I was being facetious, apologies. I have no desire to see the Mona Lisa as it's of no interest to me. But for art that I am interested in, I want to see it in person. There's no need to, of course, but I want to. If you don't want to see art in person, don't worry about what why others might.
This in particular. I've now seen a picture of it and I do appreciate the composition. But why would I want to see the "actual thing"? I was hoping for answers like "the colours are more vibrant and can't be reproduced on most monitors" or "it's very large, much larger than you could possibly display on your monitor". But instead I just got downvotes.
I think in general the answer would include the fact that computer reproductions of art are seldom color accurate. Every step from taking the picture to compressing it to displaying it in your monitor is lossy/distorted. The colors and texture of paintings are better appreciated by looking at the real thing.
However, I don't think this is true of Japanese prints. I'm no expert, but I think they were made to be reproduced -- and in fact, many reproductions exist. Color fidelity is probably not a thing. Prints are also small, so that's not a factor either.
In this case, I would say the thing you get out of it is the knowledge that you are looking at "the real thing", a physical piece of history. Whether this is important to you, only you can decide. I've long decided I don't care enough about the Mona Lisa to go look at it in person; reproductions are enough for me. I can make a different decision for other pieces of art that feel more meaningful to me.
Why would anybody want to see one of the greatest, most influential, most enduring artworks ever created by man? No idea ;)
Right? I've seen the Mona Lisa. It didn't add anything to my life. Is it just FOMO?
For some, I imagine it’s a matter of experiencing and connecting to something of cultural significance. That’s not for everyone, and that’s okay.
I never saw the big deal with the Mona Lisa. Sure it’s a painting I could never do myself but why is this one in particular so special? I don’t get it
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I was being facetious, apologies. I have no desire to see the Mona Lisa as it's of no interest to me. But for art that I am interested in, I want to see it in person. There's no need to, of course, but I want to. If you don't want to see art in person, don't worry about what why others might.
You might find the answer to that at the bottom of the page titled “Find out more about Hokusai's Great Wave” which leads to https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Great_Wave_off_Kanagawa
Do you mean art in general or just the Great Wave?
This in particular. I've now seen a picture of it and I do appreciate the composition. But why would I want to see the "actual thing"? I was hoping for answers like "the colours are more vibrant and can't be reproduced on most monitors" or "it's very large, much larger than you could possibly display on your monitor". But instead I just got downvotes.
Ignore the downvotes.
I think in general the answer would include the fact that computer reproductions of art are seldom color accurate. Every step from taking the picture to compressing it to displaying it in your monitor is lossy/distorted. The colors and texture of paintings are better appreciated by looking at the real thing.
However, I don't think this is true of Japanese prints. I'm no expert, but I think they were made to be reproduced -- and in fact, many reproductions exist. Color fidelity is probably not a thing. Prints are also small, so that's not a factor either.
In this case, I would say the thing you get out of it is the knowledge that you are looking at "the real thing", a physical piece of history. Whether this is important to you, only you can decide. I've long decided I don't care enough about the Mona Lisa to go look at it in person; reproductions are enough for me. I can make a different decision for other pieces of art that feel more meaningful to me.