This morning's 12x16 oil on panel painting of the old farmhouse was done from a different perspective. I walked around it and found a different view. The seldom seen back part of the house shows greater disrepair.
In any case, to get a different perspective on what it means to paint, consider this: I've been reading about one of my favorite 19th century painters, Eugene Boudin. In 1874, he was invited to show in the first Impressionist exhibition, though the participating artists were not yet called 'impressionists'. What got my attention is the following sentence: "Besides the painters who would become famous--Monet, Renoir, Cezanne, Degas, Sisley, Pissarro and Berthe Morisot--the first group included the names of Lepine, Guillaumin, Bracquemond, Cals and de Nittis, not to mention another seventeen artists who are almost unknown today" (E. Boudin by Jean Selz). Imagine for a moment that you are one of the seventeen. You might think you now have it made. I'm going to be famous. Of course, none of them probably actually did think that since they all really wanted to be in the academic exhibitions, and in 1874, no one knew what would happen. But they probably didn't think they would disappear. In the end, one has to work/paint for a different reason, especially since one cannot control what will happen.
No comments:
Post a Comment