Behind Every Painted Canvas - Introduction to Artist’s Soul

“The most interesting thing about artists, is how they live”, quoted by a renowned French artist himself, Marcel Duchamp, whom had made works that of the representation of the unusual and in-understandable. You see artists, are somewhat similar to scientists. They are undermined geniuses whom had directed their inner turmoil towards a medium called art in order to quench the insatiable need create and be heard. Here, we could peek inside the curtains on what truly makes an artist as a whole different being.

First let us discuss a brief history of art taken from chapter 4 of the book entitled Homo Aestheticus: Where Art Came From and Why. The word art was coined in the late eighteenth century during the Enlightenment period. This was derived from a subject called aesthetics which addresses the type of display that have originated from ideas, emotions, and one’s own originality. Since art dates back to the Renaissance Period, artist that were famous back then are still being remembered up until now. Why? It is because of the stories behind their paintings. As read from a history article, The Famous Paintings and their Backgrounds by Ananta Sharma, Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa had been originally painted in order to celebrate a birth of a baby boy. Edward Munch’s painting called Scream was created on what he originally saw that one evening while walking down a dirt paved road. One artist that stood out was Vincent van Gogh, where his famous Starry Night was originally painted outside the view of his asylum window. Now Vincent van Gogh had undergone a lot of struggle. Most of his popular artworks described the severe bouts of mental agony he had experienced. He went through numerous mental institutions and psychiatric drugs and yet he still wasn’t declared normal. Among all these, he was still able to produce such admiring pieces that seemed like it was the visual representation of his whole being. The difference between artist from other people is their ability to express their inner emotions, feelings, and ideas, whether destructive or not, and create it into something beautiful. The ability to create, or in fact imitate life itself is what distinguishes an artist from a normal person. The Imitation of life is actually a drive for them to venture further into their own set of skills and imagination and thus resulting into what we would call insanity. Don’t go further down the rabbit hole as they would say. Artists are similar to scientists. Perfectionists as you may call them, and imperfection is a particular thing that will drive them mad.

Their mind comprehends that of the otherworldly entities that cannot be even explained in simple terms. An artist’s imagination would be described as complex. The gears inside their brain would presumably turn without end. It is in a state where it would always be picturing anything out of everything their senses would get a hold of. As a relation to Vincent Van Gogh, whose mind had remembered what had transpired from his confined state and that would include the view outside of his window. This goes to show that, in theory, an artist’s mind is as close as having photographic memory. Thus, imprinting that memory combined with the innermost feelings into a medium would result into a masterpiece. If they somehow failed to replicate that memory, then it would all go down towards frustrations.

Their lives are equivalent to the pictures they would paint. The different hues of color clashing together in outmost harmony symbolize the great tragedies and the moment’s peace that they had experienced throughout their entire lifetime. Their hands would give life to each brushstroke that strikes the blank surface of the canvas. To them, a single speck of paint or even a large blotch of color represents meaning of their lives and towards the unknown tranquility of life itself. It is as if they represent the condensed definition of God as a creator, the aspect of chaos and that of harmony. Yet, their perplexed mind did not come from their own but from the one who created them in the first place. As the saying goes, like Father like son. You see how hard it is for artists to create something that had just come from the depths of their mind. For them, they would have to prepare themselves for the right combination between the inner subconscious as well as their physical state. More like balancing two worlds together. Like athletes, they could burn out and lose interest, most importantly inspiration. And when they lose that inspiration, they could lose the only thing that is keeping their sanity together and that is art.

Art is the only thing a silent mind could ever express for. It is a form of communication. It is subtle, not too violent yet not too peaceful either. Colors represent language, the canvas would represent as the context or the environment of where the communication would take. Finally, their tools served as their replacement mouths and each stroke of a brush replaces what words could not utter. It is the language that they speak.

Behind every painted canvas is a little bit of an artist’s soul that is balanced in every proportion. A story needed to be heard, a feeling wanting to be felt, a certain experiment that was waiting to be recognized. Therefore, an artist’s life is a messy one, ever since way back then. The pieces that they would create tell a tale from their experiences thus making their entire being the most unusual. “Every artist dips her brush into her own soul, and paints her own truth into her pictures” quote – unquote by a social reformer, Henry Ward Beecher.