Whereas words are the natural choice to convey concepts or ideas, painting – much like music, has no need of interpretation. Once upon a time, before Cézanne and before photography, the essential goal of painting was to describe, and therefore it shared a lot of ground with words. Today, the effort taken to create a painting is only worthwhile because of its potential to transcend mere description.
But of course, we can’t dismiss the allure and ramifications of commercial business and the direction Art has been ushered in for the past 60 years. It is perhaps no accident that the great proliferation of trade in the Art world, as well as the art schools that support this structure actually coincides with the establishing of Conceptual Art, popularised in the 1960’s and extending to the present day. Whatever one makes of the movement, ultimately one has to concede that it’s a lot easier to sell ‘art’, or to teach ‘art’ when using words and easily digestible concepts, than it was in the first, more challenging half of 20th century.