King Camp
King Camp
Nov 2 · 2 min read

What constitutes a great artist?

I would say that there are many ways to answer this question, but an answer i would put forward is that a great artist is able to constitute significant change in what we consider art to be. Consider early 20th century masters such as Matisse, Van Gogh, Picasso, and Monet; all these artists were not only masters of their medium but also masters of art itself. In this way I mean that they conveyed something new, they convinced their audiences that their radical ideas were worth listening to.

This idea of the great artist pushes that the “greats” are great not because of their technical skills but because they successfully redefine what art can be in a public imagination. It is probable that some of this has to do with luck but it also would have a great deal to do with the artist themselves.

Take for example two of the most influential artists of the 20th century, Andy Warhol and Jackson Pollock. Both of these artists were closely associated with key artistic movements, Pop Art and Abstract Expressionism respectively, but both artists were key in creating public understanding of their respective movements. The point being that by exploiting their status as celebrities these two artists were able to unify the art world with the real world to create something accepted by the public.

While in these two movements Warhol and Pollock may not have been the most important conceptually or technically, but they were great in being able to redefine what the public definition of art was. Warhol and Pollock were both characters, rich, flawed, and representing the most extreme aspects if their society. Pollock being the subtle hedonism of the 1950's and Warhol being the souless consumerism of the 1970's and 80's. The most important part of their work was their somewhat unique ability to transcend being simply artists and enter the public conciousness as celebrities.

In recent history the artist who has approached this idea of the artist celebrity most is British street artist Banksy, who’s satirical and critical pieces regularly capture not only the art worlds attention but also the attention of the wider news media and public as well. Banksy has become a cultural icon, for the anti-establishment messaging he shares through somewhat gaudy and eye catching displays such as his Dismaland Exhibit, or his Better Out Than In “residency”. Banksy is most definitely a great artist, his works are often protest driven utilising simplistic graffiti inspired graphics to drive home his message. Through his embracing of anonymity Banksy becomes a reflection of current culture, with the depersonalisation of society through social media and the internet. Banksy has escaped the art world to become part of popular culture.

To conclude,

There are many ways to define a great artist, the few mentioned here are great in this one specific way defined in this essay. There are artists who exceed the works of these artists in many ways but are lesser or equivalent in others. However, these artists are great because they transcend simply producing art, they produce culture.