"Modern art is what happens when painters stop looking at girls and persuade themselves that they have a better idea"

John Ciardi’s statement humorously critiques the shift in artistic focus that accompanied the onset of modernism. By referencing “painters stop looking at girls,” he is alluding to the age-old tradition of representing the human form—particularly the female nude—which had been a staple of Western art for centuries. Artists such as Titian, Botticelli, and Renoir gained renown largely through their studies of the human figure, often idealized in sensual and romanticized ways. The phrase suggests that art's subject was once deeply anchored in observable, tangible beauty, with the human gaze directed outward, toward the visible world.

The latter half of Ciardi’s remark—“persuade themselves that they have a better idea”—targets the inward turn of modernism, where artists set aside realism and traditional subjects in favor of conceptual innovation. Modern art, for Ciardi, marks a turning away from the immediate pleasures and universal appeal of the human form, replacing them with introspective experimentation, abstraction, and the pursuit of originality for its own sake. The “better idea” is often less accessible, requiring explanation or contextual knowledge, rather than the intrinsic pleasure that comes from appreciating form, color, and beauty as found in more classical art.

There is a playful cynicism in Ciardi’s words. He implies that this departure from representational art is rooted in ego or self-delusion: artists "persuade themselves" of the merits of their innovations, even if the result is less appealing or less communicative to the audience at large. It is as though the painter’s gaze has shifted from external inspiration to intellectual pursuits that prioritize novelty or theory over visceral connection. Ciardi’s observation can be read both as a lamentation for lost traditions and a satirical jab at what he perceives as the modern artist’s detachment from the passions and simple pleasures that once drove artistic creation.