‘Sculpture is art of intelligence’

sold for US$104 million. The logical question for most people would be: Why pay millions for a piece of art?
Even here in Zimbabwe most people are at times puzzled by the fact that someone travels hundreds of kilometres just to come and buy a sculpture and even worse pay quite a large sum of money for it. This is because, according to Picasso (1881-1973), “sculpture is the art of the intelligence”. Picasso was the greatest painter of all time but here he appreciates sculpture as the art of the intelligence.
First of all, we need to understand if sculptors themselves are intelligent. Secondly, we need to understand as well if art collectors themselves are intelligent. Are sculptors intelligent?
Let us take it this way, if you are a mathematician you are given numbers to solve, if you are a scientist you examine and mix the chemicals and if you are doctor you diagnose through possible symptoms. One thing that is clear is that these professionals have a point to start from; they work with what is available to bring out results and their intelligence.
If you are an artist you have to create something from scratch, from your creative imagination. So if scientists need to be intelligent enough to work with what they have what more for an artist whom has to start with nothing.
That is why time and again we see some artists losing their mind and that is why this latest Range Rover, the genius of engineers, was outdone by a sculpture by Giacometti. Sculptors are intelligent without doubt though not all of them.
Are art collectors intelligent? There are two types of people who buy art. The first are those who buy it for the mere purpose of reselling it. In simple they make art their business. The second are those who collect it for mere pleasure, inspiration and to value their homes.
It is the latter that we are mostly interested in, we are not interested in those who get it to gain some profit from it because “those who make art their business are imposters”, according to Picasso. So those who collect art in order to find inspiration from it to a certain degree display their intelligence. They find some connection between the mind of the artist and theirs.
They strive to gain a fulfilment to culture and their anthropological space. They also understand and appreciate that art can be an antidote to gaining inspiration, so they appreciate it every day. This is indeed some degree of intelligence because they simply get their inspiration within their homes rather than going to some life coaches.
Art is indeed good but the most important thing now will be to understand why one would pay millions for it. In simple terms, art is an investment. The difference between it and a latest Range Rover is that it actually gains value whereas the Range Rover will depreciate.
It has been stated that a brand new Mercedes loses a certain percentage the very second it leaves the showroom. Art begins to gain value the minute it is sold. This sculpture by Giacometti, which was auctioned for US$104 million, did not fetch this much on its initial sale but it gained value over the years. That is why to date most collectors are doctors, professors, scientists, architects and visionaries.
Without doubt Picasso was also intelligent that’s why he enjoyed the sculptures of Michelangelo (1475-1564), Auguste Rodin (1841-1919) and Henry Spencer Moore (1898-1986). Of interest is the fact that Picasso even experienced stone sculpture from Zimbabwe and this prompted him to say: “I have felt my strangest and deepest artistic emotions stirred when suddenly confronted with the sublime beauty of sculpture executed by anonymous artists of Africa.” He managed to see the intelligence behind the works and he even learned from it.
Above everything else we now need to ask ourselves: Do we really have intelligent artists and intelligent collectors in Zimbabwe? In Zimbabwe the two sides of the coin are not fully represented. Yes, the artists have proved their intelligence but we lack “intelligent collectors”.
Institutions, business owners, moguls, bankers and even those who run public places and offices have failed to show their intelligent side in appreciating art. Even when they are helped to gain this intelligence they still seem not to get the good and beautiful side of it. Maybe it’s because a prophet is never accepted in his birth land.
The Harare Town House was once aided to gain and appreciate this intelligence but the efforts fell on the wrong place. The Dominic Benhura efforts went unheeded and were destroyed. Surprisingly, this intelligence is now being appreciated by Nelson Mandela and his team at the Nelson Mandela Foundation who wake up everyday to be inspired by the sculpture “Swing me Mama”. This intelligence is now benefiting the United Nations, which commissioned the artist to produce the piece “Peace”. You never miss your water until your well runs dry.
At least those who run the Civil Aviation of Zimbabwe showed some elements of this intelligence when they incorporated some original sculptures in the foyer at the Harare International Airport. I am not so sure if it was after they had realised, that some world class international airports have displayed sculptures by Zimbabwean artists.
Agnes Nyanhongo is one of the intelligent artists whose work can be found displayed at international airports in Europe and America and Benhura has done equally the same by winning many installations and commissions outside Zimbabwe as well. At least those who run the Harare International Airport did not install “airport art” but some original artworks from original artists.
So science is not the only work of the intelligent, but art has also proved to be equally such. However, if ever I were to choose between art and science I would go for art because according to Picasso, “The genius of Einstein leads to Hiroshima”.