BellaOnline Forums Education Art Appreciation What makes a work of art famous in history?

It seems that everyone knows the Mona Lisa. But why? Is it the skill of the artist, a novel approach or good publicity?

What do you think makes a work of art famous in the context of history?

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It is the universal truth expressed by an artist and perceived by an art consumer that matters most. The skill is probably necessary, novel approach can be perhaps sometimes coincidental and good publicity surly helps to popularize it. Art can be recognized as great after time without any fame. Without any publicity can remain unknown.
From the perspective of an artst publicity remains beyond creative proccess, perhaps can have damaging impact on quality of cration. <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />
Some recognision by art consumer (art critic) is essensial, too. Without it art waits for better times to be recognized.
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I agree with your idea about the importance of a "universal truth" -- I like that term. Perhaps this is another way of saying that an observer needs to be able to "identify" with the work of art in some way. I think that this concept is especially important in making a work of art "good."

I think some works of art are famous because they are good but this is not always the reason for their fame.

Does anybody else have a comment?

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I think very often today it is adverse publicity. Damien Hirst became famous because he pickled a sheep. But is this art. Today there are some really good paintings entered for the Tate Prize but this is the first time for a long while that the entries haven't been "gimmics". Daphann

I do not understand why the Mona Lisa eclipses every other work of art, but it does.

Jim -- Are you saying that you like the Mona Lisa? Or just commenting that everyone else seems to?

I think that the Mona Lisa has become an art archetype. (Perhaps the most famous painting in history.)

In alot of arenas, this painting has come to symbolize Art itself....not a small achievement, but then look at the Artist. His work spanned art, the sciences and even mysticism.

His work transcended mere paint on fabric or a wall. It is still the subject of conversation. Look at where we are discussing it! Leonardo would gasp at the marvel of the computer age.

Think this way. If some painting is not only a bunch of color shades, it does have some significant features too. It is those that constitute the importance of Da Vinci's great production.

I was personally shocked at the size of the Mona Lisa.
I'm not arguing that it should not be considered exquisite, but just that I expected it to be far larger than it is. When I saw it, the room was very crowded and, being short, I had a very difficult time even viewing it.

I agree, Tbunny -- the Mona Lisa was much smaller than I had anticipated. That made its fame all the more amazing to me!