No, it’s not some kind of new exercise regime or new brand of cosmetic. It is the study of why art affects us the way it does … amongst other things. It is to do with appreciation of qualities like beauty and how to define these effects. There are some big puzzles. For instance, if a forger paints a copy of a Van Gogh that is indistinguishable from the original why is it of lesser value? Let’s say the difference can only be known by carbon-dating the materials used for instance. That means that the original and the fake as you look at them are absolutely identical and yet one is worth a fortune while the other one isn’t for reasons that have nothing to do with what it looks like. So; the aesthetic value of the painting is not just in the appearance of the art or even the technical merits of the artistic talent put into creating it but in the facts of the history of it. Now, isn’t that bizarre? Because it is the first one, painted by a particular person at a particular time it is worth much more, even if it looks identical to a copy. How can two pieces of art that look identical be of a different value? In the end, you see, it is all in the mind - the value we choose to give to something and the values by which we decide that even if they look identical they are not of identical value. It only goes to show how subjective the experience of art really is. Possibly there are as many versions of the Mona Lisa as the number of people who have looked at it

Another first from Artists UK DotNet! If you are an artist (or even if you’re not) perhaps you have had a piece of artwork, painting etc (or several even!) reported lost or destroyed by a publisher or manufacturer with no evidence. Or maybe the artwork or painting was just plain stolen from your house or exhibition. Whichever it was, at Artists UK DotNet we are offering a free listing service to help in the recovery of such items. Someone out there must know something! Our new section for these listings is here.

This may be of particular use to artists who did not have artwork returned by publishers in the bad old days before the legal requirements came in to do so. Of course, it may be that the current owner has no idea that the artist was never paid and that the artwork still belongs to them. It may be that they acquired it through perfectly honest means as far as they know. But maybe they would feel uncomfortable enough to part with it or make some form of payment if they knew that it had not been legitimatelyacquired from the artist.

If your painting or artwork was stolen then it must be somewhere, someone must know something and the Worldwide Web must be the best of all possible places to try to reach that ’someone’. There are no guarantees so that is why we do not intend to charge for this service. What have you got to lose? Send us an email with as much information as you have and preferably a small jpg image of the painting or artwork that will come up around 3″ x 4″ on the screen. Make sure you tell us when and where the painting or artwork was lost or stolen as also who might be interested in owning it (so we can include relevant words in the listing to pick up on searches through search engines). We’ll also need your statement in writing in the email that you are the legal owner of this painting or artwork. If you are prepared to offer a reward for the return of this painting or artwork then please let us know how much.

We hope this new service will be of use to artists and art lovers in recovering their property. If you have any comments or suggestions about all this then please click the Comments link and tell us what you think.

Tales from Topographic Oceans by Roger Dean

This whole double album LP was based completely on a footnote on page 83 of Paramahamsa Yogananda’s autobiography (usually known as ‘Autobiography of a Yogi’). It is divided into four parts to correspond with the four shastric group of texts referred to in the footnote that are essential elements of the Vedic tradition in India which is in its turn the foundation of Hinduism and other religions (who all claim the Vedic tradition as part of their traditions but which pre-dates all of them by thousands of years and was entirely different in its character to the later religeons!). The album came out in 1973 to critical acclaim both for its music and it’s incredible cover painting by Roger Dean, which blends fantasy and surrealism. The speed lines on the fish appear on the original album cover but not on later posters etc. As usual for Roger Dean, a combination of techniques and mediums have been used starting with an airbrushed background. The “stars” have been hand-painted on, not sprinkled in blobs. Roger Dean designed the lettering of the title and the YES logo became a firm identifier of the band throughout the seventies.

This Roger Dean landscape or under-sea-scape includes some famous English rocks taken from the Dominy Hamilton postcard collection - Brimham Rocks, the last rocks at Lands End, the Logan rock at Treen and single stones from Avebury and Stonehenge. Jon Anderson, YES’s singer, wanted the Mayan temple at Chichen Itza included and Alan White the drummer wanted the markings from the plains of Nazca so these are in the painting as well.

Not every YES album has carried a Roger Dean cover but he is firmly connected with the band in the mind of every long-term fan. His paintings are large and he works on a massive easle when he paints. I once jokingly suggested to him that he doesn’t know how to paint a small picture! Tales From Topographic Oceans with its waterfall under water is just a surrealistic masterpiece!

Relayer by Roger Dean

This album followed on from Tales from Topogrtaphioc Oceans and came out in 1974. The sound is quite different in places which is mainly due to the departure of Rick Wakeman and the arrival of Patrick Moraz on keyboard duties. They were both extremely accomplished musicians but with quite different styles. The first track (that is just under 22 minutes long!) ‘Gates of Delirium’ is based on part of Tolstoy’s ‘War & Peace’. The album, in true progressive rock tradition, only has a total of three tracks!

The full cover has a great rattlesnake on the back cover whose tail can be seen down the bottom left of the front cover. The “impossible” rock walls on this cover are another trademark of Roger Dean. He likes to push back the frontiers and improvise and experiment (one of his paintings for Uriah Heep combined almost every artistic medium you can think of from collage to oils to watercolour etc).