The role of the artists
The artists in the past were unusual people – gifted, eccentric and conscious of their uniqueness. The outstanding ones were inspiring the masses and being followed by them. They were creating masterpieces what was considered magical or divine. Did this type of artists become extinct? Are they still changing the world we live in?
At the turn of the XVI and XVII century lived Caravaggio. He was known as a strange and uncontrollable genius. His excesses were generally forgiven by the society as long as he was an outstanding painter. His art was going against the stream, but was highly esteemed during his life. However nobody knew at that time what he did for painting. After his death, when his style started to be followed by all the painters, the people found out how important he was. He introduced a great realism as well as a strong chiaroscuro and is now considered to be the first baroque painter.
Is this example possible to repeat nowadays? I think it is hard. Today there are so many people naming themselves artists only because they do something different or popular. In my opinion a real artist is not only someone eccentric. It has to be a person who does the art on a superior level. Everything can be a masterpiece, but not everything should. For a lot of people(including me), good creators do not have to invent new things, but I think that they often do not understand it.
Of course currently there are some examples of unusual people in all spheres of art (for example music). There are huge masses admiring The Beatles, Elvis or Michael Jackson. Unfortunately there are not many artists of this size. In my opinion they have a real influence on the actual society, just like Caravaggio had a few centuries ago. Their music inspires other musicians and changes the lives of masses of usual people. Their art is still alive even many years after the end of their activity.
There are lots of artists not deserving to be named like this. Probably in the past it used to be the same as it is today. Fortunately, we can still find some unique individuals who represent the art on a higher level than many others and are able to move the masses above the divisions. There are gifted people capable of changing the art and the world, there were and I hope there will be, because they are essential for the development of the human culture.