Determining Greatness

A few recent quotes on how we determine the value of art:

"Perhaps the importance that we must attach to the achievement of an artist or a group of artists may properly be measured by the answer to the following question: Have they so wrought that it will be possible henceforth, for those who follow, ever again to act as if they had not existed?" (Walter Sickert, 1910)

"There is a widespread belief, not only among the general public but even among many art scholars, that artistic success can be produced by persuasive critics, dealers, or curators. In the short run, there is little question that prominent critics and dealers can gain considerable attention for an artist's work. It is equally clear, however, that unless this attention is eventually transformed into influence on other artists, it cannot gain that artist an important place in art history in the long run." (David Galenson, Old Masters and Young Geniuses, 2006, p. 3)

And some thoughts on the matter by the ever-quotable Chuck Close: 

Painting Process

Here is an artist talk (in two parts) by Chuck Close, given at the MOMA a few years ago. I will write again soon, but I am in the midst of long painting days, and I find these videos inspiring.

Part 1:

Part 2:

Focus Girl, FOCUS!

I have been out of town all week, trying to remain productive by choosing new images and working on compositions for future paintings. After trolling through a million images and experimenting with a hundred different ways of working with them, I have decided that I have to just stop and focus. And paint. I could plan new paintings until the end of time, but that won't get me very far. So I have chosen to concentrate on portraits for the next couple of months, and leave my other ideas aside for the moment. Lately, I have been thinking a lot about the work of Chuck Close - his merging of the idioms of photography and painting, his reliance on the portrait, and his ability to straddle the worlds of abstraction and representation.

Painting by Chuck Close

I've also been thinking about the work of Shelley Adler - her large scale portraits are so beautifully painted, bold and yet sensitive to her subject's particular character.
 

Painting by Shelley Adler

Her paintings seem to capture a tender moment of vulnerability, providing a touching antidote to Close's restrained, analytical approach. I'd like to think my work offers (or, I should say, is beginning to offer, or aspires to offer) a combination of these approaches - the rational with the sensual, addressing the artifice of the image while exploring the human frailties hidden within.