it's amazing how less than a week in new york city can produce so many moments of absolute artistic awakening. though i'm convinced i can have similar moments of enlightenment at home as well, there's something about holidays away which force more exploration: we have an expiry date on our time at a particular space and so purposefully seek out what treasures are around us, while at home we fall too easily into the traps of taking everything for granted. why is human nature so predictable in this way?
in any case, i have many things i want to say after visiting some glorious art spaces in the last few days, so may need to string them out into multiple posts... to start out, the Met had a large exhibition of giorgio morandi, an italian modernist painter whose personality couldn't be more opposite of marinetti, modigliani, or the other more renown and infamous fellow countrymen and artists of his generation... mordani didn't seek after an explosive reputation, but lived and painted quietly - teaching printmaking at the local art school in bologna for his whole life. his paintings are relatively "simple" and downright banal compared to the overly charged works of boccioni or carrà. he painted a great deal of still lifes, concentrating on blocks of shapes arranged in various ways and in various lights. he'd paint series of the same set-up of tall, thin vases and jars at different times of the day. this makes up the bulk of his work. about this "restriction" of subject matter and his quiet, understated life, he said the following:
"I have always concentrated on a far narrower field of subject matter than most other painters, so that the danger of repeating myself has been far greater. I think I have avoided this danger by devoting more time and thought to planning each one of my paintings as a variation on one or the other of these few themes. Besides, I have always led a very quiet and retiring life and never felt much urge to compete with other contemporary painters. My only ambition is to enjoy the peace and quiet that I require in order to work."
oh that last bit is so beautiful! isn't it wonderful to think of an artist actually creating art for the sake and enjoyment of its creation, of the process and delivery... not to draw undue attention or lavishly self-aggrandize, but instead to work peacefully and quietly. gorgeous and moving and powerful and wondrous....
2 comments:
Today I sat and ate lunch in a small Burmese restaurant while reading "breaking the alabaster jar" and this post also kept running through my head. I was trying to decide which quote to send to you of the section I read, but I couldn't decide -- but essentially of LYL and how he says that even in poetry was never published it would still be the vanguard of civilization and completly worth it
this is such a beautiful quote and such a beautiful piece. i've been thinking about it for quite some time, thinking i wanted to gather more wisdom before i commented, but alas: my reaction to it now is just the same as at first, simply: lovely, lovely, lovely.
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