Criteria of good art

What are the criteria of good art?

They are guides that help distinguish a genuinely strong work from one that is merely pleasant to look at. This is no exact formula, more a set of questions to put to a work before deciding to buy it. The aim is to recognise work with a chance of still being interesting decades from now.

How do I recognise good art?

Four guides can help, taken together: whether the work is innovative and not merely repeating what has been done before; whether it is at the same time informed by history and able to learn from it; whether it is relevant and carries a strong theme of its time; and finally whether its maker is faithful to their purpose and stays with their path through difficulties. When these four qualities come together in one work, it is a good sign.

How do these criteria work in practice?

They work as a sieve through which you sift a work and its maker before reaching for your wallet. They look not only at how a work appears today, but ask what stands behind it and where its maker is heading. Only together do they give a picture of whether the work has firm foundations or has merely ridden a fashionable wave.

Why does it matter to a collector?

Because these guides are what separate a work whose value can grow over time from a purchase that fizzles out in a few years. A collector who asks about innovation, relevance and an artist's persistence is buying not just a picture but the story behind it. And it is that story that tends to hold value.

What should you watch out for, and can you give an example?

A beautiful example of an artist's fidelity to their purpose is Yayoi Kusama, who stayed with her singular path despite many difficulties and is today among the most admired artists of all. Watch out for the fact that none of the four guides works on its own. Innovation without an informed grasp of history easily slides into empty effect. Their strength comes only from working together.

— Anna Pulkertová, founder of Art Part Club