Van Gough's Influence On Art

Artists, even if seen in a different light from other forms of celebrity, are still prominent figures in culture. Each of their histories creates their individual artistic personality. Van Gough’s art for instance is most likely seen through the framework of his sufferings. How does knowing that Van Gough killed himself change his works? This is truly a question that can only be answered in the mind of each individual viewer. The list of instances and examples of illicit artists is long and branches into many forms of art with varying opinions from viewers. Recently there has been an explosive proliferation of art associated with serial killers. John Wayne Gacy is one of the most notorious serial killers in history and noted for his clown costumes that he wore when murdering victims. Once in prison, Gacy, like Peltier, took up painting as a hobby and a means of making money. Today, his art is collected by people interested in his life. Countless people are not happy that his art is available and many are willing to buy it just so they can destroy it. Is there a moral imperative in place that prohibits displaying Gacy’s or …show more content…
His conviction of paedophilia caused the Tate Britain to remove its collection of 34 of his works, including images of nude children, from the public view. His artworks were all condemned to be destroyed based on a judge’s decision that the works did not reflect current ideals of decency. It could be argued by some that to the common sense eye Overden’s works were blatantly legitimising paedophilia or that his paedophilia is self-evident in his art. There is a need to be aware of the implications our judgments have on a piece of art, and how our value-based decisions can alter the significance and influence of a piece. Society should have an awareness of this because Overden’s situation matches that of many other