Warm – up
1) What is Art for you?
2) What famous artists do you know?
3) Who is your favourite artist and why?
Vocabulary
1) Abstract
2) Appreciated
3) Conceptual artists
4) Controversy
Reading
In 2006, a Mexican businessman paid $140 million for No 5 1948, by the American artist Jackson Pollock. It was the most expensive painting ever sold. But is any work of art worth such an incredible price? Pollock created his abstract swirls of colour by dripping paint onto the canvas, often dancing as she did it and for many in the art world, he was a genius. Not everyone agrees through, one critic has compared his paintings to wallpaper!
At least Jackson Pollock was appreciated during his lifetime. Not all great artists have been so lucky. Dutch artist Vincent Van Gogh only sold one painting in his entire career and his brother had to support him financially throughout his life. He died in poverty at the age of 37, unknown to the world. Yet a hundred years later, almost any work by Van Gogh is worth millions. His Portrait of DrGachet sold for $ 82.3m in 1990.
Other artists are more fortunate in their lifetime: Picasso and Dali were multi-millionaires when they died. The controversial British artists Damien Hirst is perhaps the most successful living artists of all: in 2008, a sale of his work raised $198 million. However, he doesn’t usually make the works himself – that is done by assistants. As a conceptual artists, he believes it is the artist’s original idea that makes something into a work of art. Typical Hirst pieces include a dead shark, which sold in 2004 for $12 million. However, Hirst claims that he "always ignores money"
For some people, this is not art at all. There was great controversy when My Bed, a work by conceptual artists Tracey Emin, was displayed in one of London’s top art galleries. Many visitors were dirty sheets and underwear, and one lady even tried to tidy it up! However, the artists had the last laugh – after the exhibition, the bed sold for £200,000.
Even graffiti makes money these days. Take the mysterious graffiti artists, «Banksy», whose «street artists», with its strong political and social messages, appears on walls and buildings all over the world. No one knows who «Banksy» actually is, but his work now sells for hundreds of thousands ofdollars, and celebrity collectors include Angelina Jolie and Christina Aguilera. However, not everyone is impressed. After all, graffiti is against the law!
Discussion
1. How interested are you in art?
2. What was the last art gallery you went to? What did you think of it?
3. What pictures or poster do you have on the wa ll in your bed room or living room?
4. Do you have a favourite painting? What? Can you describe it?
5. Do you have a favourite painter? Who?
6. Do you (or did you) paint or draw? What kind of things?
Valeriia | www.thedapo.com
In 2006, a Mexican businessman paid $140 million for No 5 1948, by the American artist Jackson Pollock. It was the most expensive painting ever sold. But is any work of art worth such an incredible price? Pollock created his abstract swirls of colour by dripping paint onto the canvas, often dancing as she did it and for many in the art world, he was a genius. Not everyone agrees through, one critic has compared his paintings to wallpaper!
At least Jackson Pollock was appreciated during his lifetime. Not all great artists have been so lucky. Dutch artist Vincent Van Gogh only sold one painting in his entire career and his brother had to support him financially throughout his life. He died in poverty at the age of 37, unknown to the world. Yet a hundred years later, almost any work by Van Gogh is worth millions. His Portrait of DrGachet sold for $ 82.3m in 1990.
Other artists are more fortunate in their lifetime: Picasso and Dali were multi-millionaires when they died. The controversial British artists Damien Hirst is perhaps the most successful living artists of all: in 2008, a sale of his work raised $198 million. However, he doesn’t usually make the works himself – that is done by assistants. As a conceptual artists, he believes it is the artist’s original idea that makes something into a work of art. Typical Hirst pieces include a dead shark, which sold in 2004 for $12 million. However, Hirst claims that he "always ignores money"
For some people, this is not art at all. There was great controversy when My Bed, a work by conceptual artists Tracey Emin, was displayed in one of London’s top art galleries. Many visitors were dirty sheets and underwear, and one lady even tried to tidy it up! However, the artists had the last laugh – after the exhibition, the bed sold for £200,000.
Even graffiti makes money these days. Take the mysterious graffiti artists, «Banksy», whose «street artists», with its strong political and social messages, appears on walls and buildings all over the world. No one knows who «Banksy» actually is, but his work now sells for hundreds of thousands ofdollars, and celebrity collectors include Angelina Jolie and Christina Aguilera. However, not everyone is impressed. After all, graffiti is against the law!
Discussion
1. How interested are you in art?
2. What was the last art gallery you went to? What did you think of it?
3. What pictures or poster do you have on the wa ll in your bed room or living room?
4. Do you have a favourite painting? What? Can you describe it?
5. Do you have a favourite painter? Who?
6. Do you (or did you) paint or draw? What kind of things?
Valeriia | www.thedapo.com
Post a Comment