Purity of Creation.

The University of Delaware was recently fortunate enough to become the new owners of a collection unpublished photographs from the late Andy Warhol. Upon the opening of the university's display of these photos, I found myself being one of a small group of students that were admitted to listen to a lecture regarding the places and events behind them. I found the speaker to be very informative while simultaneously being very enlightening.

The speaker took us around the exhibit and told us pieces of information about each of the photographs and without knowing the speaker not only taught me about the art itself, but also about art in general.

Just as a matter of personal taste, I rather dislike the work of Andy Warhol. I am in no way trying to discredit the art that he has made, but I just don’t find it all that impressive. What does impress me is the fact that Warhol was so amazingly good at conveying his vision. Warhol was an artist in the most pure and fundamental sense of the word. He was a man who possessed great talent and natural ability, but refused to ever compromise his vision in lieu of money. It is clear through the observation of Warhol’s art that at all times he had a clear path in his mind and that he remained steadfast to it regardless of what powerful figure asked him to do otherwise.

It is my belief that in the art world today that there are a great number of people with the gift of artistic abilities that call themselves artists with the sole purpose of reaping a profit from their creations. In my opinion, a true artist is someone who creates what they want to create for no other reason than the fact that they want to see their concept become a reality. Now, I am in no way saying that you have to be poor to be a real artist. I, myself, hope to one day make money from the work that I do… but I can guarantee you that I will never sacrifice my vision in order to do so.

Creation is a gift. Creation is a talent. Creation is pure.

The speaker at the University of Delaware did more than just tell me about the events that inspired a random group of photos. Between the lines of what he was saying he was teaching me the true reason why Warhol is great. Not because he was capable of making art, but because he was a true artist.