I have had my Arts History 2 last semester and it wasn’t as bad and as boring as Arts History 1. And it wasn’t as easy either. For starters, we had pop quizzes on the first few days about Renaissance art and architecture. Then, out of nowhere, came out questions about the Romantic and Rococo periods. I remembered having a neck pain for turning my head to face my seatmate’s paper. That’s a quick karma. But then I thought why do we have to study history of art anyway? Why can’t we just let the past be the past? Studying them won’t change history. I kept on complaining in my mind until our teacher gave us a weekend spoiler.
We were assigned to write an essay about art influences. That’s how I found out why we had to study history. Studying the past is studying how and why the present things became what they are. I even found out how colored media were made before and how they have been improved today. Even the smallest and simplest details in the past have become a great part of the present. These influences in the past and their evolutions have been a great factor of shaping modern art. And the great artists in the past, as well as their famous works, have been great inspirations of today’s artists. I remembered a friend of mine who also happens to be an artist mentioning about how he venerates Rembrandt. I could see this through his works.
See, it’s not just about the people in the past or their works that we study about. As we read and know more about them, we know more about ourselves. We begin to learn how and why we think and act the way we do and why we come up with such ideas. Of course, there are still undiscovered ideas and it is up for us to find it out. And maybe, just maybe someday, we could influence the artists of the next generation. Wouldn’t you want young artists studying about you in the future?