I wanted to like this meme, but upon investigation its point falls apart. Neither of these modern artists were “artists with degrees,” in fact it’s the complete opposite. They weren’t elitists from academic institutions, they came from ordinary backgrounds and were basically untrained in art.

▪️The banana duct taped to the wall was done by Maurizio Cattelan, an Italian artist. He was ”the son of a truck driver and cleaning woman, he grew up rough and working class. He spent his youth getting poor grades in school and then flailing around with s****y, menial jobs as a young man…”

▪️He had no formal training in art, he started his career designing and building furniture. He is known for being a joker, humor and satire is at the core of much of his work.
https://www.vice.com/en/article/maurizio-cattelan-is-one-of-arts-greatest-mysteries/

▪️The tryptich (three white canvas squares) was painted by Robert Ryman, an American artist. He did attend college, enrolling at the Tennessee Polytechnic Institute in 1948, then transferring to George Peabody College the next year. But he studied music & doesn’t appear to have gotten a degree (he was in college for just 2 years)

▪️In 1950, Ryman enlisted in the US Army reserve corps and was assigned to an army reserve band during the Korean War. After his military service he moved to NYC with hopes of becoming a professional saxophonist.

▪️He took on various odd jobs to support himself, including being a security guard at the MOMA. Here he met various contemporary artists, bought supplies and started experimenting in his apartment, eventually launching his art career.
https://web.archive.org/web/20081026084819/http://www.guggenheimcollection.org/site/artist_bio_140.html

▪️Clearly, “artists with degrees” doesn’t explain these modern art works. Instead, these were people with no formal art training that managed to reach high status in the modern art world. A different narrative is needed to explain it!