Rick Janson Art Studio

Arles, France, was the starting point for our trip up the Rhone River. Throughout the town are signs indicating where Vincent Van Gogh painted many of his iconic pictures. That included one where the house he once shared with Paul Gauguin stood. It was the victim of Allied bombing in World War II, and is now just a grassy area not far from the river. It’s true that Arles is also known for its well-preserved Roman past, but what people get excited about is walking the same streets as Vincent. That includes clustering around the night cafe or visiting the grounds of the asylum.

Clearly the town has recognized the importance of Van Gogh as a destination for travellers, which of course contributes significantly to the local economy. There are many Roman ruins throughout the Mediterranean and beyond. Arles is where the stories about Van Gogh live and breathe. You can feel it there.

In June we took a walk along another art destination: Queen Street West in Toronto. Queen Street West used to be an affordable part of town that artists flocked to. As the artists came, the crowds followed, eventually making it too expensive and effectively shifting the arts community further West. I noticed more chain stores there than there used to be. And so it goes — the first step on the ladder to renewing a community is usually the arts. I just don’t understand why politicians don’t get this?

The latest figures I could find on the arts in Canada were from 2023. All the arts combined amounted to a contribution of $63.2 billion to our GDP. The Visual and Applied Arts amounts to a fraction of that — about $700 million. That’s up from a decade ago, but recent data would suggest that it is now in a slight decline. By comparison, the visual arts alone in France contributes more than $4 billion (USD) to their economy. France has a population that is about 50 per cent larger than Canada, but the art market is more than five times as great. Is there a lesson there?

The recent decline in economic activity surrounding the arts wouldn’t be a surprise given recent news about gallery closures internationally. Some have suggested that instead much more art is changing hands virtually than from traditional bricks and mortar commercial galleries, however, I find that hard to believe, nor have I seen any evidence to support that assertion. It could be that galleries are closing simply because the high rollers that make the big purchases have grown nervous amid a volatile US economy.

It’s true that most commercial galleries post work by their artists on-line, but for most of us who don’t employ art consultants to advise us on our art acquisitions (I can hear the guffaws from here), its hard to get excited about work you haven’t seen in person. I’m attending an on-line workshop next week in how to better photograph my artwork, but no matter what I do to improve that representation, seeing a painting in person makes all the difference.

That does make me also wonder about juried shows that do their work on-line. Are you picking the best work, or are you picking work that represents well on-line?

When I first heard of school boards cutting back on art education, I wondered if we were bringing along a generation that would take little to no interest in the visual arts? There is no question that travelling to see many of the great art museums that I didn’t see many young people in these galleries, at least not accompanied by their parents.

Modern art may have pushed the boundaries of art for more than a century (I would assert there are no boundaries now) but it may have also alienated a large segment of the public. We recently re-watched Burr Steers film Igby Goes Down, of which the director presents Jared Harris’ performance artist character as a point of comic relief. Steers real life brother was a figurative painter, so maybe there was something personal in what he was saying.

Given our hyper-visual culture, having artists sharpen our focus on what we are seeing could be seen as important, make us question the environment we live in. I suspect that broader culture is changing how we interact with art too.

Today’s painting is one I have previously posted in the gallery section of this BLOG. It’s of Arles, France, viewed from the steps leading up to the Roman Amphitheatre. I was reminded of this view last year watching a Polaris car commercial between innings of a baseball game. “I know that place!” I said out loud. I searched my photo library and sure enough, there it was. I loved the blue sky and the absolutely clear light that I’m sure Van Gogh was drawn to. And as I have said already on this BLOG, I’m drawn to cafes, even ones that haven’t quite opened for the day. If you look carefully, you can see in the shadows a man setting up.

In my painting, I did choose to edit out the text on the side of the cafe, but otherwise, the scene is presented as I saw it. I didn’t try and emulate Vincent’s style (as some artists have tried), but rather chose to do it in my own style of painting.

I did enter this painting — or at least a representation of it — into a competition. I didn’t make the final cut. But it remains one of my favorites from this year.

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Just a note on yesterday’s post — after thinking about it a bit more, I decided to join the artists’ group I spoke of. Hopefully it will lead to participation in a group show in Toronto in the not too distant future.

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