What does it mean to have good taste in art? Good aesthetic taste in general.
We all have different tastes, right? But we are all able to see if someone has good taste (in our opinion) or not.
Putting a lot of value on having a good aesthetic taste
I have never actually thought about this—not deeply enough, at least. But I am genuinely attracted to people who have good aesthetic taste. Those who like good art, good fashion, and good interior design, and those who can walk inside a gallery and be able to tell the good art from the bad art (not shading anyone’s art).
My aesthetic taste is a huge part of my identity, and I am so biased by it.
But what does it mean to have good aesthetic taste?
In a previous article, I shared with you the definition of an aesthetic. But what is aesthetic taste or good taste in art?
It stands for what a human associates with something being interesting or beautiful. Some aesthetic taste is innate. And another chunk of it evolves as we see and experience life.
I believe that we know our aesthetic taste best when we are children. Because, as adults or even teenagers, we try to fit in. We are influenced by our entourage, and we want to do things that others are doing. And do not tell me that kids cannot judge things or have an aesthetic taste. You know really well that you either hated or loved the clothes that your parents chose for you. You also know if you loved or hated the music that they put in the car while driving you to school or driving you around. And that, in my opinion, is the part of your aesthetic taste that is innate. The other part is the one you have developed as you grew up seeing different things, from nature to fashion to art, etc.
How do we develop a good taste in art?
We simply consume a lot of it. If we come from no design or fashion background and are exposed for the first time to minimalist decor, we might instantly think, “Wow! That’s it. This is my favorite decor; I’ve never seen anything like it”. But we are only able to really pick a favorite when we have seen a maximalist house, a minimalist one, an industrial interior design, and so on. So in order to develop or discover our aesthetic taste, we need to be exposed to different forms of aesthetic experience.
Here comes the role of aesthetic institutions and supports. Magazines, books, museums, gardens, urbanism, architecture, social media platforms, and anything that provides us with visual nutrition and exposes us to different aesthetic tastes. However, we could grow to become biased by others’ tastes instead of actually developing ours.
Taste is so personal and opinion-based
For your taste to be unbiased, that sounds like a ridiculous idea. We actually develop our taste by seeing the taste of others. But, when you look at things, you know what you really genuinely love or that you love because your loved ones love too.
Someone who has good taste in art must know a bit more about the average person in art, or they can simply be naturally a good aesthetic taste owner.
When I look at things around me, even if they are not to my taste (something I would personally wear or create), I am able to see if they have beauty in them or not. I can feel the freshness and depth of a painting, even if it is not my art style or an art style I usually love and appreciate.
I also have a thing for both comfort and positive excitement. If something is not my style yet, it is sending positive vibes of comfort (familiarity), yet with a hint of excitement and freshness to it, which to me is a great piece of art (interior decor, fashion piece, painting, etc.).
Are popular things tacky or great?
If you want to rightfully and personally judge something that is popular, ask yourself what you would think of it if no one else knew about it. But don’t fall for the fact that because others don’t know about it, it instantly means that it is great and that you are special and better than others.
Some very popular stuff is actually great, and some trendy mainstream stuff is super tacky. For something to be great and match your aesthetic taste, it doesn’t have to be popular, and it doesn’t have to be hated by everyone else. See the bias?
Is good taste related to wealth?
So many people confuse both simply because great art is often expensive. I personally think that they are not necessarily connected. But having enough money would surely help you express your taste, buy things you really love for what they are and not for how much they cost, and be exposed to a wider range of aesthetics and art pieces.
Just because you can afford great, expensive art doesn’t mean you have good taste. It doesn’t mean that the art you call great isn’t hideous.
Good taste in art and common sense
Is good taste related to common sense? I have recently watched a video of a home makeover on YouTube, and the furniture pieces were all so expensive and carefully picked to bring this home to its final look. And I hated that home makeover. It looked so dull, so lifeless, and just didn’t work up to the expectations I had. I checked the comments, and everyone thought the same as I did. So I started questioning myself about the wrong thing in this scheme. Is common sense different from good taste? Are we not cool enough to understand and see the beauty in that design? Or is it simply that the design was just not good?
It is the same as walking inside a museum and failing to see what makes a piece even worthy of belonging to a museum’s collection.
Conclusion
Exploring aesthetics and art is a very time-consuming endeavor. And if you see someone who is rich and has a ridiculous taste in art, maybe they are using their time to work towards making more money instead of developing their aesthetic taste, or they are simply not interested in doing so. But if you are interested in developing your own good taste in art, you shall consume, experiment, and learn more about aesthetics but remember to enjoy doing it <3
