Some time ago I ran across a fascinating article on the New York Times website, entitled “An Exhibition About Drawing Conjures a Time When Amateurs Roamed the Earth.” That’s not the kind of title that would catch the public eye on a supermarket tabloid. But the article itself was very thought-provoking. Below are a couple gems I gleaned, but you really ought to read the article itself. It’s very short; you could finish it in five minutes. (NOTE: Unfortunately after I first posted this comment, they changed this page to paid access. But if you subscribe to the NYT, it is free.)
“The exhibition is full of such exhortatory books, many of them discomfiting today because they presume a degree of skill among ordinary citizens — even children — that would now be regarded as noteworthy in the art world….