Here’s the thing: I randomly selected four paintings by established abstract expressionistic artists. Then I added a work painted by Ewereka the tame sheep (with a paintbrush attached to her side). Finally I mailed out the images to my database and asked people to choose which the sheep’s painting was. Given that Ewerekas hooves were at the bottom of the painting and that it was widely visible on Google, the results were surprising. There were 54 replies of which 21 guessed incorrectly. So roughly 39% of people could not tell the difference between a sheep’s painting and established artists work. Let’s estimate that of the 33 (61%) correct answers, at least half did not guess, but rather went onto Google/had seen the painting on my site/saw it in my book The N’ewe Ewe/picked it because the hoof marks on the painting (some said this is what had helped them). That would leave 39% not knowing what painting was done by a sheep vs 30% guessing correctly. So, most people would not be able to tell the difference between ‘art’ (worth big $$$) and trash. Which all goes to show what a strange world it is! (The paintings are below)
