I finally decided to become a member of the local art museum, so I don’t have to only go on free days. But, I could get a free cupcake on this day, so off I went. They were celebrating having an art school for 100 years, and thus were having a special exhibit of some of the former students of this art academy. And the pictures were of varying interest to me.

This was this large landscape of a local area, it’s a fairly realistic depiction done up in the bright colors of a sunny day. What was most interesting to me was how the artist used large gobs of paint on this canvas. I could never be so bold (or so extravagant, but I might try).

Styles come and go, and if one wishes to sell one’s work, one must follow the fashion. From the 1930’s or 40’s, here are dated views of the local landscape, and it seems a rather bleak place.

A clearly stylised view of a mining town, it’s not really what they look like, and I can’t imagine wanting to hang it in my living room (which is how I determine the worth of art 😉 , rather than the dollar value).

Then I came across this bit of art. A famous (sort of, he at least made a living at it) artist from the village. Why they were only on the 5th annual celebration the year he was born, he could have attended until the 84th, but I don’t know that he did. It’s clearly done in a grim and dated style, and does not fill my soul with envy, but I was amazed to find that the artist was from a familiar place. I suppose that this is one of the pleasures of art, finding a bit that somehow speaks to one, even if it is a limited language.