Mr. Januszczak is a treasure. His videos are the best thing on You Tube. Informative, very engaging, and inspiring.

@phillipstroll7385

8 ай бұрын

Except on this one. In this one he's full of shit

@andybaldman

6 ай бұрын

They really are. And he is.

Spot on with Koons "Deep appetite for shallow things" he's a salesman, businessman, not an artist. like Hearst. Anish Kapoor discovered a new blue and copyrighted it so no one else could use it. Complete GREED. Shortly after someone else formulated the same colour with a different formula. It is available to all artists except Anish Kapoor. Edit: reading the comments, apparently he did the same with a black.

@kokolanza7543

2 жыл бұрын

Yeh, that statement, Koons' "Deep appetite for shallow things" struck me as well as particularly insightful. A good, accurate sound bite.

@frechjo

2 жыл бұрын

I don't agree that it's "us" who have that "appetite for shallow things". It's a market built around speculation and fetishism. The further something sits from any rule mimicking objectivity, the better for inventing its value. I think people get overly angry at people like Koons. Art has enough space for everyone, even the most dull, unimaginative, or unmerited. They're only gaming a system that was already there. Because, let's be honest, who could get offended at someone taking a picture of a bunny-shaped balloon, and commissioning someone to make a huge replica of it? That so innocuous, so insignificant on itself. What people take issue with, is that somehow, we are expected to believe that doing so is worth millions of dollars.

@AneesMahdi

2 жыл бұрын

Isn't that just black? He bought the rights. Yves Klein who patent blue in 1959 "Klein blue"

To me there's a vast uncross-able difference between Art & Exhibitionism. What so many modern exhibitionists seek feels like acceptance into or validation by the greats. I'm sympathetic to their need but not swayed enough to embrace performance anywhere near the emotions classical evokes. Usually my first reaction is "That's clever" or "Your joking, right?" Which pales a lot with the deep fascination & awe of human accomplishment I get from classical masterworks. I can't help myself but to categorize the majority of modern "art" in with advertising media & go from there. Simply put, like pop music it's fun to tap your foot for five minutes but ultimately forgettable. I am entertained by their egos though

@njmccormackgmail

2 жыл бұрын

Well expressed!

@kokolanza7543

2 жыл бұрын

Agreed. I keep looking for some substance. I'm still struggling with Kandinsky, which should tell you how far my search has gotten. Best regards.

@noemicostache8152

Жыл бұрын

Exactly! Well said!

@joseffinat966

Жыл бұрын

@@kokolanza7543 ha ha zoekt naar wat stof,man je bent gemaakt van stof ,dus klop jezelf eens uit 😂😅

Thank you so much Waldemar! No one brings art to life like you. 💚💛💙

Mr. Januszczak is one of a kind. Spell check can't grasp his name but I grabbed hold of his passion for art and ability to inspire art enthusiasts. I got through pandemic and grew as a direct result, enjoying being guided by the Hitchcock of the art doc. In my home we call him Waldy! Thanks so much for all your hard work. I wish I'd had these docs as a middle school kid bored to tears watching a television rolled in on a metal cart showing art I had zero interest in. Been to the National Gallery and Tate my interest peeked. Hip Hip Hooray.

I don't know anything about art. I only know what I like. Art is what I can't do. I thought so for a long time - then came Waldemar. He can explain art that doesn't appeal to me at first glance like no other. Thanks sir.

@sylvia106

Жыл бұрын

Shame on you for saying “you can’t “. You just have to find the right medium and let all judgement go, you have art inside you.

“It’s a beauty that’s been earned”. That struck me deep. Old cars, old houses, old cities. Etc. well said.

@MichaelFlynn0

2 жыл бұрын

metoo

@helabela1

2 жыл бұрын

exactly!

Old art has been filtered by time. I am very happy to be 50 years behind. Great video, once more.

In 1919, a Romanian poet and philosopher wrote this : I do not crash the crown of world's marvels / and do not kill with my mind the secrets I meet on my way in flowers, eyes, lips, or graves... Some other's light strangle the mystery of the impenetrable unseen... His name is Lucian Blaga, and I got a very high grade at the final exam ( baccalaureate) for having read his poetry.

Part of what people find objectional about this sort of modern work is not the stuff itself, but its dominance in art galleries, and the price its sold for. How is that worth X million dollars!!? What many are unaware of is that there's a whole field of decorator abstractionists. Many moderately moneyed like the spareness or texture of much contemporary modern art, but don't want to pay those prices or even have the responsibility to care that much for them. In comes the decorator artist. Decorator first, artist second. "Here's a portfolio to look at. What sort of things do you like? We spoke about this space here needing something warm, perhaps red? And something hanging here 4 metres wide and a drop of six." A commission is made, a work constructed, and sold for say six to ten times the cost of materials, plus consultation and wages. If someone falls into it at a party, the kids ruin it, or you get sick of it three years later, just throw it out. "We only paid a few thousand for it after all."

@jenna2431

2 жыл бұрын

The technical art term is money laundering.

@TomTom-rh5gk

2 жыл бұрын

The Painted Word by Tom Wolf explains why modern art don't hold its value.

@artriot4758

2 жыл бұрын

How is affordable decorator art objectionable? Better to support the art you enjoy rather that dwell on grievances about the the art you don't.

@TomTom-rh5gk

2 жыл бұрын

@@artriot4758 Waldemar Januszczak does not understand art is although he knows far more about it than I will ever know . Most people have no idea what art is. I often dislike real art at first because it is telling me something that I do not understand. Art essay about perception in the language of the right brain. I don't think that the kitsch is art because it doesn't have anything to say. Kirsch is pleasing to the eye and that is all anything has to be. It doesn't have to be beautiful and doesn't have to be art, just nice to look at.

@Divertedflight

2 жыл бұрын

@@artriot4758 I didn't say it was objectionable. Just that many do because it controls the art world stage. I then pointed out that however others do like it, but really mostly only at the level of decoration and sensation. As such, decorator art, striped of conceptual attachment (Which the gallery pieces usually fail to illustrate.) is more honest in purpose.

I deeply love films/videos presented/produced by Waldemar Januszczak - I wish I’d encountered him long before now and am grateful that it did finally happen. Just wonderful!

I was going to walk over to the National Gallery of Art this afternoon, but instead this video came out so I stayed in to watch this. I've been on a WJ kick the last week or two. I'm guessing he'd be annoyed at me staying in to watch a video rather than going to an actual museum, but I wonder if he'd cut me a break since it was HIS video?

@sftaste

2 жыл бұрын

WJ would totally give you a pass

@sealisa1398

2 жыл бұрын

WJ doesn’t care about you on a personal level.

@notsecure6855

2 жыл бұрын

@@sealisa1398 Tell him I said "Hi!"

What is incredible…exceptional… about this film is the artists interviews. When I binge watch Waldemar’s videos and then come across one where I can witness him interview the artist, it makes my brain pause. It is a treasure.

Everyone has access to a pencil and paper, but only an artist can do magic with it. That is what Art is all about to me. All these expensive and luxurious projects don't promote art but make it inaccessible.

That thumbnail is absolute perfection

There is something disturbingly trivial about a lot if modern art.

@kokolanza7543

2 жыл бұрын

For sure. It seems to me that modern art has been an ongoing effort to come to terms with the Modern world (scientific-technological-metaphysical materialism). And it is still struggling to find an adequate response. Much of modern art is a simple capitulation to capitalist standards. imo.

@b.kenealy

2 жыл бұрын

Precisely

@joseffinat966

2 жыл бұрын

@@kokolanza7543 wat zijn wij weer lollig vandaag Imo ,zeker één lachspiegel in huis

@PRH123

2 жыл бұрын

Unskilled people with little or nothing to say. Who attempt to replace creating art by talking about it.

@douglasthompson8927

2 жыл бұрын

it`s mostly irrelevant..most of it will eventually end up in landfills

The video is a piece of art in itself. Playful, humorous, informative, above all thought provoking. I didn't have time to see it through in one go...but I did so anyway.

@marissashantez6051

Жыл бұрын

HAHAHA! Go look at the MLK statue in Boston. Modern art is nonsense.

@markbrown2749

Жыл бұрын

@@marissashantez6051 Yeah, the MLK statue from what I've seen in videos looks like a mistake. But that's quite a leap you make to saying all modern art is nonsense. Is all Renaissance art nonsense by having one bad piece? Is all literature nonsense by one bad book? Is an art form nonsense if it contains one bad work of art?

fkng yoko ono made me CRY I cried at "heal the planet" you'd have to know how bad it gets to appreciate how beautiful that would be

@LolaLaRue-sq6jm

4 ай бұрын

Yoko is a very maligned person. Sure, she's silly sometimes but her entire life has been about peace & love. I can't say that about a snide mercenary like Damien Hirst.

I just love how Waldemar explains every art movement. He helps me to understand so much. It is like studying art history on youtube und much better than in the 80s in real university 🙏🏻🤗

I love how Waldemar engages us as viewers and challenges the status quo notions of art and its history. His perspective truly brings out the raw emotion behind the arts and their many variations. Would love to take an Art History course with this chap.

I love how Waldemar connects past artists with modern ones.

What a marvellous moment - Van Gogh's Hat of Many Candles! Priceless.

Meaning, yes. Expression, yes. Beauty, mostly not. I think there is actually more consensus about what is beautiful than contemporary artists would acknowledge. It's just not so easy to put into words.

Waldemar, your insights and creative interpretations are wonderfully idiosyncratic, often profound, and provocative in a personal way. But in this show your comparison of these current artists to past painters [dead animal paintings/Hirst, Tiepolo/Yoko Ono, Canaletto/creator of wall art, etc.], you side-step a huge difference: the artist's touch. In the older work, the connection of eye-hand brush translated onto the canvas with a sticky substance we call paint is an alchemical transformation. So the connections you're making regarding the similarity of subject matter or generalizations about delicacy or texture don't hold water. They sound good, but they don't work. You think we won't know that the important elements of a work of art are not subject matter alone but HOW the work is created along with that subject matter. While I love your personal insights (such as the one about your mother's picture), the show as a whole fails because your premise has serious faults. Better that you choose artists such as Kentridge, Dumas, or Doig to compare with past art. And what is "ugly" about Yoko Ono or Carl Andre or Anish Kapoor's work? Maybe elusive or ambiguous or conceptual . . . but ugly? No. They're even rather elegant. Still, I applaud you for your you-ness and humor, and often depth.

Okay, thank you yet again. "Permanent change is what life is about." I shall be more open-minded--or honestly aware--when approaching current art of all types. "The struggle is important." Wow.

I've been watching ur videos nightly for the past week. Wow

It is such a great pleasure to see him making the combination between the old and new art, to connect them in such in inspiring way. Thanks, Hélène

Another terrific video from Mr. Waldemar Januszczak. I can't get enough! Thank you so much, Waldemar. ...and thank you so much for spending time on Yoko Ono. I loved her installation, and even more I loved your interview with her. She's still going strong at 91.

I think this is my favorite of your presentations so far, Mr. Januszczak. You've made older art and contemporary art cohere in ways that cheapen neither. In fact you've elevated all. Thank you for this.

“Your money or your life!” “I’m thinking!” - Jack Benny Great lesson, W.J.! Lots of emptiness out there!

I saw a Turrell exhibit at the Whitney in the 90's and it freaked me out.

Art is creativity, beauty is balance. Light and darkness, inside and out.

I think the biggest issue with modern art is how one seems to need a long paragraph explaining the context of the art. All I need to appreciate the classical works in the Lourve are my own eyes, with the modern pieces presented in this documentary, I only gain an appreciation for them after listening to an interview of the artist. Modern art seems unable to stand on its inherent qualities.

@noemicostache8152

Жыл бұрын

Perfectly said! 👏👏👏👏

@douglasthompson8927

Жыл бұрын

100 % agree

@patriciaatkinson2435

Жыл бұрын

Oh, well said.

@schluehk6892

Жыл бұрын

Fair enough, have you seen Waldemars fabulous documentary about Jan van Eycks "Arnolfini marriage"? We are fascinated about all the puzzles both in the picture as well as the technical mastery of the painting , but it ain't speak to us immediately. I would call the disappointment of modern art the "I could have done it myself" effect. As if it was some clever scam, impossible to predict and not necessarily evil , but trivial in hindsight. Like the invention of a cheap trick. It is also somehow democratic, not devoid of "inherent quality" but it lacks a quality which sets it apart.

@memoi6308

Жыл бұрын

Totally!!!!

The hazy cosmic haziness has a special vibrational feel of becoming the light. Its truly beautifull 🧡

Did not want it to end! Is so refreshing to watch a Waldemar. Thank you!

I love much of modern art. In some places it feels as though the artist is trying to turn US into the artist with our eyes. We turn it into art in our own perspective.

I love the video, the script and the narration. Absolutely an work of art in itself.

Excellent! I wish my National Gallery could have it's own Waldemar to breath this kind of life into it's presentations. I'll suggest they pay him to do it. So good.

My current favourite of your series. These interviews are astonishing

Thanks, Waldemar. Beautifully done. When I was young I didn’t see much of the art in the modern. Now it makes me smile and think about what I’ve lived for or thought of while doing the living. Perspective maybe.

Always the Best 💐 Thank you 🌷

OMG Waldemar! BRILLIANT IDEA to make a film on Soutine! Oh, PLEASE do it. I'm sure you can do it. Crowdsource it. We will love you even more!

When you use the word "Modern", when you mean "Contemporary", it confuses folks, and they say things like "I can't remember the last piece of modern art I liked!"; then when you say "What don't you like about Monet?", it confuses them further. Their derision is usually reserved for Picasso, those awful! distorted! portraits! because he's when your random worker bee stopped paying attention to "Modern" Art. 'Tis sad, but true. Damien Hirst should have been featured in the kitsch section, as in "The Kitsch of Death"; I unfortunately own one of his murderous pieces; it was a gift, I hate it, I won't sell it because I don't wish to pass along the bad, bad karma. I suppose I should bury it or throw it out, but I don't wish to hurt the feelings of my friend who gave it to me. Dilemma. And face it, Jeff Koons makes high-end home furnishings. Or rather, his "assistants" do. But of course Waldemar REIGNS in art docs; I just wish he'd make some new ones!

@christopherharmon2433

2 жыл бұрын

Preach it Luis!

@grainofsand4176

2 жыл бұрын

You could donate it to a museum? If you sell it you can use the money for something good ...?

@luiscuixara4622

2 жыл бұрын

@@grainofsand4176 Thank you for your thoughtful and kind suggestions, but were I to give it to a museum, that would put it before the eyes of patrons in perpetuity, an exposure I would be uncomfortable with having caused and therefore being responsible for; were I to sell it, I could not control its path once it left my possession; it could very well wind up in a museum anyway. Robert Rauschenberg famously bought a Willem de Kooning drawing and erased it, thereby creating a new work. I'm certainly no Rauschenberg (and DH ain't no de Kooning), but this concept, though not my own, is starting to feel comfortable . . .

@grainofsand4176

2 жыл бұрын

@@luiscuixara4622 I'm sorry you are suffering from this burden. I admire your conviction. I hope a solution find it's way to you soon- I believe you will just Know when it does

@pipcorteen874

Жыл бұрын

@@luiscuixara4622 a bonfire in a public place might do the trick!

Once again you have given us a brilliant view into the art world. Thank you.

Glad to finally have you back on screen, Waldemar! You tell epic art stories like nobody else can!

dzieki Waldemar for your devotion also to bring knowlegde ansd to share the passion of art

Thank you Waldermar each of these videos are a Gem I Love them Thank You for making them. ❤️🙏

Definitely I needed your heads up, overview and rationales. Great stuff.

That has to be one of the best documentation I have ever seen. Great job, Perspective!

This is probably one of my fave documentaries you've written and performed so far. I absolutely adored what Mr. Koons said. (how much does it take to produce one of these things anyway? I'd love to see you do the one that you've always wanted to do...)

This video is the best thing I could have seen this morning. Thanks to everyone involved in its production.

hadn't read about the candles on van gogh's hat. some lovely surprises. thank-you.

Brilliant, thank you for this it was most informative and spot on

This is a wonderful video. Thanks so much for featuring Yoko.

Awesome take on today's art.

Beautiful documentary. Thank you sir.

such art i find it to be weak, it has no spirit , no soul. I dare anyone to experience an epiphany while listening/looking at Yoko's art .

@gabrielecolella4117

2 жыл бұрын

Yoko Ono's "My mom is beautiful" was quite a deep experience though. Giving you a time and space to write a message to your mother, the most dear figure to many people, it's something that many people don't appreciate. The frenziness of life impedes us from stopping and thinking, especially about people who are gone, people who we held (or hold) dear, and sending them a message, even if they won't be able to read it, even of they are only a part of our memory. While watching him write a message to his mother I saw my mother.

Thank you Waldemar, your work here is a treasure!

Brilliantly thoughtful. My god, this was well done.

So why not feature some "blank canvas" artworks, if emptiness is good?

Absolutely fascinating!

Your exploration of the often muddled world of modern art is appreciated. In the end, art moves when it communicates and provokes thought. In doing so, it acquires power and lasts. Otherwise, it fades away.

What a beautifull interpretation “ the all embracing nothingness”

This film is itself a brilliant work of art. Bravo. And thank you 🙏.

facinating observations Mr. J !

loved the exploration!!

I’ve always looked as art in everything I see that interested me . When I look at other peoples art it tells me how they see the world and gives me a good idea on who they are . Creativity in people are different but we all want to get the same thing across the thinking part of what someone gets out of it is better than the visual responses. Art has been a love every since I picked up my first pencil and that library book I checked out in 2nd grade using shapes

Cudowne odcinek, naprawde! Thank you so much! You make the best Art History teacher ever. So fun. So sumptuous! And so for free. One ought admire that these days. And as for me this episode rules so far. Although the Dark Ages of Light... I die to know though what that last etheric projection in the back is.. hologram rafters? How? Also: Who? Cheers from Mokropsy

Wonderful! Yet again!

You, my dear man, are the masterpiece. Thank you.

I just love this video - you are always good and often amzing but this is just a wonderfull video of modern art - you touch on a lot of important qualities of art and the whole looking on art - 🎶💗🎵🙏

Wow!

Waldemar! excellent show! again!

once again...perfection.

Oh my ! That was perfect.

I am so down for this!

@constancemiller3753

2 жыл бұрын

Hot coffee. Cheers🇨🇦

He is pretty much the best presenter of art I've had the pleasure of watching. I'll sing at his funeral and my voice isn't very good. Thanks for another great documentary.

The NFL draft and a new Waldemar art doc. Been a good weekend

Some work went there as in a book! Thankful

Another top drawer vid! Yesssir!

I mean, ideally you’d presume your wife can walk on her own. She wouldn’t need saving. But if she was any kind of mate she’s helping you carry out the art. 😂

@joseffinat966

2 жыл бұрын

Eerlijk ik wist niet dat Waldemar getrouwd was , het spijt mij echt als hij door mij in de problemen is gekomen

@jazw4649

2 жыл бұрын

HA! Although it might be just a wee bit satsfying watching a Damian Hurst painting burn. 😘

@helenfisher3285

2 жыл бұрын

Lol! Exactly ! Great answer

@kokolanza7543

2 жыл бұрын

@@jazw4649 Just the thought is satisfying. 🙂

@joseffinat966

2 жыл бұрын

@@kokolanza7543 nee dat is het niet , meer van wat ik eens gelezen heb in de bijbel wat mij een houvast gaf als anker ondanks met gebutst heen en weer geslingerd ,ergens tegenaan gevallen ,moet men toch weer opstaan en de zware koffer dragen, want dat houd in dat hij je sterk vind en je mag best eens uitrusten en genieten want hij draagt dan even voor jouw de zware koffer, want je geeft niet de zwakkere een koffer die men niet kan dragen ,daaruit mocht ik opmaken dat hij mij als sterk zag om een zwaar koffer te kunnen dragen ,zeker valt het niet altijd mee zuchten en klagen zit ook in die koffer ,ik denk ook vaak daar komt hij weer met een zware koffer aanzetten ,waarom altijd ik ? Maar dan realiseer ik het weer dat ik niet de enigste ben die het zwaar heeft maar met elkaar zijn wij sterk dat is wat ook als inhoud zit in die koffer LIEFDE , vraag wat zal dat juffertje vandaag uit die koffer halen ,mijn broer is jarig vandaag hij was een Moederdag kindje ik geef hem een dikke knuffel want hij draagt wel een hele zware last al jaren in een GGZ ( zalig zijn de armen van geest ) hoe blij het mij maakt dat hij een vrijkaartje heeft voor de hemel daar zit een kracht die zo troostend is maar bovenal blijdschap ,ja die emoties die je voelt hoe groot God is maar je moet het willen zien ook de zwakkeren laten ons een gezicht zien van lelijk of mooi het is aan ons hoe willen wij geslepen worden tot een schitterend diamant van het leven oh wat is de kunst van het leven ,om op een perfecte wijze geslepen te worden en goed gekeurd te worden door de diamanten slijper onder de loepzuivere 💎🔍

مجهود كبير و يحترم من قبل المتلقين و ثني عليه و نثمنه عاليا ... شكرا لهذه الوجبة الدسمة الجميلة

Thank you sincerely, Waldemar. I continue to struggle with much of 20th c art, but with guidance such as yours at least I can view it more in the right spirit. To me, the time with Tiepolo's “The Virgin Appearing to Dominican Saints” (22:59-25:40) is the best part and the best art of the program. As you said, it so nobly, ideally, presents the reality these women lived. It portrays a model one can engraft into hir heart, and join in a spiritual union.

Beauty lies in the eye of the beholder. (whoever said that?) Why has art to be beautiful? Though I admit, I expect of artists, that they are capable of making art that one can recognise. If they can (Joseph Beuys, Picasso and many more) then they can do what they like. Great when Waldemar explains art!

incredible!

At 14:47. Ahhhhh...one of my most favorite paintings of all time, Rembrandt's "Dead Cow" painting (don't know the official name). I've never had the pleasure of seeing it in person. I bet it's in some Russian gallery, inaccessible to me. Just like my other favorite Rembrandt paintings. Sigh. Anyway, this is extremely modern, though it was painted about 400 years ago. Unlike all the other "dead animal" paintings of the Renaissance, Baroque and Rococo, this Rembrandt painting shows one single carcass, completely devoid of skin and any other markings of "animalness." It's so visceral, so raw. I love it! Rembrandt truly was a painting genius, for having conceived of this.

lov it, all of it!!!!

''One of the things I've always returned to is colour', says Anish Kapoor, artist.

Waldemar, you give me hope!

God, we love your videos!

I really enjoyed this as I do al your programs. I hope Yoko is right. In the future we'll all make art and music and peace will transform the planet. I also carry a similar photo of my own mother who came from a area nearby to your parents in the former Poland in the modest clear change purse she carried it in. Hugs.

Thank you Waldemar…..I was actuallly surprised at how Jeff Koons triggered my imagination after years of thinking I hated his art.

Thank you for sharing with us your mother - I’m sure she was a beautiful person in the ways that matter.

What a great documentary. I'm thrilled to discover Mr. Januszczak today - though I could not pronounce his name without coaching from him...:-). May I call you by your first name, Sir? And then say: Waldemar, thank you so much for helping me become even more inspired by my self-education in ART program.

incredible

Thank you,🎨✨💕

Very inspiring Wal

So Spot On. Cleaning- erasing layers of art history on buildings.. Such loss!

Most enjoyable.

Mr. Januszczak - please make a documentary on Chaïm Soutine. His work is amazing especially his landscapes...