Painting is no longer a way to communicate to the common person. Hieroglyphics retold stories and chronicled history to the (illiterate) masses. Thomas Merton learned the Christian plan of Salvation by looking at the Fresco paintings in European churches. Dali and the Surrealists showed the world the twisted depths of their imagination and gave us a glimpse into the subconscious. Paintings can no longer communicate that way.
