J. Dunn wrote:
To me, this is a polite way of saying that, if you don't agree that the Mona Lisa is the top of the heap or that a Confente is worth the outlandish prices that they bring, that you are simply ignorant. That you just don't know enough, and should put more time into the study of the fine things, because you obviously don't have enough knowledge and sophistication to appreciate these things. OooKaaay.
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with all due respect, it's this kind of thinking that causes people to pay out the wazoo for sports in public school, while at the same time cutting art and music classes. To be willing to buy bombs, and unwilling to buy public art.
Truth is, the appreciation of finer things *does* take study and reflection and repeated exposure. That's what a fine thing stimulates, by definition...in a way, that's its function, to make us bigger. This is a valuable thing.
I love the Beatles greatest hits, but I'm really glad I've come to appreciate Beethoven's late quartets...if someone appreciated that music at a time when I didn't--that person DID have more sophistication than I did. Is that a bad thing?
I like Mondia Specials...but I'm very glad I can appreciate a Baylis or a Confente, and I'm glad I can recognize the difference between them, and celebrate the fact that a Baylis or a Confente is a much finer thing than a Mondia Special.
Truth is, someone who can't appreciate the unique qualities of a Confente, *doesn't* know enough about them. That's a fact. Period. Dale's right.
Why the instant populist defensiveness John? Have you ever actually examined a Confente up close and at length, repeated times?
Charles "elitism is not necessarily a sin" Andrews SoCal