A person's personal life does not immediately invalidate their work.
For example. Let's say the accusations about Leonardo Davinci's predilections for corpses were true... they aren't but let's say they were.
Would that devalue the Mona Lisa?
Humans are monsters, each and every one of us.
Occassionally we still make art despite that
@polychrome
A very poignant example.
@TheGibson But art (or anything we create) cannot be truly understood detached from its creator either
@elomatreb
I do not agree.
Art's value is in the perceptor's mind.
@TheGibson (IMO the concept of "value of art" is flawed anyway, but that's a different topic).
It doesn't have to be negative, which seems to be the dominant assumption. If you'd show someone a Pollock painting without them knowing the history of it all it won't appear any more valuable than someone knocking over a paint bucket
@elomatreb @thegibson That is precisely the problem I have with the art buying market: *who* made the art is usually far more important than anything about the art itself.
@elomatreb @TheGibson I disagree completely. My enjoyment of a song and the meaning I find in it is between me and the song and my associations with it. The creator might have some opinion. I might not even know about it. I might learn about it and reject it. It's a historical curiosity. Relevant to 'how art is made', perhaps. (Or at least self-reported experience/thoughts of people making art) but rather irrelevant to any individual's appreciation of the art and how they share it.
@TheGibson On the other hand, it can make it difficult for the viewer to *enjoy* the work, if they keep thinking about recent horrible revelations about the artist.
That's different from devaluing the work itself, but perhaps more relevant.
@TheGibson The Mona Lisa is a deeply established cultural icon now. There's very little we could learn about da Vinci that would make us remove it from its prominent spot. There'd maybe be a bunch of signs contextualizing it or something, but it would stay.
It's easier for more recent artists with less "cultural centrality" to overshadow their own works. (No matter how good those works are to someone without knowledge of the scandal.)
@thegibson and let's not forget the dark history of the space launching technology we still use today.
The history was terrible, but I still support going to Mars.