What is painting? This is a question that is rarely touched upon. People may be more interested in what painting is, especially what is a good painting. What is painting? It is about the definition of painting. Its answer can serve as a standard by which we can determine whether something is a painting. For example, in Yasmina Reza's play "Art", the dermatologist Cergy bought a painting with nothing on it, whether it is a painting or not. According to some definitions of painting, it is not considered painting. According to other definitions of painting, it is considered painting. As a result, Cergy, Ivan and Mark in the play quarreled about whether it was painting or bullshit. What is good painting? It is about the evaluation of painting. We judge the quality of something when we already know it is a painting. For example, Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa is considered a good painting. A student from the Academy of Fine Arts drew an exercise and was given a business trip review by the teacher. They are all paintings, the difference lies in their quality. Value judgment sometimes turns into right and wrong judgment. For example, the painting that was evaluated by the teacher on a business trip may be deprived of the qualification or identity to paint, and may be described as not resembling or not being painted. We can answer the question here from the perspectives of aesthetics, history, sociology, and economics. But what is painting? It's a different question. It does not involve the definition of painting or the evaluation of painting, but rather involves what painting is and belongs to the ontology of painting, which is only suitable for philosophical exploration.
A Philosophical Journey on Painting
文/彭锋