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At your service
Geesje du Marchie van Voorthuysen hopes to be at service with her paintings and drawings. On occasion she also works on commission and makes portraits and illustrations on request.
Over time we have said a lot about the difference between art and craft and about the distinction between the artist and the artisan. Some claim that art is original creation whereas craft is carrying out an instruction or employing a special technique. Others claim however that we can understand these distinctions if we look at the use or end purpose of an object.
Illustrations
Nowadays, we consider artists to be a part of the service-industry. In this sector one is helping or doing work for someone. Giving assistance or advise can also be part of the job description. A main mission is entertaining the masses. An other one is singing the praise and glory of the employers. These two tasks are at odds with each other since the populace likes nothing more than to ridicule with humor the establishment and the powerful.
a brave new world
The necessity to hide ones critic, as is the case in a totalitarian regime, has produced some fine art. Restrictions feed resourcefulness which can lead to ingenuity. And where there is ingenuity in creation, we can find originality.
A service to life
After WOII, two power-blocks emerged. The USA with their brand of capitalism and the Sovjet style communism both claimed to be a service to life. This polarity also translated into the fine-arts. The capitalist section actively promoted abstract art. In abstract art one tries to avoid any similarity between the work of art and the visible reality. This sounds easy but it is not. If we stare at a stain, we start to see shapes and forms. And an image without perspective quickly turns into a decoration.
In the system of mass production and consumerism realistic and recognizable creations are only allowed on the marketplace. They have to promote the ideology of buying and selling and also pay tribute to the god Mammon (money). Imagery and the art of depicting have therefore become tools of manipulation.
The regime in the Sovjet-Union on the other hand, did not permit abstract art to be exhibited. Painters and sculptor had to make realistic and recognizable works that showed the virtues and blessings of living in this ideal place. Like the old icons of the orthodox christian church, these works of art are representations of Utopia.
Drawings
Portraits
