Whatever happened to the great artists? What became of the Rembrandts, the Michaelangelos, the da Vincis? Even as recently as the 19th century, we had masterful artists at their canvasses, such as Winslow Homer, who painted some of the most dramatic seascapes and idealized pictures of contemporary life that I've ever seen.
Where are their successors?
Now, we have the privilege of looking upon the mighty works of the modern. . .and despairing. Pictures of Mary the mother of Jesus spattered in dung; crucifixes in jars of urine; framed ink blots the likes of which would make a two-year-old snicker in derision--these are the examples of the bilge passing for the elevated and enlightening, today.
Don't get me wrong. I know artists of great merit exist, painting their masterpieces, composing their concertos and operettas, sculpting their supple statues. But unless the works in discussion are profane, blasphemous, or just downright vomit-inducing, don't expect their accolades on the nightly news or in well-known museums.
It's time to bring back standards. It's time for art to elevate, not denigrate; time for enlightenment, not besmirchment.
It's time to discard the politically correct NEA--the National Endowment for Abomination.
Art once freed the mind and stoked the imagination. It may do so, again, if we glorify that which is beautiful, not that which is ugly.
And the first and best step is ending the government's involvement, period.
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