“Are you warm, are you real, Mona Lisa? Or just a cold and lonely lovely work of art.” -- written by Jay Livingston and Ray Evans (Mona Lisa, #1 song for 8 weeks in 1950)
As the doors of the Louvre Museum in Paris swing open each day, the waiting crowd of visitors rushes quickly down the rope-lined, art-filled corridors to view the most famous of all the exhibits – the Mona Lisa.
This mesmerizing oil painting by Leonardo da Vinci, though smaller in size than one would anticipate, continues to leave an enormous and indelible impact on the world of fine art, even after five centuries.
The Renaissance portrait of a young Florentine wife, which later inspired a hit song (made famous by Nat King Cole), has been the subject of countless books, articles, and research papers and is widely copied by artists from around the globe. In addition, the marketing value of the public’s instant recognition of the Mona Lisa has translated to dollars and cents for advertising companies, as they repeatedly alter its reproduced image to peddle an assortment of products.
Fine art is defined by the Merriam-Webster Dictionary as:
(1) art (painting, sculpture, or music) concerned primarily with the creation of beautiful objects -- usually used in plural,
(2) objects of fine art, or
(3) an activity requiring a fine skill.
Historical objects of fine art are commonly found in great museums, regal castles, opulent mansions, and art collections of the wealthy. However, today’s fine artists also work diligently at their craft in the pursuit of excellence. Following in the footsteps of the great masters, yet adding their own individuality and creativity, these impassioned artists bring refinement, distinction, and beauty to the world. A stroll through an exhibit of these creations offers us inspiration and elevates our senses and emotions.
Training as a fine artist may be accomplished by enrolling in an art institute, an online degree program, a traditional university program, or by apprenticeship with a master artist. The world of fine art is competitive; but a fascinating career awaits those who have prepared themselves with quality training and who are imbued with talent and perseverance. After all, there is always an exalted place in the world for the next masterpiece.
