Sometimes we keep the same tastes most or all of our lives (like I can't stand celery and won't change that), sometimes they evolve as we mature, and many times they are dictated by current trends and we have to go along with the fads to get along. Looking back on many of our choices (especially the 1970s fashion above), all we can say is What was I thinking??
Tastes in the arts are harder to explain. I am attracted to paintings and drawings which suggest a story, or tell that story strikingly well (like the illustrations of N.C. Wyeth or Dorothea Lange's photographs). Implied stories include the Mona Lisa's enigmatic smile, the question of what "The Thinker" was pondering so deeply, and one of my favorites, "Sun on Prospect Street" by Edward Hopper:
The quiet may be deceptive. Something seems off. What is it?
Abstract artist Rothko is probably more highly regarded in critical circles than Mr. Hopper, but what does one get out of this?
And some people's taste may be much more for the simple, literal and sentimental.
General Motors long ago said they made a car for every type of customer and every budget. The target audience for a 1960 Cadillac would have been... a wealthy Batman?
I could never have seen myself, way back, listening to Sinatra and sipping a rye whiskey Old Fashioned. But there is always something new to discover and try out if you preserve an open mind. At eleven years old, our cat Blackberry is as curious and flexible as ever; he sets a good example. Actually, I have learned a lot from him (but probably will not develop a taste for bugs).
Shaken not stirred.
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