Collecting Basics: Quality How do I decide what is great art? Look at art that is considered to be great by experts in the field, and make a mental note of the pieces that appeal to you personally. Since everything on NextMonet has been selected by a jury representing decades of art world experience, this is a good place to start. If you spend some time exploring your taste in art, you'll begin to identify why you like some pieces more than others — and you may even surprise yourself in the process. The two toughest questions in art Paula Overbay What is art and how do we evaluate its quality? Neither can be answered objectively, but there are some guidelines that can help focus our evaluation of individual works of art. None of the guidelines we suggest for evaluating quality are absolutely objective. They are not markers that divide art from non-art, or good art from bad art. Rather, they are issues for you to consider in making your own assessments. A hot debate Tony Beauvy When is a painting or drawing or sculpture or photograph really art? Are the snapshots from a recent vacation art? What about the doodles of a monkey at the local zoo? Many artists and critics simply define art as anything whose maker intended it to be "art." Most of us have a personal definition of art that is narrow, specific, and would probably exclude monkey doodles. The challenge of contemporary art is to join the discussion about what is or isn't art with family, friends, educators, and critics — and ultimately, to make up our minds for ourselves. The good, the bad, and the ugly Peter Haakon Thompson The point where you divide the bad from the good will probably change with exposure to art. Quality is a slippery concept. It often seems to be based on objective standards: for example, the processor in one computer is measurably faster than another, or one car gets better gas mileage than another. Yet companies making slower processors or bigger cars can still argue that their products show other signs of quality, like adaptability, design, and reputation. Similarly, there is more than one factor that determines the quality of art: technique, composition, content and personal taste are some of the major considerations. All major topic headings in Art Smart begin with a discussion of quality. Click on any thumbnail image to learn more about the individual artwork. Next: Authenticity & Originality — Why should I collect original art instead of posters?