George Kubler - The Shape of Time

I found this reading particularly interesting because I have always been that person to wonder how one artist can become famous for a particular piece of art while other artists produce quite similar pieces of art and never receive any recognition.  I understand what Kubler means when he says that the lives of the artists have been a genre in the literature of art for a super long time.  Whenever I take an art class, the usual structure is watching a PowerPoint slide deck about a certain genre and time period of art and then learning about the artists that fit within the category.  We are reading Oscar Wilde in my English class right now and our professor asked us if knowing the background of the author makes it easier to understand the text.  And I think this is a really important question to ask when studying any topic that can be subjectively interpreted in many different ways.  I think people can create their own meaning and purpose from a piece of art so that the background or time period of the artist is irrelevant.  Kubler believes that the entrance and position in sequence of the artist is much more important than the artist's talent and I agree.  Although the exact method may not be the same, paintings and drawings and other works of art can be replicated.  What it really comes down to in being a successful artist is luck.  I think this is why so many people stray away from majoring in art because there is no guarantee in how others will perceive the art that is created.  I really enjoy being creative and using my artistic ability, but honestly I chose my majors based on job security and I think a lot of other students do the same simply to avoid the stress of having to prove yourself and your artwork to other people.  Kubler says that every new form limits the succeeding innovations in the same series meaning.  I think this means that when one artist's work becomes popular, then all other artists who produce similar works of art do not achieve the same recognition and success because their work is already considered old news.  Coming up with new ideas is really hard and I think about this a lot in my IS classes when professors ask us to create a new app or website that can greatly improve something in our daily lives.  It's really unfortunate that some artwork will never be admired or desired simply because it fits within a genre that has already been explored.