Who are the of today?

I was having a discussion about 'the great masters' recently with some friends, and the question was posed, 'who are the great masters right now, in the 21st century?'

It was a fair enough question that I thought I'd actually throw it out to the group here.

Any thoughts?

First -sorry J. Man for sending a copy of this earlier to you rather than the group. I hit the wrong button.

If you mean masters in the sense that one person or a small handful of people dominate the art world - there aren't any, and we aren't likely to see any soon. That can only really exist in a milieu that fosters elitism through the suppression of knowledge and the artificial restriction of the market; but these days anyone who want to take the time to learn whatever form of expression they want to work in can do it, and with any luck find an audience willing to pay for it.

Certainly institutional (e.g. academic,, government, and some extent big business) markets remain quite narrow, but they really are quite irrelevant when looking at the art that really defines culture, especially in North America. It's no different than literature - or music - what really matters is having creative people who are also willing to learn their skills, and are willing to put the time & sweat necessary into building a base of support.

Cheers;

Chris

Auctions: http://www.tinyurl.com/shat

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Great answer. I think there are some ways to measure 'masters' if you equate it to high-money earners, but otherwise I don't know how you cull the cream nowadays.

I was under the impression that internationally known art and artists who made it into art history books, museum archives, etc. were/are 'masters.'

I suppose that would be equating fame and/or acceptance by the established art world to greatness, which you can certainly do, but i wouldn't.

Frank Frazetta is a Great Master of today. A living legend. Someone once called him the second coming of Michaelangelo. Not fully accepted by the established art world at large because of his comics background, and so not in the big time museums. But, he was featured in American Artist.

Slick

knocked his paintings out in a day. some don't stand the test of time but others rock. boris v. copied his style, technically maybe even a better painter, but his stuff is absolutely uninspiring, IM(less

I agree that Mr. Frazetta is a great master and am confused as well as offended that he is not a prominent figure in art history.

I wonder if he is resentful, or even cares...

I believe he might care a little bit, as he complains about not being taken seriously in the art world because of his comics background. 'Illustrator' versus 'fine artist'.

But on the other hand, he does have his own museum, so i don't think he really cares too much, and fans come from all over the world.

He's not exactly a house-hold name, but his fan base is loyal. Supposedly, he has gotten offers in the range of $200,000 for a single painting, probably one of his more famous works. Not bad for a LIVING artist, eh? I also saw a sketch of a woman on Ebay with a starting bid of $6000.

Dude's made it as an artist, I think.

Slick

slaps his head to make sure he's not having a bad dream.

reads this and knows he's having a nightmare.