For many years, I have thought about what makes “Art”, Art. What is Art? There are a few answers I have come across. One is that Art creates an illusion. Let me give you a few examples from other forms of Art.
Take literature: authors create novels, and the novel is based on an illusory world. The settings, the characters, the problems, etc., etc, etc., all contribute to an illusion of an imaginary world. The better the author creates this illusion, the better the work is rated. I know when I finish a novel, I feel as though I knew the characters and knew their world and lived their dreams and challenges.
In music, when we listen to a good piece of music, it takes us into a new world. Think of your favorite music and how it transports you to an illusory world.
The opera, a good movie, or a play all do the same.
Now with visual art, I find myself being transported to a new world. Even abstract art can move one to an illusory world of some sort.
How is this useful?
For an artist who wants to be rich and famous, he must be able to create a believable illusion of some sort. It could be a landscape, or a portrait, or an abstract image.
Here are a few examples. First, the good ones; then, below are examples of where (in my opinion) the artist failed to create a believable illusion.
In my opinion, this happy face image does not create an interesting illusion. It is more of a concept or a symbol. There are many examples of this, but I don’t want to hurt anyone’s feelings by pointing out their art as bad art, so I will let you think about which art creates an illusion and which art does not create an illusion.
All this is my opinion and is not the be-all and end-all of the discussion. Everyone is entitled to their opinion of what ART is and how to define good art or bad art. This is just my opinion. Anyone who claims to have the absolute final answer just has no clue as to the nature of Art.
Sandy Abbott 20 Sept 2026