Judging the Arts

If one was to talk about what makes an artist great, the most important factor would probably be the quality of his work: whether it is well-structured, whether it follows the established norms or not, if it employs “local colour”, and also, how prolific the artist's output has been, whether the artist has been a colourful character with an interesting life…



There are, however, some artists who have managed to escape such criteria for some reason or the other. Robert Burns and Jan Vermeer are two whom I find most interesting, and whose work I love most.



Vermeer was a Dutch Baroque artist (1632-75), and the quantity of his artistic output seems to be almost negligible. Only about 35 of his paintings have survived over the years. It appears that he used a camera obscura to help him display light and although some of his paintings have symbolic meanings, most simply show one or two figures engaged in simple domestic chores such as pouring milk. There’s little doubt that he is a genius: he was extraordinarily talented at creating artificial spaces within his canvas and his figures convey a certain gentle firmness and a serene spirit. But even so, the Sphinx of Delft, as he is sometimes referred to, was forgotten soon after his death, and it is only in recent years, that he has begun to be acknowledged as one of the greatest masters of all time, who has probably made up for the low quantity of his work by the high quality of the few paintings that have survived the ravages of time.



Burns, on the other hand, has never been short of popularity. He was a Scottish poet (1759-96) and is widely acclaimed not only as Scotland’s ‘national’ poet but has also been claimed by many others as their own. His work, as far as I can tell, did not have anything that remotely resembled structural rigour and he used contemporary slang widely. His merits, if that’s the word, however, include the fact that he spoke not only about the Scottish and their feelings towards the British but also of everyday life, and of ordinary people: of love and of friendship with as equal ease as he spoke of more serious issues including political ones. His famous “Scots, Wha Hae" telling his fellow countrymen, "Liberty's in every blow! Let us do, or die!," had to be published anonymously. But what is probably most admirable is that he put his heart into whatever he wrote. His writing may have been simple, but his commitment and zeal shone through. In fact, he saved several old Scottish songs from extinction by setting lyrics for them for no money including "Auld Lang Syne" (Should auld acquaintance be forgot…). Burns died before he reached the age of forty due to rheumatic fever but his passion has outlived him, and ensured that over the years, he has developed a wide, almost cult, following.



Perhaps the most important criteria while trying to ascertain the quality of an artist’s work aren’t dependent on whether or not they fit into the standard moulds. The sad thing, though, is that not many artists are lucky to be as celebrated as Burns since in most cases, few people risk making independent judgments based on their own intuition and knowledge.