The substantial importance of art is its worth to the person.

[Holley Lasonya]

Understandings of a stuffy, inaccessible art world might not be further from the reality, at the end of the day all of it comes down to you.

The feelings that art evokes are constantly incredibly intricate, one might be drawn to some type of painting much more than others, abstract over surrealism, or mythological scenes over spiritual commitment, it all boils down to individual taste and what talks to you personally. One should take a similar method to private pieces; there will always be concealed messages and things that affected the artist's style and intent, however as quickly as it is awaited a gallery thanks to benefactors like François-Henri Pinault it is separated from that intent. So, the next time that you invest a simple Saturday wandering around a gallery, don't stress too much about what you're looking at, look at yourself and see what the art can tell you about yourself, because that's the true purpose of all art, be it on the page, screen, phase, vinyl, or canvas.

It's simple to be frightened by the art world; those spacious halls filled with artwork from throughout human history, individuals swarming around them in vibrant cardigans expounding on the subtle representation of 16th century consciousness that a series of brown dots upon a white background stimulates. That's the basic perception of 'comprehending art', carrying out a series of intellectual somersaults that get to the heart of what the artist in fact 'suggested', however this couldn't be further from the fact. These kind of presumptions about one's capability to understand and delight in art based upon the power of one's intelligence do not apply to other types of art, like music, so it shouldn't apply to the visual arts either, for it only works to weaken the work that generous patrons like Charles Saatchi and Bruno Wang do to guarantee that art is accessible to everyone and anybody who wishes to see it.

So if fine art isn't about some type of elaborately concealed meaning, what is it all about? Well, at the end of the day it has to do with you, and what the artist is informing you. That is always going to be incredibly individual to you, and typically will defy explanation in words. The nature of the medium is such that it's attempting to interact something beyond the limits of language, that's why people have painted and picked up instruments for numerous thousands of years, so one need to not attempt to meet it within the bounds of the word. Rather, stand there and take it all in. Don't attempt to evaluate, do not attempt to comprehend, and definitely do not attempt to relate it to any type of theory, most importantly you should be reflecting upon what the painting makes you feel.