by Ashley Duncan–Famous artists that everybody knows and loves. Pablo Picasso, Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera, Salvador Dali, Vincent Van Gogh, and Jackson Pollock. Their artwork was amazing and sold for millions because they were such inspirations, as everybody believes.
However, Pablo Picasso tortured his models before he painted them. He would make them cry, yell at them, and even put cigarettes out on their body. After this was done, Picasso would call them his muse and paint them as they were crying or suffering.
Jessie Eighmy, a nursing student who vaguely knows of Picasso, said, “I understand artists wanting to get real emotions into their work and out of the people they paint, but yeah, that’s a no from me, that’s too much.”
Frida Kahlo and her husband Diego Rivera, were both a part of the Mexican Communist party. Aubrey Cervantes, a nursing student who enjoys Frida Kahlo’s art took the news in stride. Cervantes said, “I didn’t know they were, but I still like her artwork.”
Continuing the trend of inappropriate associations, Salvador Dali loved Hitler. His pieces of surrealist artwork were something else, but his association to Hitler makes him a terrible person. He even once stated that he would dream of Hitler as a woman and found him sexy.
Sarah Butcher who recognized Dali’s name, said, “What the… he’s messed up…” Even in some of his paintings little pictures of Hitler appear.
The least terrible person from this group of artists would actually be Vincent Van Gogh. However, he never actually sold his artworks or promoted his work. During his lifetime, Van Gogh sold one painting. The person who made him famous was Jo Van Gogh, and she sold almost all of his artworks that made him famous today.
Lastly, Jackson Pollock, an American abstract expressionism artist. He is known for his splattered paint artwork and miscellaneous items thrown in with them. What he isn’t known for is that he was an alcoholic and ended up killing himself along with another passenger in a drunk driving accident. Pollock also moved his girlfriend into his house while his wife, whom he abused, was off in Europe.
How do you feel about these artists now, knowing that your favorite artists isn’t actually who they were portrayed to be? The artwork can still be amazing if it can be separated from who the artist was, but sometimes the artist isn’t all that great.
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