But is it Beautiful Art? - Abi Francis

But is it Beautiful Art?

Joan Miro, Man with a Pipe. 1925. Oil on canvas, 57 3/8 x 45". Private Collection, New York.

                To the uneducated eye, Joan Miro’s Man with a Pipe may be less than appealing. The drab coloring with only one streak of red, which doesn’t seem to make sense in the visual organization of the image, may seem to work against the general aesthetic of the piece. This, however, is not the case. Man with a Pipe is truly a remarkable work with many characteristics that work together to create an overall success as a piece of art.

                To begin with, the simplified elements in this composition allow the viewer to appreciate the foundation that they provide to not just this painting, but all art. One can see the value of the basic function of color and shape in particular. The shape of the main figure leads the eye of the viewer through the painting. The subtle difference in shading between the lighter grey of the figure and the darker grey of the background is the perfect amount of variance for the eye to sweep around the composition. The gentle overlapping of neutral colors throughout the composition also offers variety to the painting, which is more noticed due to the limited color palette. The color palette also provides extra emphasis to the single red streak in the corner which effectively competes with the smaller circles in the painting to create interest. The basic shapes of the work imply, as the title suggests, a man with a pipe, but also leave much to the viewer’s imagination. This artistic balance between reality and creativity successfully hook the viewer and maintain interest.

Miro’s work cannot be judged by the traditional standards of beauty. The beauty in this painting lies not in the direct representation of the world, as much of society judges beauty, but in the unique application of paint in a style belonging only to Miro. To be honest, it doesn’t always take a complex thought process to create a Realist work. You simply draw or paint what you see. The kind of beauty found in this work is in the expression behind the brush stroke, the extensive thought process behind every purposefully placed color and shape. The bar must be set to a whole new level in order to encompass the matchless originality of these fundamental elements of art. Man with a Pipe may just be the Mona Lisa of the 20^th Century.