The Lady with the Mystic Smile

It's still hard for me to believe that somebody just paid 4.9 million dollars for a painting by an "artist" named Kazuo Shirago titled BB56.

Which he painted with his feet!

That sure doesn't make any sense to me, but what the Hell, it's the "Art Community" and they've been living on a different planet for a long time.

Art, of course, is very subjective but most will agree that there are certain common sense standards. BB56 defies all of them.

Simply put, BB56 ain't no "Mona Lisa."

And as long as we're talking "subjective,"  In my opinion the Mona Lisa...ain't no" Mona Lisa" either!

Say what?

The Mona Lisa is the most famous painting in the world, and some say the greatest ever created.  I disagree. I don't believe it's even one of Leonardo's best.

I'm not the first to say this, but I believe the fact that the painting was once stolen from the Louve is what turned a good, but not exceptional painting, into the most famous in the world.

I saw the Mona Lisa when she came to Washington in 1963 for a couple of weeks. I was surprised at how small it was, and.........yes, it was her....and....well that was about it.

Had I been visiting the Louve and known nothing about the painting I would have stopped for about 15 seconds, looked, and moved on.  I believe that's what most visitors to that famous Paris museum did UNTIL 1911, when an Italian handyman named Vincenzo Peruggia made worldwide headlines by stealing it. His motive was to return it to Italy, where he was praised as a hero.

Suddenly the world was inundated with headlines, pictures and stories about the Da Vinci painting

that continued for more than 2 years when it was finally recovered.

 Noah Chaney, highly respected author and professor of art history, said,

"If a different one of Leonardo's works had been stolen, then that would have been the most famous work in the world -- not the Mona Lisa," 

"There was nothing that really distinguished it per se, other than it was a very good work by a very famous artist -- that's until it was stolen," he added. "The theft is what really skyrocketed its appeal and made it a household name."

 I agree. Today that would be called the "Kim Kardashian Effect." It's famous, for being famous"

Over the years art experts and others have twisted their brains in knots trying to explain why the Mona Lisa is such a great painting.

Mona or Leo?smile.  Is it, or isn't it?

Some even claim that Mona is really a self portrait of Leonardo himself.

Now, don't get me wrong. This is not a criticism of the great Leonard Da Vinci. Anyway, who am I to do something like that! I'm just saying the Mona Lisa in my opinion is NOT one of his best paintings!
For example:

It just occurred to me that when whatever mind altering drug the poor sap who paid 4.9 million dollars for BB56, wears off,  he might want to consider paying somebody to steal it.

(Not to make it famous; Hell, just to get rid of it!)

-Ed.

“Anyone who conducts an argument by appealing to authority is not using his intelligence; he is just using his memory.”

― Leonardo da Vinci