The Art Exhibit

The Art Exhibit
Word Count 1708

Margot Culhane had a degree in Art and was a professor at the prestigious,  Institute of Fine Arts, in Metropolis.  She taught classes on Art Appreciation and this semester was doing one on the Impressionists.  She was delighted to hear that a local bank was sponsoring a lobby exhibit to recognize contemporary American artists of the Impressionist School.  To attract a high quality exhibit, the bank had done it’s homework and selected works from the top ten genre painters in the country.  It paid them one thousand dollars to submit a work and offered a prize of ten thousand dollars for the painting selected, Best in Exhibit.

Mr. Jones, the banker, knew he would have to make the final call but had no idea how to go about judging art.  So he asked Professor Culhane to give him a crash course on the side and suggest a methodology he could use.  Margot told him she had an idea that he might want to consider. 

As the semester neared it’s end Margot planned two days to take her class to the exhibit.  These would consist of two separate trips.  The first would be a brief walk thru and cursory examination of the art and its setting.  The second would be a more detailed evaluation.  Before going on the first trip she told her students that the initial step was to get a feel for how the works were displayed in the exhibit.  On the second, they would spend more time and she wanted each to rank order the works of art.

John: Ms. Culhane, what criteria would you like us to use?

Margot: Well the most important factor for evaluating any work of art is what I call the Wow! Factor  Whenever you look at an artwork,  I want you to stand well back from each painting and note its overall impression.  If it inspires in you a sense of awe, that’s a good thing.  Naturally the most awesome, goes first on your Order of Merit List (OML) and so on down the line.

Lucy: There are other criteria that could assess artistic merit and I agree that the Wow! Factor should be important, but how much weight should we give it?

Margot: The ultimate test of the quality of art is the effect it has on the beholder.  Other criteria might help explain why a given painting, expresses an ambiance of idenity, but it’s that impression itself, standing back and looking overall, that transcends all other considerations.

Lucy: Again, how much weight do we apply?

Margot: I hate to set a number.  Art, after all, isn't science and using scientific methods to define art, is to denigrate its spirit and beauty.  However, as a rule of thumb, I think ninety-five percent gives you some idea of the importance of the Wow! Factor.

Gilroy: What would constitute the other five percent?

Margot: For that we need to step up close and take a look at technique, detail and the artist's diligence and continuity of form; ie. his or her trueness to the genre of expression.  However, keep in mind, that all the minute rendering is caught up in the synergism of the details acting on the art work as a  whole.  The Wow! Factor is the culmination of everything in the painting reaching out to make its impression on the beholder.  If the effect of an impressionist work comes across as awesome, then we don’t want to detract from that by looking closer and saying that this or that specific aspect or detail, under the lens of close scrutiny, subtracts from the awe it inspires in the overall.

Susan: But what if the Wow! we feel is not so awesome, and as we get to comparing the paintings we find that some are more inspiring than others and maybe two or more are just too close to call in ordering the OML?

Margot: In the event you need a tie breaker, it’s OK to use technical merit to sort out the close calls; thereby putting one above or below the other.  Now since we've all studied the technical aspects of the impressionist school, that should not be so hard to do... but let me stress again that it’s the overall impression that counts in assessing a work of art and not a "bean count" of the details.

Bill: Let me get this straight.  You want each of us to do a single OML?

Margot: Actually two.  First and most importantly, a macro one, standing back, judging the overall impression and then a second, closer up, judging each painting on technical merit.

With that said the class proceeded over to the bank and the students began walking casually around to get a sense for the exhibit as a whole. As this was going on, Mr Jones walked up.  He spoke to the students asking what they thought of the exhibit and  the process they were going to use in evaluating the paintings.  He liked the idea of using students rather than veterans, because in his opinion, the more experienced artists often became jaded and wound up carrying too much personal baggage into the selection process.  He was impressed with Margo’s ideas and glad that some objectivity would be applied to a decision that was basically subjective in nature.  Finally he began talking with Margot and she explained to him exactly how each student was going about making their choices and rank ordering the paintings; first on overall impression and then on technical merit.

Mr Jones:  So how do you intend to synthesize the evaluations of the students into a final list?

Margot: That’s getting ahead of ourselves, but since it’s such a good question, let me explain what we intend to do. Once the students complete their OMLs,  I will assign points to each position on the list.  A student’s top choice receives ten points, second best gets nine and so on down the column. A higher score is better for the artist.  I’ll then tabulate the points for all the students and get a master score for the two OMLs. These will rank order the paintings; one list for overall impression and the other for technical merit.  I plan to use this in class to show the difference between a macro view, standing back, as opposed to a micro one, looking close up.

Mr Jones: I see... and you intend to give me those results to aid in making a final choice?

Margot: That's my intention.

Mr Jones: Excellent!.  I’d like to publish the details of the process before the decision is made and invite the artists to come watch the judging.  It will do them good to see an unbiased example of fairness and honesty at work; you know, sort of give the artists some reassurance that no special interest hanky panky is going on?

Margot: I’d be glad to do it, Mr. Jones. I can assure you that the students will work that much harder , if they know their work will be used for good purpose.

Several of the artists participating in the exhibit, lived in and around Metropolis.  They all coveted the Best in Exhibit award.  It was more than just the money.  They all knew that being selected would look good on their resumes, give them some bragging rights, help launch their careers and enhance their reputations as artists.  Rather than just let fate run its course, some of them decided to see if they could tilt the selection process, just a smidgen in their favor.  After all they reasoned," I’m one of the ten best artists in the country and whoever is picked will be worthy... so what’s wrong with trying to fudge the margin a little?"

Phillis Duvalt, one of the participating artists,  was talking to her daughter one day and telling her how much the prize meant to her.  Her daughter, an alumnus, was a major contributor to maintaining a sorority house to which several of Margo’s students belonged.  ”Don’t worry mom," she said, "it probably won’t make much difference, but I’ll tell my sisters to keep you in mind."

Paul Morrison, another of the artists, had recently had some of his work reviewed in a national art journal.  On the cover was the very painting being featured in the Exhibit.  Prior to the judging he decided that it wouldn’t hurt to have several copies laying "inconspicuously" around the bank.

Phylus Dunnigan, also a contributor, belonged to a support group of area artists.  When her friends found out her painting was part of the exhibit, they decided to be on hand when the judging took place.  Their plan was to stand around Phylus’ painting and comment, in "barely audible voices," as to how Dunnigan's work, was obviously the best of the lot.

Ryan McKoy was also one of the artists in the exhibit. He'd gone to art school with Margot and since both were unmarried, had maintained a casual relationship ever since.  By coincidence he happened to be in town for the judging and called her up for a date.

Lilith Foster, another contestant, was a socialite.  She traveled in the same social circles as Mr. Jones.  Mr. Jones had a reputation as a womanizer and Lilith decided to find out if all that  gossip was true.

Gordon Mercer was a good friend of Frank O’Riley, president of the Institute. He called his friend telling him he’d be in town for the exhibit and suggested lunch at an exclusive restaurant.  He told Frank he was glad some of the art students were involved in the judging and how it gave him some confidence in the fairness of the process.  Further he told his old friend that... when he retired next year, there was a position on the board of his investment firm, that Frank might want to consider.

When the results were tallied and the decision finally made, it was the painting of Lilith Forster that was chosen.  This left some people scratching their heads, because Lilith's painting was dead last on both the OMLs

Still no one was too surprised... it just went to prove the old adage.." It's not what you do but who you screw..." 


Word Count 1708