On Beauty: Stephanie Easterly

What is beauty? Is beauty just a simply noun? According to Webster beauty is defined as the quality or aggregate of qualities in a person or thing that gives pleasure to the senses or pleasurably exalts the mind or spirit. What qualities does something or someone have to have to be considered beautiful? What is beautiful to one person might not be considered beautiful to another person, especially in art. 

People look at and interpret pieces of art in different ways.  I found a painting in the September 2011 issue of the magazine Art in America. This painting that instantly caught my eye was a painting done by Sam Francis which was part of his Pasadena Box Series. The painting was simply splatter paint in primary colors. This particular painting made me question beauty and what it personally meant to me.

When I think of beauty, I think of knowledge, wisdom, and a kind heart. Growing up I was taught that beauty was something on the inside of a person rather than their personal appearance. When I saw the painting done by Sam Francis, it reminded me of my kindergarten art teacher. My teacher was nowhere near what most people in our society today would consider beautiful in appearance. My teacher was a short stout female in her late fifties. Most days she wore her hair frizzy and untamed with glasses that had tape holding the left lens into the frame. You could look at her and tell she was an artist struggling from paycheck to paycheck. Although appealing genetics were not in her favor, she was one of the nicest teachers I ever had. She was extremely intelligent and passed her knowledge of art unto myself as well as my fellow classmates. The painting I saw in the magazine reminded me of my kindergarten years: the sloppy, messy paint splatters that my mother would still hang up on the refrigerator to show off. My paintings were usually in the primary colors, just like Sam’s, since those were some of the first building blocks of art that we learned in elementary school. 

The definition of beauty may be different to every person but no matter what, when a person thinks of beauty, whatever they think of makes them happy. Sam’s painting made me happy. It was a time machine that took me to my early childhood years when my teacher would share her art knowledge with me. She bestowed in me her knowledge and the building blocks that helped me grow into the artist I am today.  Even if she is not beautiful in appearance, my teacher had beauty of the heart and for that I will ever be grateful.

Pasadena Box Series by Sam Francis: Art in America September 2011 Issue