked about by many people; greatly admired by stakeholders in the art industry around the world. Yet, is all of these enough to qualify an artwork as a masterpiece?
While such innovations as UV lighting have made it possible for artworks of this age to withstand adverse conditions helping them to last forever, would that be enough to classify works of today as masterpieces?
These days, almost any work is called a masterpiece to give a justification for the exorbitant price and prove the standard of the artwork as one of the best ever to be created. Nonetheless, a work of art should not be dashed the tag masterpiece because an art elite, museum, gallery, media house, or art journalist has praised it to be so and their followers ( artist, media house, art journalists, galleries, etc) flood the internet claiming it is so.
In the history of international and domestic art, works by masters such as Jimoh Akolo, Pablo Picasso, Sussane Wenger, Leonardo da Vinci, Van Gogh, Michelangelo, Bob Ross, Yusuf Grillo, Bruce Onobrakpeya, Chief Nike Okundaye… carry the tag of the noun: MASTERPIECE. Even though not all of the works by these great artists qualify to be called masterpieces. For the ones so-called, have you ever asked yourself why?
Read More “Art will come to you if you’re open and pure in spirit.”-Omogbolahan Adetomiwo Ayoola HRH
Becoming an artist and selling a work of art has been made more simplified and easy with the advent of NFT and the invention of AI with data to create works of art. While the art world is gradually inviting mockery like the “pricelessness” for the word masterpiece is slowly being scraped away as almost everyone calls their artwork one, there is more to a masterpiece than how much, the era, the critic or art organization, or the popularity of the artist.
So, in an age where words are overused and in a way that does not fit what or who the word is meant to describe, what makes a work a MASTERPIECE? What artworks are worthy of being called MASTERPIECES?
Evaluated over a period of time.
It has been argued that an artwork should be valid for over 200 hundred years to be called a masterpiece. Nonetheless, for a masterpiece to be so-called, the artwork must have experienced increasing value and relevance that becomes established from generation to generation.
The duration to which the work lasts can be a measure of what makes it a masterpiece and authoritative in the discourse of pertinent art matters. The period of years the artwork can last also makes it easy to determine the quality of the artwork.
For instance, Leonardo da Vinci’s masterpiece The Last Supper saw was victorious during two wartimes; Napoleon soldiers used the walls of the painting as target practice; during World War II it was exposed to many years of air when the roof of the Dominican convent was destroyed.
Influential
It constantly influences art creation, trends, and movements generations after it was conceived and created. They are not artworks that are no more than the latest fad like most artworks created today that go on to cause a frenzy of celebration on the internet and social media only for them to be forgotten after a period of time.
Yet, for them to be tagged as masterpieces, they should have a long-lasting significance on other artists and eras. They become difficult to ignore and forget in the talk that concerns domestic or international art or both.
Read More These Will Help You Overcome Anxiety
Documentary Evidence.
Describes with great skill and enviable dexterity the human features, emotion, and character during the artist’s times. This is done so cleverly that the piece stands as a source of ascertaining or determining specific information about that period of humanity’s existence.
It becomes a wellspring of knowledge to identify the mood, qualities, and attitudes of humans at a particular point in history. While it would have been probably easier to do this with words, an artist whose work(s) is able to do such without words is worthy of being called a masterpiece.
Expansive
Broaden an individual perception or responsiveness to his/herself and the world around him/her through the presentation of the artist’s strange, odd, or unusual feelings, emotions, memories, thoughts in his own engagement with himself and the environment surrounding him. This factor like the one above makes the piece of art relevant over the ages of human existence.
Sparks Curiosity.
The sight of a masterpiece raises curiosity and your interest to engage with the other artworks of an artist.
They have that compelling power and inexplicable sensation from the depth, mystery, beauty, or artistry encompassing the artwork causing beholders to develop an insatiable appetite for such works or other art pieces from the same artist.
Unforgettable.
You remember what you have seen for life after you have seen it. The contact you have with a masterpiece is not one you would forget.
There is something describable or undescribable, tangible or intangible about the work of art that continues to intrigue you and hold you spellbound afterward like with the works of such artists as Pablo Picasso, Ben Enwonwu….
Create with quality Sinoart Professional Canvas
Extensive Value.
It holds a value that spans beyond the financial gain every art offers to the artist, seller, and eventually the owner. A masterpiece possesses an artistic, conceptual, theoretical, logical, intellectual, and at other times analytical value.
Read More 1,2,3 of ARTEASY Nigeria Points REWARD Program
A masterpiece is used by other artists, new artists, and future artists to figure out and understand the fundamental basics of art, especially one in the medium from which the masterpiece was created.
A Model.
A masterpiece is an artwork that has the capacity to become a model or a perfect sample of a required standard of a medium of art. A masterpiece should form a necessary base or core for artists who come after to accomplish their artistic and creative purpose or goals.
They begin to refer to the artwork for inspiration, motivation, growth, and development. New artists or older artists begin to look up to a masterpiece as possessing the standard they have to surpass. For example, the style of how the artist expresses his thoughts becomes centrally important to the creation of other artists’ work and further influences their style.
Therefore, a masterpiece becomes a constant reference for other artists or a future generation of artists which mostly could be because they established a new style or made popular a style that has been abandoned.
The discussion of what a masterpiece should be or not is an argument that would not stop. Art experts and scholars will continue to debate certain components and qualities, design and technique, form, perspectives, and motives an artwork should have before being called a masterpiece.
Still, the education on what a masterpiece should be remains an ongoing conversation as the definition evolves with time and era. For example, prior to now, a masterpiece used to be the art pieces created by apprentices of prominent artists for examination to determine their qualification to become their own master.
At one point, it also meant artworks submitted for review by artists who desire to be part of an artist society and considered of great skill.
For the fact that art tastes and development are not predictable, neither is it stagnant, the determination of what a masterpiece is will also not be the same. Public opinions; top-tier art critics’ publication in famous art magazines or websites; the influence of social media and technology; democratization of art practice should not be regarded as paramount factors an observer should be rigid to in determining a masterpiece.
Read More Packaging Yourself As An Artist Who Attracts More Visibility and Followership
At different generations of human existence, individuals; art observers, and enthusiasts, will be majorly responsible for growing and maturing in the understanding of art in each period of life to conclude on what a masterpiece should be. Nonetheless, as a guide, enlightenment, and additional intelligence articles like this would also be a masterpiece from generation to generation.