Art is a Mask- Ally Efthemis

“To reveal art and conceal the artist is art’s aim.”

I found this aphorism to hold incredibly true as although, in many cases, artists like to accept their fame and recognition for their work, I think that the main purpose of art is to hide the actual creator of the work and display their masterpiece at the forefront. I don’t believe it is necessary to know/have a great understanding of the artist in order to appreciate their work and I feel that this aphorism emphasizes that idea. Vincent Van Gogh, one of the world’s most famous and renowned artists did not become talked about until his life was nearly over. He had been creating beautiful art for all of his existence but he, himself, went unrecognized all of this time. It wasn’t until the final 2 years of his life that he began to get noted for his incredible work. This goes to show that Van Gogh’s aim in making art wasn’t to be worldly recognized; he was simply creating art for art’s sake. This connects back to the aphorism because his artwork became extremely well liked and appreciated after his death, leaving the actual person behind the masterpieces somewhat a mystery and hidden from the general public. I would also argue that the artist being concealed and letting the actual art speak for itself makes the work more special. I feel that too often, society lets the artist control too much of how we see the art that’s being created. In pop culture we continuously let music artist’s personal lives dictate how we feel about the work they put out to the public. The truth of the matter is, you don’t have to be the best person to make good artwork and I believe that art should be appreciated as is and not by the logic of whether or not the person who created the project is worthy of that recognition. Just as the aphorism states, the whole goal of art is to be able to speak for itself and oftentimes have nothing to do with the actual artist. All good art can be put up for interpretation and one of the most beautiful things about it is that people can hold a plethora of different meanings for one singular piece of art. This has nothing to do with the person who created the work, as art is a very personal experience that can be uniquely interpreted by every individual. Overall, the meaning of art is to focus on just that and not the superficiality of who the artist is behind it.