What is ChristianArt.Today?

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Thanks fide, I appreciate your thoughts, very much. I really had “high hopes” for this website because there is real value in “Sacred Art” for every human person. When I read the mission statement:
“Our mission is simple: Art and Christianity no longer resonate as an inherent, magnificent pairing. Our offering is simple: one newsletter a day where we simply send you the Gospel reading of the day, alongside a work of art that we believe is poignant, reflective and appropriate to that reading…”
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Perhaps I’d set my hopes too high because the art and reflection today did not seem to me to match the aim first stated. Christianity and Art can still resonate as an inherent magnificent pairing, but not if we choose art that is inconsistent with the Gospel. I wonder if the founder chose the art or someone else did – who ever chose the art and/or wrote the reflection would be the ones I’d like to ask to go back to artists and perhaps the writers also who are more more attuned to the Sacred, Supernatural lives we are called to, by our Baptism into Christ.

Thanks, again, for your reply.
 
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Actually, I liked the fox painting. What I found really interesting is that on Sunday we heard a very similar story only this time from the Gospel of Luke (not the Matthew 16 as posted above), As I was listening at mass I wondered what kind of painting would be offered by ChristianArt.Today. Interesting that it would come up as Monday’s Gospel. I thought the painting and the reflection dove-tailed nicely with Father’s homily which was about the difficulty of discipleship
 
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MariaChristi said:
Faith comes through hearing and hearing through the Word of God.
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and yet, how many have come to have faith just by looking at art?

beauty will always be in the eye of the beholder but Art isn’t always about beauty. There are modern and contemporary pieces of art that are just as powerful as anything produced during the Renaissance. Art education is practically non-existent in a lot of education systems. At least this site makes an effort to combine art education with the Gospel.

Not every piece of art is meant to be hung on a living room wall. Anything by Chihuly still takes my breath away.
 
Dear vsedriver,

God works in mysterious ways! No doubt God can give grace to one looking at art so beautiful the person can experience God’s Truth and come to believe in Him. Only God and the person can know the depth of that experience in a human heart, which can lead a person to Faith.

Perhaps I had too high an expectation that this apostolate was going to choose art and write reflections that were more eager to spread Gospel Truth, than merely make an effort “to combine art education with the Gospel”. I had hoped from their Mission statement there would be more of an effort to have Art and Christianity again “resonate as an inherent, magnificent pairing.”

May the Lord direct the workers in this new apostolate to lift the present culture, which seems to be drifting further from God Who so loved the world, He sent His Son through Mary, by the power of His Holy Spirit.

Sorry I didn’t put quotation marks around the words you quoted from my post – – St. Paul wrote those words in Romans 10:17. If we are to be true to Christ, we need to know Him as He has revealed Himself in His Word. We need to listen to all He said and did as Mary our Mother listened, pondering all in her heart. Faith in God is His Gift. God can draw us to Himself, in many mysterious ways and when we hear Him we need to follow Him as He shows us in His Word. 🙂 Hope this clarifies my posts a bit more.
 
MariaChristi said:
Perhaps I had too high an expectation that this apostolate was going to choose art and write reflections that were more eager to spread Gospel Truth, than merely make an effort “to combine art education with the Gospel”.
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I find they did choose appropriate art and write reflections on the chosen readings as illustrated in the art.

I guess I should confess here that I have a degree in art and been a working artist most of my life. But the majority of people do not study art. If you asked someone why Rembrandt is a great painter they would not really be able to tell you. After all, there were painters living at the same time as Rembrandt who could paint just as well. Art isn’t about just being a ‘pretty’ picture.

Most of the negative comments on the art chosen by this apostolate were directed at modern art. All of the art chosen, whether old master or modern did illustrate the scripture chosen. And the reflection on the scripture was also in the text that accompanied the art. I particularly liked the wolf in sheep’s clothing. It really shows the evil attempting to hide behind the innocent.

I find that they fulfilled their mission statement because I did see the pairing of the art and Christianity along with Gospel Truth.

You may enjoy this book

How Catholic Art Saved The Faith: The Triumph of Beauty and Truth in Counter-Reformation Art: BN No Results Page | Barnes & Noble®​

 
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Dear vsedriver,

Thanks for your reply and for the link. I’m familiar with the author and appreciate what I have read by her. I was also interested in this comment on her book given on the site:
When I read the first paragraph of the introduction, I knew I was in for a good read. Thank you, Dr. Lev. You brilliantly outline how art lifted and enlightened the faithful when attacks on the Church were rampant. You explain how art was and is our visual knowledge of what we cannot see or touch. Each interpretation, explanation and illustration you include in your book bring a deeper appreciation of the educational task the artists undertook. I now understand why I love our Catholic art. Art students, RCIA candidates and the faithful will all benefit from this book.
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I put into bold some words in the above comment that express my sentiments about Catholic art as well. Perhaps we have a difference in how we may “see” certain pieces of art, and how we “hear” the Gospel. May the Lord grant to all of us a continual growth in knowing Him and His Truth in His perfect timing, that we may honor Him in all things. Thanks again for the link. Elizabeth Lev is an excellent writer, and I’m sure her book is excellent.
 
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I really like this subscription service. I signed up yesterday, and this morning’s art and commentary is awesome!

Thanks for sharing 🙏
 
Beautiful! A fascinating modern take on Caravaggio’s classic painting (and a good essay too). It’s interesting that Thomas, the doubter, wears glasses, suggesting that he is an intellectual or a thinker. I like that.
 
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MariaChristi said:
Perhaps we have a difference in how we may “see” certain pieces of art, and how we “hear” the Gospel.
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I think it is a case where this apostolate is not looking at particularly ‘Catholic’ art but in any art that might act as an inspiration for parts of the Bible. As such, a simple drawing of a wolf zipping into or out of a sheep costume can be just as illustrative of a biblical reflection as Rembrandt’s Storm at Sea.

I received the book from my parish priest as a thank you gift for assisting with a mini retreat where I used projected images of art that expressed his biblical reflections/essays/prayers that he wrote for the retreat.

The website Christian Art Today is almost exactly like what we did in the retreat. But I had never heard of this site before.
 
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