Today’s art market is inundated with a variety of styles, themes and techniques which can make it hard to decide what we like and what we want to hang on the walls.
Variety is good as we have a wide range to choose from, but the downside is that sometimes it can also be overwhelming.
While we appreciate all the new techniques in the arts, from mixed media to digital art, we also feel the need to go back and revisit tradition, to look at a piece of traditional art and appreciate the artist’s mastery of handling a difficult medium such as oil, of colour theory and of composition.
Although every culture interprets tradition differently, the common ground is the set of skills that is passed down from generation to generation, from drawing and painting techniques to themes and the media that are used.
In the European and British art scene, the image has to have a strong resemblance to reality even though we can still see the artist’s input. The favourite themes are landscapes, still life compositions and portraiture. In other cultures however, floral patterns and religious art have a strong presence in some artists’ repertoire that explore tradition.
No matter how much artists experiment and will continue to experiment with new media and techniques, traditional art will always be a strong segment in the arts world that is greatly appreciated by both artists and collectors.
