Artists' personal lives: Does it play a role in how you view their art?
艺术家的私生活:这对你如何看待他们的作品有影响吗?
I was recently involved in a debate concerning the topic of how many people appear to make value judgments on art based on knowledge of the artist's personality, beliefs, and life choices. It spurs me to ask, does the personal life of an artist play a part in how we view his artwork for better or for worse?
最近,我参与了一场讨论,主题是:有多少人对艺术作品作出的价值判断是建立在对艺术家的性格、信仰和人生选择有所了解的基础之上。它促使我提出疑问:艺术家的私生活是否会影响我们如何看待其作品?
Sometimes it does seem that people critique art solely on what they know about the artist in question instead of focusing on the art itself. For example, many fans of Frida Kahlo note that knowledge of her personal life impacts how they view her art. The same can be said about Pablo Picasso regarding the volatile relationships he had. Likewise, those who enjoy Mark Rothko's paintings often know details of the hardships he endured- would people experience strong emotions when viewing his paintings if they were not aware of his struggles and suicide?
有时候,人们对作品的评论似乎只是基于他们对艺术家的了解,而不是关注作品本身。例如,许多弗里达·卡洛的粉丝注意到,对她的私生活的了解会影响他们对她的作品的看法。基于粉丝们与帕布罗·毕加索之间存在的不稳定的关系,情况也是同样的。同样,那些喜欢马克·罗斯科画作的人往往知道他所经历的苦难的细节-如果人们对于他所经历的挣扎和自杀毫不知情,那么在欣赏罗思科画作时,他们是否还能感受到强烈的情感?
Should art speak for itself, or can the voice of art, so to speak, be strengthened or weakened by the personal life of the artist behind the artwork? This is an issue I feel deserves to be explored by any art admirer.
作品应该为自己发声吗,或者可以说,作品的声音可以被其背后的艺术家的私生活所强化或削弱吗?我觉得这是一个值得所有艺术欣赏者探讨的问题。