[This may not be fair. But just once, humor me. Back to regular stuff tomorrow.]
Here are some photos of art work taken from exhibit catalogues for two recent shows in a city that is a major international center for the arts. Can you guess where these works were exhibited?
(1) London
(2) Paris
(3) New York
(4) Rome
(5) Berlin
And can you also guess the artist(s)?
Answer(s) at the bottom of the post. I wish I knew how to turn the answers upside down to make them harder to read, but I don’t. So no cheating until you’ve at least tried to guess.
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Ah yes, the answers. All these were shown in (3) New York.
And the artists? This you probably guessed. It is art only a mommy (or daddy, or grandma, or grandpa) could love. The first seven were done in kindergarten last year by my grandson, when he was six. The bottom two were done in her third and final year of nursery school by his sister, my granddaughter, when she was five. They were all exhibited, at the children’s respective schools. [Not because they were so unusual but because the schools are so expensive, and the parents who pay must see what they’re getting for their money.] There were also two exhibit catalogues, beautifully bound in robin’s egg blue as hard-cover books — one showing what he had done, the other what she had done. I suspect, however, that these were bought and paid for by the doting parents and were not freebies from the schools.
But why this post? Because the “art” looked so very impressive in these two beautifully bound books — one piece displayed per expensive glossy white page. It made me wonder, “If these were properly framed and presented in an upscale gallery with elegant white walls, would they pass for “real” cutting-edge art?” “Presented” being the key word. These days, I often think presentation is becoming all. Or nearly all.
But I probably missed the mark here. My presentation just wasn’t good enough to fool you. [You may recall that “Insert media” was always my blogger Achilles heel.] I did ask you to humor me. Remember? Up there at the top, where you came in?
Alternatively, I might now be able to salvage this guessing game by entering into a discussion of the spontaneity and consequent aesthetic value of children’s art. (Big words always come in handy when you find yourself in trouble.)
That’s probably a subject for another post, though. I’m sure I’ll be getting a lot more art work from these two “artists” before they grow up.
ON BEING OLD 
Very cute indeed 🙂 I personally feel that “art” (in all its forms) is so subjective. Some of the famous works are…just not quite my taste, or I may find “lesser known” works to be more interesting. As you can imagine, it’s the same with photography, too. Well, we can’t please everyone, I guess 😉 Hope my postcard arrived to you safely?
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Thank you, Takami, for the “cute.” 🙂 And for your comforting comment. 🙂 🙂 [Postcard? No, not yet.]
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I appreciate the look of these more than some of the so called art that is ‘worth’ millions. I still have a very good poem my granddaughter wrote aged 9 yrs ,she is now 25 yrs. I have a painting from my grandson aged 5 yrs ,he is now 18 yrs ,made by him putting his hands in the paint and transferring it onto the paper. He had fun and so did I watching him. Memories worth millions.
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I too love those handprints on paper. It must be a staple of kindergarten teachers everywhere. And thank you so much for your kind grandma eyes.
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I was telling Mr. T that I thought “naïf” art is art in its purest form. This is why Picasso was also highly influenced, not only by H. Rousseau, but by African Art as well, and succumbed to a primitive style as well later on during his life. Although the life and work of H. Rousseau is a phenomena occurring in the middle of post-impressionism and abstractionism, it doesn’t cease to amaze me how influential he was. And yes, I do think these paintings would indeed “pass by’ in an upscale gallery, as you say, properly framed.
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I did read your comment on Mr. T’s blog. Thank you for all this interesting information. Although I don’t believe my grandchildren were influenced by H. Rousseau, I do appreciate your thumbs-up on the suitability of their “work” for an upscale gallery! 🙂
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When I attempted to complete a MFA degree, one of my professors told me that my style was actually too “naïf” for the school’s program. Your post on your grandchildren’s art brought me some memories as to how wonderful it is to have that spontaneity when producing works of art. I deliberately chose to be a “naïf” artist in spite of the school’s curriculum; which of course meant that I didn’t finish that degree.
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