Amazing Art Facts

Most of us know a few anecdotes related to artists and their works, but there is a whole world out there filled with unbelievable facts about art that are equally interesting and hard to imagine. For your pleasure, we’ve assembled a few of them.

A Colorblind Person Gets an Art Lesson

If you frequent social media platforms or have been looking through some painting tutorials, you may have come across Bob Ross. Bob Ross was a wholesome and optimistic artist that was famous for declaring that anyone can paint in his free Joy of Painting tutorials and had a few phrases he was known for, like saying that there were no mistakes, just happy little accidents. One of the viewers of Ross’ tutorials said that they could not paint due to them being colorblind. His response? A whole Joy of Painting episode dedicated to that one fan where he painted only with different shades of gray. He was truly a gem.

Picasso’s First Word

This one is a bit anecdotal in nature, but it still deserves a spot here. It is said that Picasso could draw even before he could walk – that is how much talent he had. It was also one of his biggest interests as his first word was ‘piz’. The Spanish word for pencil is lápiz. Some kids notice their parents or an animal first. However, Picasso first notices one of the essential tools for artists.

David Almost Wasn’t David

One of the most famous works of art that were present in the popular media is Michelangelo’s David. The beautiful marble statue and its anatomic correctness has been the subject of many a discussion. However, it was a bit of luck that we got to marvel at it. As it turns out, Michelangelo is the third artist working on that particular piece of marble. It was originally meant to become Hercules and the artist sculpting the marble was Agostino di Duccio, four decades before Michelangelo had a chance to work on it. He and, later, another artist after him found the marble too difficult to work with and Michelangelo continued where they left off.

Practical Insanity of Salvador Dali

Salvador Dali did many inexplicable things. He always wore his mustache in a curious way, he had exotic pets (including an ocelot) and had himself thrown out of art school. We could write an entire piece dedicated just to him and his eccentricities, but we will settle for one involving the perfume line ‘Fracas’. Fracas means shattered or broken and Salvador Dali was commissioned to do some artwork for the shop window in order to promote it. His interpretation of the request led him to appear at the shop location without any art supplies and simply hurdle a rock into the shop window.