Essay Example on Art: Humanity's Visual Expression Through the Ages

For as long as human history has been recorded, art has always been a part of humanity. From the crude carvings of figures made on rocks in the depth of caves, depicting humanity's cognitive development to the buried sculptures made of mined minerals full of intricate patterns and symbols bringing to life objects of imagination. As our civilization became increasingly modern and industrialized, art, especially paintings and sculptures, no longer serve as a vessel for the human's imagination nor are they representative of the human condition. The fine art as we know today is treated as a rare commodity for the wealthy class to preserve and protect the boundaries between the upper class and the other classes. This paper analyzes how fine art is made for the rich while excluding the middle and lower class. This analysis demonstrates the harmful impact of such trends on the wellbeing of culture in society.

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Art is no longer accessible to the working classes due to rising ticket prices of an exhibition in addition to many of them being exclusive and invitation only. The contemporary market for the fine arts has become a reserve only for the upper class in today's society. Furthermore, the success of fine arts for the wealthy is propelled by numerous factors that increased their demand. Changes in preferences, investment purposes, and representation of identity are some factors that progressively make fine arts inaccessible to the working class. Prejudice in the creation and valuation of fine art is a significant harm to society. Historically, great works of art are created for the sake of it being art that fosters creativity and innovation, documenting the human condition. The influence of the upper class has made art in a manner that excludes the middle and lower class from representation in history (Velthuis, 2007). In addition, the high economic class has acquired a particular taste for painting and sculptures. Artists leave out the essential values and unique experiences from other classes. The artists are more focused on making a living even though they map the culture of society. Art is supposed to unite people by expressing the surroundings artistically. The art of today, however, is driving a wedge between social classes making others feel inferior economically. As a result, art has lost meaning to many people as it has been characterized as an interest for the elite, which should not be the case. Art galleries should be left open for all artists and tickets for attendance should be fairly priced and affordable for all people interested to access. By doing this, the middle class and the upper class can all be united during this exhibition defying the capitalist intentions of dividing people based on economic status.

At the beginning of the 21st century, the contemporary art market was significantly inflated globally. Due to the high competition, established artists devised price inflation as a way to rich elite buyers. The high prices on fine art were devised to create a new market base of potential rich buyers and liberation of economies such as India and communism failure in east European countries (Smith, 2009). The new surge of the modern upper class was disposed to flaunt their wealth by purchasing highly priced art as an investment. Demand for paintings and sculptures were exceeded to place in museums that were sponsored by the government. The money-oriented approached saw artists ditched museums by opening private galleries open for the elite class who could afford their mater pieces. The sudden increase in lucrative artworks demands led to the establishment of privately owned auctions and museums that emphasized the status quo of the elite in society (Rengers, 2002. The modern society settings have caused many economic changes when it comes to a fine art. Artists today view Art that was supposed to represent cultural diversity, beauty, and meaning as a source of wealth. Artists are working day and night to make ransoms from their arts and as a result, the purpose of art in any society has been disregarded. As long apiece will bring money artists are willing to use stereotypical meanings and unorthodox ways to lure rich buyers. Art is no longer about the message, but the money a piece of art can command. The art world competition is no longer promoting the industry but killing and potential artists from establishing themselves so that money continues circulating in the hands of few artists who are money-oriented.

Ownership of contemporary art also gives the upper class an atypical means of securing deals and favors from corrupt government officials undetected. The upper class has therefore worked hard to keep the art market exclusive to their exposure that way they keep possession of highly priced art pieces that they lucratively use in return to secure favours from their fellow elite class or from government officials rather than offering money. Art is therefore used to inflict punitive agendas against the working general republic secretly. People are being denied their right, and are oppressed through art. Money is easy to trace and the rich are opting ways to secretly buy themselves positions in the society without being noticed. People who possess highly-priced arts pass it as gifts and donations and in return, they get their demands met.

Fine arts continue to experience a notable shift from the cultural valuable core of impressionists to being synonymous with luxury brands that in turn, changed the roles of auction houses. Private dealers recognized this opportunity, so they began promoting their contemporary art collection of sculptures and painting as luxury items in the market. The promotions include new glorified inventory, VIP art fairs, jet lifestyles, and exclusive dinners at famous galleries (Suleiman, 1994). The elites were eager to flaunt their excess wealth in this fashion, even used the extra services offered by the auction houses. Additional financial services granted the upper class to have access to professional dealers and galleries guarantee, buy, or sell contemporary art using credit. As a result, the prices for contemporary artwork have risen over the past decade.

This shift in contemporary art is detrimental to the cultivation of a culture of our society in many ways. In particular, the commodification of contemporary paintings and sculptures has allowed them to become a vessel for investment. The art industry has increasingly become more financially motivated as shown below, the top reasons art professionals and collectors are buying artworks in 2019. The majority of art buyers, art professionals, and collectors alike are buying artworks for collecting purposes but with future financial investment in mind. Arts are no longer associated with only its cultural value; now it comes with a price tag further pushing the ideology of capitalism. Besides decoration purposes, the wealthy are interested in holding on to art pieces as an investment against the risk of future inflation or economic depression. Respectively, underdeveloped legal surveillance and confidential art businesses led to the facilitation of criminal activities due to a lack of public visibility. According to Rengers (2002), many high-profile fraud cases are linked with stolen art property, money laundering, and shady business deals. Art collectors and dealers to aid members of the wealthy class in evading their contribution to society design numerous tax evasion schemes. Such methods and practices creatively identify loopholes in the regulatory frameworks and avoid paying dues such as VAT and customs duty (Velthuis, 2007). Taxes are lawful obligations that all citizens contribute to for the collective good of the society. Hence, the use of contemporary art as a financial asset has substantially lowered the authenticity and cultural value of the artwork to reflect on society.

In the same manner, the upper class is invested in contemporary art to aid in historical representation. Paintings and sculptures allow the audience to consume the identity of the artist and reflect upon their own (Velthuis, 2007). In a way, wealthy individuals try to reinforce their own identities by owning the work of fine artists. Such displays of fortune move the elite in owning and collecting expensive paintings and sculptures. Since the elite are the core financiers and largest supporters of contemporary art, artists are forced to create arts that are pleasing to the upper class. As a result, upper art is sometimes confused with high art. Upper art cultivates the taste of the elite to verify their superiority in the society while high art is developed by artists who are in harmony with their authentic tastes (Bal, 2001). Originally, many artists are members of the working to the middle class who produce artworks that are representative of their class. Once their skills, expertise, and fame had risen, they find that they must conform and produce art that encompasses the perspective and taste of the upper class to become accomplished. Consequently, the experiences and views of the low and middle class are left underrepresented and soon forgotten in the history of society. When archaeologists investigate the history of a disappeared civilization, many looks to artworks of the civilization to get a glimpse into their everyday life, how they function as a society in the past. However, when these essential representations of the working class are missing, it will forever be lost and gone from existence.

The exclusivity of upper art, which is made for the upper class to remain within the upper class, encourages social solidarity. Upper arts are made for the wealthy and when only the wealthy have access to exclusive museums and gallery, members of these events are united under similar social standing and ideology regarding art. This essentially becomes an echo chamber for the members of the upper class, an environment where business deals, networking, and intermarriage happens to sustain the wealth of all members of this socioeconomic group. The continuous loop of maintaining class solidarity requires the inclusion of those who share an ideology and social status while excluding non-members who have neither education nor assets (Dimaggio, 1978). To maintain their status within their socioeconomic group, wealthy individuals treat going to exclusive art exhibit as an opportunity to express their collective social status. Respectively, members of the working-class regard fancy art museum and galleries as off-limit to prevent experiencing exclusion from those within the upper class.

Furthermore, the exclusive nature of private galleries and expensive dealership of contemporary art is unfavourable to the public interest. High costs to exquisite sculptures and paintings have limited the ability of the middle class to pursue their tastes in contemporary art actively. For instance, costly tickets prevent the middle class from attending art exhibitions, thereby excluding such individuals based on their financial ability (Suleiman, 1994). Due to limited resources and support, middle-class artists are forced to remain conservative and focus on upper art to make a living. Besides, to which, some galleries can charge up to thousands of dollars to accept contemporary art from an emerging artist (Bal, 2001). Primarily, artworks are valued based on the identity of its creator. Established artists' works are regarded as more exquisite and valuable to the elite than emerging artists are. Hence, the fame of the artists plays a significant role in the valuation and class of contemporary art.

Conclusion

In contrast, a different perspective offers the benefits for the society in fine art made specifically for the rich. Upper art is often overpriced products that fet...