I am inquiring here about taste in all forms of "art," not just the visual arts. Please include music, literature, film, etc. in your consideration as well as painting, sculpting and so forth.
I believe it is Mahler's Fifth Symphony that has been described as "schrecklichschön." That term suggests that the work is beautiful but also in some sense terrible or even horrifying. Other examples might be Beethoven's Fifth Symphony and Picasso's Guernica. "Rechtschön" on the other hand refers to a work which is simply or purely beautiful, say like Brahms' Lullaby. Or do you prefer your art to be beautiful with a touch of other worldliness? Examples of the last might be Pachelbel's Canon and Samuel Barber's Adagio for Strings (theme music in the film Platoon,)
Please if possible give at least a short statement as to why you prefer the particular "brand" of art (in the sense set forth here) that you do.
Update:[ЭΩ∞]: I'm stupefied. Such kind words and open acceptance of dead artists of any and every ilk and some live ones too. Are you having a particularly uplifting day? Where did all the misanthropy go? I too have broad and varied taste in music and art. But if I were destined to spend 20 years on a deserted island with a single CD player (assuming I had an endless supply of electricity or batteries) and only 10 CDs I could bring along, I think I could fairly easily narrow the field of possibilities. Rest assured there would be no marching music.
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As with most things in life, you should never approach and/or appreciate art – in all its living, breathing, dynamic, glorious, and some perhaps not so glorious manifestations – with a set frame of mind. Art is NOT only meant to enlighten us, help us feel our bond with The Creator (for those who require one), lead us to come closer to our oneness with the Universe, bring happiness and/or pleasure to our lives, set us on the path to enigmatic anomaly, help us march to war or dream of peace, pump us up to cheer our heroes, put the beat in our booddy’s, console us in our times of need, assist some in their egocentric quest to presumptuous cultural know-it-all-ness, serve as the easy meal ticket for the human mediocrity, or even help us transcend the obvious niceties in Being itself. … But at times, it is merely intended for setting/creating a mood - a perfect background, if you will, for us to unleash our imagination and better express our own state of consciousness. Not unlike a canvas or a piece of blank paper on which you make your own marks. In other words, art is NOT always destined to be "interpreted" or even "intentionally enjoyed", but at times simply "employed" as the ideal backdrop against which you explore your own being, artistic needs, or otherwise. Many writers, for instance, have a thing about listening to a piece of music while creating their literary works of art; not with the idea of really "listening" to it so much, as to let its befitting vibrational states and concealed inspirational energy create the perfect background mood for what they aim to express. I, for one, can honestly tell you, that in the course of realizing my own (scientific) work, I desperately require the artistic assistance of, and exposure to, all kinds of art, by all kinds of artists from all over the world (way too many of them to enumerate here). On more than a few occasions, for instance, I have found “my noodles” lost in museums, movie theaters, public concerts, or listening to marathon sessions of my favorite music (from Classical to Classic Rock to Jazz to Blues to New Age to Heavy Metal to Pop to Regional Music to ……. well you get the picture) at home, all in accords with the shifting requirements of my being. …… Art is not a limited and static state of mind, a yuppie cultural wet dream, or a German Black Forest Cake recipe to be approached with selectivity, exactness and rigidity, it is rather an integral, fluid-like and ever-changing/evolving component of the overall human experience itself. Feast on all kinds of art and for all kinds of reasons, the more the better - ENJOY!
P.S. As I am writing this, btw, I'm listening to Mozart's Requiem and looking at my favorite painting by Salvador Dali hanging on the wall in front of me. Nice combination, huh? :-)
I like art that is more than just beautiful; say a portrait drawn not from the sense that it just looks pretty but also because it makes a statement. Like the work of Diego rivera.