Is that mean that I disregard contemporary artists? Or that I want to say that contemporary artists are none too good?
Do I want to tell you that contemporary artists are annoying, dull, and not creating magnificent art? Of course not. I honestly believe that there are a lot of noteworthy artists nowadays. They will undoubtedly rule the world of art. I have faith that I will be one of them.
Nevertheless, today I do not want to write about myself. I know that there are many marvelous painters, musicians, sculptors, writers, designers, photographers, and others who create art, which will be admired by descendants. For me, appreciation by posterity is the key to recognize who is and will be the master of the art. I have already written about it in one of my previous posts (“How can we measure the value of art?”).
In general, I believe that the best artists are those people whose artworks will stand the test of time.
That is why I am convinced that contemporaries are not able to judge my photographs objectively. Of course, I always feel pleasure when someone is positively commenting on my artwork. If someone criticizes them, I always try to remind myself that those people are not the right, in the long term, objective critics of my artworks. The fair people who will judge my artworks will live one hundred years after my death. I am sure that it will happen in the same way today we admire Leonardo da Vinci’s, Hieronymus Bosch’s, Frederic Chopin’s, or Fyodor Dostoyevski’s artworks. Of course, I am aware that their contemporaries already appreciated mentioned-above artists. But, I am sure that geniuses wanted their works to be also admired by posterity. That is why I do not analyze the artworks of my contemporaries.
Posterity will honestly judge them.
That is why when I hear positive words about my photographs, I politely smile and start to wonder what my interlocutor would say one hundred years after my death.