Art Masterpieces

Pablo Picasso, a Spanish painter from the 19th century once said “Good artists copy, great artists steal.” Some of the paintings produced by him are considered as the magnum opus in the art world. The quote itself has already mentioned he would not attain success without the work done left by the ancients. It is an incontrovertible fact that we cannot achieve triumph without relying on the past contributors. However, that does not make the masterpieces in this generation more or less worse than the masterpieces of previous generations. As a matter of fact, masterpieces from both different generations should be viewed equally but from a different perspective.

The masterpieces from the previous generations are often viewed as the finest because the ancients only preserved their best products, as what Sir Winston Churchill once said “History is written by the victors.” For instance, one of the most favoured painting done by Pablo Picasso is the painting “Les Demoiselles d’Avignon” has a high popularity throughout the world. It is his crème de la crème and has been presented in many art exhibitions around the globe. Nevertheless, a painting also done by Pablo Picasso with the name “Still Life with Pitcher and Apples” did not allure much attention. Ergo, it is not well known often not presented in many of the art exhibitions. As a consequence, people from this generation would only have the mindset that the ancients only produce perfect products.

The perception of beauty is subjective as everyone in this world has a different frame of mind on viewing things. The architectural masterpiece, Plaza de Castilla, was built in 2006. This modern masterpiece has a distinctive structure as it consists of two buildings which lean towards each other. The ancient architectural masterpiece, Torre de Pisa, was built in the 12th century and this building is widely known for its unintended tilt to one side. These two architectural masterpieces were built in a distinct period of time but both have their own specialties. Some might view the present masterpieces as the best, whilst the others might view the other way round, hence, there is no accounting for taste.

Statue of David and the Hagia Sophia are among the most prominent masterpieces mankind has ever produced. The fact that these masterpieces have existed for centuries allows people to conduct more research on them. Hence, the published researches throughout these years make the masterpieces more authentic and genuine compared to the present masterpieces. The information we gained from the researches allow governments to include them into the education syllabus and as a result, students are more exposed to the masterworks created by the ancients. For example, students are exposed to some poems like Sonnet 18 and Jabberwocky in their secondary and also tertiary levels of education.

As one mentions the Mona Lisa, Leonardo Da Vinci’s name will emerge in our minds. Leonardo Da Vinci’s name remains until today, though centuries have passed. This example shows how influential the ancient masterpiece contributors are. People rarely look up to the present masterpieces as an inspiration as they put their trust on the past contributors. Present contributors ought to gain more experiences in order to win people’s heart and will be able to create new and peculiar masterpieces by referring to the old masterpieces. Both ancient and present masterpieces are precious and extraordinary in their own ways. The ancients, evidently have left a huge impact to the present generation by producing many marvelous masterpieces. Hence, today’s generation should be able to come out with their own works which can leave nostalgic feeling to the future generation, like what the ancients had done to us. We should not only look up to the ancients, but also show love and admiration towards the present masterpieces as both have their own strengths that outstand them in the eyes of the world.