In his book on Paris in 100, Richard Whiteing describes the types of competition that art students engaged in: ..
"in the studio, you reviving all sorts of competitions There's the monthly contest for the right to choose your place Professor looks at your job, mark as first, second, third, and so on, in order of merit, and as is marked, so that you have the right to plant your easel where you for the coming months it saves a step. honor, and it prevents the bad blood. Then comes the annual competition for the coin, or a huge struggle for a Place in a special class .... with this, we have exams in history, ornament, perspective, anatomy. students are expected to know something about these guarantees their great subject. Many take the history and the prospect of a superficial, feel that the strain is not there, and that drawing and painting are still the heart of the mystery. "
"Beyond that, of course, there is the struggle for the Prix de Rome. - Okay limited to French There is something like a prize - the winner free housing in the capital the art world on a liberal allowance of the State. the first round is an oil sketch, and the result, of course, leaves much of the race. the second is a figure in oils. for third, some left standing are sent to the paint against another for their lives on a topic given by the school. now, there are all kinds of possibilities of foul play in a competition like this, and against them the authority has taken the necessary precautions. a man can get outside help, and make work that is only half of its own ;. and even if he does every bit of it, it can still be fed his invention on smuggling ideas borrowed so to avoid all this, they put in a kind of monastic cell the school itself, and for three mortal months, until the task is completed, it must live and work, without communication from the outside world. He is called in the Lodge. He brings in his own traps, and it is also effectively locked as all Chinese researcher competing for the prize of Beijing. The moving-in day for the Prix de Rome is one of the Latin Quarter sites with personal gear trains luggage ranging from leisure to study violin bridge. When all is finished, and the best man won, he just four years in the capital of Italy to search at ease in his art treasure houses of all time. Of course, he must search on a plane. Paris calls him a work every year to show that it was made good use of his time. If this is the unusual merit, it is purchased by the government. "Some thoughts .... and then I want to hear yours.
This description raises many thoughts on the competition in the arts of our time. Friendly competition, even if no price for, can bring out the best in friendly rivals. for those who aspire to a professional work in art or music, the number of jobs is much more limited than the number of applicants hope. it could be argued that being etched into the furnace of competition in schools preparing young artists for the rigors of living.
But not all art students want to enter . this competitive world what good competition do for people who study art as amateurs - literally .. for the love of it, people trying to top their best staff
competition has other drawbacks it is fine if you are the winner, but winning all the competitions, especially in a regional environment, can lead to complacency. It might inspire those who lose work harder, but it can discourage or demoralize others. Or it could force them to comply for the sake of winning and thus extinguish their flame uniqueness.
Although some art schools and workshops have a rigid set of expectations and standards that everyone agrees upon registration, there is no way in the world of the greatest art. Our art world is so different from that of the 19th century in Paris it is hard to imagine a group of university students or agree to universal standards for judging. No contest today then become an exercise in second-guessing what the judge is likely to choose, and if the dollar cost to enter a competition, it is worth the value of marketing to get a prize? That's a lot different from the Prix de Rome :. It is more like a roulette based advertising trade concerns
I would especially love to hear from teachers who have seen the good and bad results of the competition in their classrooms. I'm hoping to find out how contemporary workshops with stringent use of competition in their pedagogy. And I would hear of students who wish to share stories of the bite or a stimulus to be engaged in a competition.
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The quotation is from Paris of To-Day
by Richard Whiteing 