Article
The Value of Art: A Blank Canvas and a White Painting
As I write this, I have two tabs open in my web browser. One tab is an image of an apparently blank canvas by the American artist Robert Ryman. The other tab is a TikTok video likening the voice of the new Manchester United manager to a character from Despicable Me. To be honest, I think I’m enjoying the TikTok video more than Ryman’s painting.
A Blank Canvas and a White Painting
General 52 x 52, the original just sold at auction for nearly $1.4m. Several news outlets compared it to the recent $6.2m sale of Maurizio Cattelan’s Comedian, a banana, duct taped to a wall, bought and eaten by a Crypto entrepreneur. I’ve seen a lot of social media outrage directed towards Ryman, declaring the art to be a waste of time. And yet, while I might be getting more of an immediate laugh out of that TikTok video, I’d still take a ‘blank’ painting over it.
The Art of Robert Ryman
Ryman wasn’t fussy. He gave his paintings unimaginative titles because he didn’t want the title to influence how you saw the work. He was known to exhibit his pieces in whatever order the shipping company delivered them. He didn’t waffle on unintelligibly about his work, never claimed it contained all sorts of complex meanings and metaphors. He spoke sense about art, in his own lovely, clumsy way. He told one interview: "I wanted to paint the paint." He told another: "A painting has to do with, well, with paint, basically … It’s never so important what you paint, it’s how you do it."
A Painting that Forces You to Participate
He painted on all sorts of surfaces: coffee filters, cold-rolled steel, fibreglass panels, corrugated cardboard … But he stuck almost exclusively to painting in white. Ryman never developed. He deepened. And his motives were as pure as his medium: he wanted his viewers to enjoy "an experience of delight, and well-being, and rightness … like listening to music." But you had to meet him half way.
The Value of Art
What about the sale price of the much smaller General 52 x 52? Can a stretch of canvas and a bit of paint ever really be worth $1,383,800? In one of my favourite Mad Men episodes, Bert Cooper buys a Mark Rothko and hangs it in his office. His employees at the Sterling Cooper advertising agency worry he’ll ask them to interpret its meaning. Cooper hasn’t exactly bought the piece because it moves him. He says: "that thing should double in value by next Christmas." This often goes unsaid when paintings sell for silly money. They’re usually bought less for their artistic merit than their investment value.
Conclusion
Ryman’s art forces you to participate. It’s active, while much of today’s media is passive. That TikTok video likening the voice of Ruben Amorim to the voice of Gru provided me a moment’s diversion. General 52 x 52 forced me to think, respond, participate. It made me write this piece.
FAQs
Q: What is the significance of Robert Ryman’s art?
A: Ryman’s art is significant because it forces the viewer to participate, to think, and to respond. It’s active, not passive.
Q: Why did Ryman paint in white?
A: Ryman painted in white to create a sense of simplicity and purity. He wanted to focus on the process of painting, rather than the subject matter.
Q: Is a blank canvas worth $1.4m?
A: Whether or not a blank canvas is worth $1.4m is a matter of personal opinion. Some people may see it as a waste of money, while others may see it as a valuable piece of art that challenges the viewer to think and respond.
