Approximately two hundred years ago, western society went through dramatic changes. The Industrial Revolution created wealth for people other than the nobility, and that influenced not only how people led their lives, but how they conceived of life as a whole.  Naturally, along with everyone else these transformations affected the artists and the art  of that time. Three beliefs that were promulgated in this tumultuous time - the "Romantic Period" -  have been carried forward ever since - and inherited by today's artists. No real thought has been given as to whether they are valid or appropriate for present culture and needs. Michelle Gaugy believes these beliefs are false - or at least not correct today -  and that they profoundly and negatively affect artists and their artwork - and therefore likewise affect our culture. It is her hope that we will have a lively discussion about this theory of hers.

Michelle Gaugy was born in San Francisco, and attended Barnard College in NYC.  She studied French, German, Russian, Chinese, philosophy, art history and business and has forgotten almost all of it  - except the art and ideas which fill her life every day. She has owned art galleries on the East Coast and now, in Santa Fe, for more than thirty years total, is a consultant to artists and galleries worldwide, and is a published author.