A real artist who has been specifically fighting the virocaust writes an excellent and comprehensive piece on the problems of art.
One problem is permanent: Aristocrats have all the money, so aristocratic tastes control the art market. Aristocratic tastes have always been “culturally left”.
Another problem is genuinely new:
In a culture that’s hostile to beauty, art doesn’t have to be political to be counter-cultural. Landscapes may not sound “alternative,” but it’s rare for mainstream contemporary art displays to promote landscapes that were created as celebrations of their subject matter.
Many religious painters have seen landscape painting as an act of worship for painter and viewer alike, for they see it as a celebration of God’s creation. Religious or not, many landscape painters and viewers are looking for “something” in the landscape: deeper truths, emotions that are manifested in and through the outside world, the fingerprints of God.
On the dot.
Before 1920, cheap art (calendars, embroidery, magazine covers) was beautiful. Its form may not have been elegant, but it tried to bring beauty and joy into peasant households.
Since 1920, nearly everything celebrates chaos and ugliness, and spits in the face of ordinary people.
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Later correction: Beautiful cheap art is actually more available now. Etsy and DeviantArt offer a channel for low-priced art that simply didn’t exist before. This lower channel doesn’t show up in magazines or movies, but it’s good for both artists and buyers. A low-priced sale is unquestionably better than being frozen out of hoity-toity galleries.
Polistra's Mill 