Timeless = Masterpiece

So what makes a piece of art timeless or a masterpiece? Webster‘s defines a masterpiece as a “supreme intellectual or artistic achievement.” Anne Richter, an artist and educator in New York City, has this to say: “You know when you’ve encountered a masterpiece because it stays with you the rest of your life. It’s like chewing gum on the inside of your brain and it sticks there, becoming part of a private reservoir of things that take you away from yourself and your environment. It’s just you and the masterpiece and the mystery. It grabs you. Often you don’t know why.”

A masterpiece should transcend its subject matter, expanding the viewer’s concept of art. We admire the masterpiece because it pretends to have been effortless, its seams invisible to our adoring, hungry eyes. Take Diego Velazquez’s Las Meninas (Maids of Honor), considered to be one of the greatest paintings in the world. As seen from the perspective of the king and queen being painted, we are given an intimate viewing of everyday royal life. The artist stares at the viewer from the canvas, leaving us to ponder who is watching who? It is painting as photograph, telling a story and inviting us to listen.

Here is a wonderful description of this painting from Michel Foucault, “Las Meninas,” The Order of Things: An Archaeology of the Human Sciences (New York: Vintage Books, 1970), 3-16.  ”Beginning with the painting itself, we can see that Las Meninasdepicts a behind-the-scenes look at Velazquez the royal painter at work. The painter has just stepped out from behind the great canvas to study his model. The dwarf at the right of the painting, her hand on her breast, gazes respectfully at this same model. Likewise, the courtier behind her, hands clasped, with the same look of respect, gazes at the same point. While the two meninasrespectfully look at the Infanta, the center of the gathering, the Infanta looks out of the surface of the painting. The court painter, the dwarf, and the courtiers also seem to be looking out of the painting. Who are they all looking at? Which “model” are they looking upon? The answer slips in on the back wall. Among the paintings in the studio is a mirror. We know it to be a mirror because its bright edges and colors contrast the dark and unlighted works surrounding it. In the mirror are two figures: the father and mother of the Infanta, King Philip IV and Queen Mariana.”

Although the criteria on the exact elements involved in selecting a masterpiece is subjective, there are common qualities that every masterpiece shares. Some sort of feeling must be evoked, whether it’s curiosity, awe, or disgust. There should be style, technique, balance, and harmony. Also don’t forget motive; one cannot deny the impact religion held for Fra Angelico, the insatiable curiosity of Leonardo, the rebelliousness of bad boy Caravaggio, or the insanity and passion of van Gogh.

A masterpiece will instill in us a sense of the infinite or timelessness, the feeling that anything is possible. Sometimes, as in the case of Michelangelo’s statue of the Virgin Mary holding her dying son (Pieta[ag]) a masterpiece is a work that is simply perfect in the same way a rose is perfect. We can add nothing nor do anything to improve it.

Source: Penguin.com

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