“You can’t begin too soon to encourage an appreciation of art! And each artwork has a story.”
SAVED BY BEAUTY - by Paul G. Chandler
Baba talking to each of his three grandchildren about the first artworks in their respective art collections
"The world will be saved by beauty,” wrote the great 19th century Russian writer Fyodor Dostoevsky in one of his novels. They are words that I find poignantly speak to our current moment. What do I mean by that? Well, for this 20th session of Baba’s Art School 101, let me explain through a fun tradition I have with my grandkids.
Upon the birth of each new grandchild, and I now have three, I have purchased them a work of art. What I have purchased them is not “high art,” but rather a sweet or somewhat humorous painting, that they can enjoy and appreciate, once they reach an age of awareness. As someone who loves animals, I decided to get each of them a painting of a baby animal.
For my first grandchild, a little boy, we were living in Qatar, in the Middle East, at the time. So, I naturally thought of camels, those “ships of the desert,” as they are often called. I commissioned a South Indian artist living in Qatar at the time to create a painting of a humorous close-up portrait of a young camel.
Baba showing his grandson the first painting in his own art collection, as a newborn (L) and in the present (R)
When my second grandchild was born, a little girl, we were living in the “Wild West” of the US. Growing up in Africa, as a kid, I always thought the animals in the US were boring. After all, we had so many exotic animals in Africa. However, then I was introduced to buffalos, or bison, in the American West, and my perspective completely changed. So, I decided to get my granddaughter a painting of a baby bison by an artist living near us then.
Baba showing his first granddaughter the first painting in her own art collection, as a newborn (L) and in the present (R)
Recently, I had the joy of becoming a grandfather again, welcoming another little granddaughter. As I am now working a good bit in Senegal, West Africa, where I grew up, I decided to get her a “sand painting” of a baby elephant, as Senegal is known internationally for the artistic medium of “sand-art.”
Baba showing his second granddaughter the first painting in her own art collection (L), and on the (R) the sand painting itself by the Senegalese sand artist TINE
“The world will be saved by beauty” Dostoevsky says. He acknowledges that while the world needs to “be saved,” there is the hope of being rescued by “beauty.” On the surface, one might want to dismiss these words as naive.
However, there is much more to these words than may first appear, for “beauty” transcends aesthetics. Beauty is not a concept with a single definition. It is rather something that opens your imagination to what can and should be.
This fuller understanding of beauty is captured by a message a good friend of mine, Malkhaz Songulashvili, a bishop in the Republic of Georgia, sent me recently. He wrote, “We are both in the business of healing the world with beauty: the beauty of art, the beauty of inclusion, and the beauty of embrace.”
Malkhaz refers to this as a “theology of beauty.” In a recent interview, he elaborated on this concept.
“For over 150 years, we had to learn how to survive, and the theology of beauty has been our means of survival. . . So, here’s the meaning: You come across different types of ugliness. . . What do you do? You respond to this ugliness with beauty. It can be a project of beauty. It can be a beautiful action. It can be a statement or liturgy that may be beautiful. We learned that the best way to survive and maintain sanity is not to be confrontational or antagonistic, but to respond to every single expression of ugliness with the project of beauty.”
He touches on why beauty is such a powerful medium to “save” our world. This is what I wish for my grandchildren as they grow up. Dostoevsky’s full quote in its entirety reads, "The world will be saved by beauty, and what is more beautiful than love."
I believe that says it all.
Artworks:
-(left) Sibi Joseph, Baby Camel, 2020, Acrylic on canvas
-(center) Rosie Ratigan, Baby Bison, 2022, Acrylic on canvas,
-(right) TINE, Baby Elephant, 2024, Colored sand, baobab glue on wood