Can you separate the artist from their work?

[alicambs]

The problem with winter when the sun doesn't show itself (rare but it's been dull and rainy for quite a few days) is that my study gets very cold and my heater struggles to make an impact. We don't have central heating, this is New Zealand, land of the 'she'll be right and central heating is for wimps' but we do have a wonderful log burner which

Comments

[cross_stitchery]

i do agree that art should be judged on its own merits, but can understand, on a personal level, if someone doesn't want a painting by a known child abuser on their walls. and if they feel that the best way to deal with it is to destroy the painting, then again, that's a personal decision that i can accept. i wouldn't be in favour of a widespread campaign to root out every example of Harris' art and destroy it in some kind of purge. (can't help wondering what the Queen thinks about his portrait of her now)

when it gets to other forms of media, things can get messy. in the case of paintings, the painter benefits when the art is first sold, but after that the only beneficiary of further sales is the owner. however in a case like Woody Allen, or Roman Polanski, for example, they benefit every time someone goes to a movie theatre or buys a DVD to watch their work. i, personally, don't want them to get a single cent from me, so i don't go to their movies. that being said, i don't want their work to be destroyed. i wouldn't shed a tear though, if their movies bombed at the box office because the wider community wanted to boycott their work.

[alicambs]

can't help wondering what the Queen thinks about his portrait of her now That was the art work I chose to illustrate my question and the thought crossed my mind as well.

Yes to all you say re Rolf Harris, but I personally would be sad to see his work be destroyed. Some time after his death we may well be able to appreciate it for what it is rather than for what he turned out to be.

Woody Allen has not been prosecuted and the waters are so muddy there that who knows what the truth is, but as I don't like his work I don't support it or Polanski's in any way so that's easy!