Developing a taste for art is like developing a taste for broccoli.  I used to receive weekly emails telling me about my baby’s stages of development.  One of those emails from the “experts” told me it can take babies up to 15 tries of one food before they acquire a taste for it.  Fifteen!  Fortunately, my youngest enjoyed lightly steamed broccoli on the first try.  She now grabs it off her sister’s plate.  In contrast, my taste for art has developed more along the “try it 15 times” method.

At one point I thought “good” art was art that portrayed something as realistically as possible.  I learned in Art 101 courtesy of my liberal arts education that it was not until the Renaissance that artists purposed to create realistic figures.  It was a huge breakthrough when artists moved from painting flat-faced, gold icons to people who actually resembled and had the proportions of real humans.  Ah, the amazing Renaissance.  We had to visit the Art Institute of Chicago for my art class.  I saw some incredible masterpieces, which encouraged me to make art museums and exhibits a priority on my travels.  A visit to the Rijks and Van Gogh museums in Amsterdam followed, as well as a walk through the Louvre and eventually the Belvedere in Vienna.  Exposure to more masterpieces – classic and modern – opened my eyes to the vast, diverse art world.

Last weekend I spent a brief bit of time at the Loveland Sculpture Show in Colorado.  I was quick to notice and appreciate the pieces intended to convey a sense of realism.  Can you look at this clown’s face and not think he’s about to turn his head, lock eyes with you and whimper in feigned clown sorrow?  Maybe his balloon just popped.