"Summer Night" & Representation vs. Original Works of Art.

This painting is titled, "Summer Night" by the young Russian artist, Andrey Selenin. (1973-)

Selenin is a student of the Repin School in St. Petersburg, the Academy calling their particular style "Realism".

Certain paintings whether viewed as a print or in digital form on the net, reaches out and creates an effect for the observer.

"Summer Night" reached out from my computer screen and held me spellbound for only a matter of seconds, but the image in the minds eye contiues...

I remember having a discussion years ago with a friend concerning "hypereality", "representation" and the "original" of a particular work. The question was whether the artists true (creative) energy can impact on the viewer in a mere copy like a digital representation?

I concluded that if the painting is beautiful or outstanding in some way, a digital representation would be just as powerful as seeing the original.

Well, I've changed my mind since that discussion, and have to admit, original works has a "deeper" impact on the viewer than a copy. Why?

Art, for me, is mainly a visceral experience. To rationally explain why an original Picasso hung on a wall in a museum in Madrid named after the artist, for example, "The Guitarist" bowls me over yet a digital representation merely gets the heart pounding...there is a difference; maybe a matter of degrees of heart-felt response...who knows?

I believe "knowing" that you're seeing the "original", the brain sets the heart-up... 'this is the real thing' and the viewer responds appropriately.

The above piece by Selenin, no matter a digital representation, impacts aesthetically and viscerally, making the mind waunder to cool summer evening's... and a certain calmness as the crickets play their songs.

That center point of the lighted window amongst the natural light of dusk is absolutely wonderful.

Some of us must be content to see only copies of copies and digital representations of great art.

However, as my old friend argued years ago, the original does and has the greatest impact on the viewer.

I'd love to see "Summer Night" in the original...outstanding.