Art, Design....what is modern?

When I was growing up, I was always hearing adults saying, " I don't know much about Art, but I know what I like."

People in Manhattan are not modest about what they know about Art. They usually just do not talk about something at all if they don't like it-- except when it gets out of hand, like Graffiti.  ( I occasionally saw Graffiti that was artistically inspired but most of the time it was just-- well-- vandalism).

Most of the art stores around here cater to just about every taste in Art.

Take this painting. Please. ( LOL). In my opinion it shows the triumph of the idea of Design over the Idea of Art, something for which we have to blame critics, and prominent artists like Pablo Picasso and Henri Matisse. They were naturally very talented artists for whom realism was easy --and also boring-- and so they got carried away more and more with design experiments. ( If you want to see Picasso when he was back in realistic mode, he did a lovely portrait of his daughter that is in the mode of realism with the influence of Impressionism , for instance).

I cannot explain completely why I like some artists more than others but if pressed I can tell you why I like individual works of art. I like to paint and draw myself, but have not done so in a while...I am too aware of the limits on my talents. Here is a nude I did some time ago which my art teacher at the time HATED-- but I have artistically minded friends who like it and I like and that is good enough for me