I dispute. The memorability of classical art is in its reflection of human emotion in situations that are either intrinsically evocative of emotion or which are meaningful to the viewer in that they evoke via emotionally loaded situations which the viewer themselves has experienced.
One can argue that 'intrinsically evocative' art indeed only gains its evocative nature through reference to aspects of life, culture and experience near-uniformly encountered within the culture to which the art is accessible.
The difference, to me, between modern and classical art is this:
In classical art the gaps are filled in with detail which may be irrelevant but makes the item appreciable in terms of prettiness to those for whom it does not necessarily carry an emotionally evocative weight. Modern art, in being stripped to the bare minimum, is either appreciated or considered garbage, with no middle ground, by a given individual.
Also, it often requires an explanatory paragraph. This function, in classical art, is served by the detail.
Rob |