Think of the following as an assessment of my artistic sanity!Or lack, thereof!
Recently, I bought a big huge painting, thing. For my main wall!
The old Van Gogh print [Starry Night] just was not cutting it anymore, for me.
So, I shopped around. Yes, I did.
And I got the painting that you see above.
It’s called “Prelude” and it is by Canadian artist [one of the infamous Group of Seven] A.J. Casson.
I love the thing.
From the moment I saw it, among others of his work… I loved it.
And I am not sure why!
It is wonderfully framed [in my opinion]… a real cherrywood look to the frame… plus my favorite color is navy blue [which is prominent in the thunderous sky of Prelude]…… but, can I be honest?
What I loved most was that guy walking down the boardwalk thing. The guy in the foreground. I don’t know. I just identified.
The salesperson told me the history of the painting… how that Casson was attempting to portray the plight of the miners somewhere or other [I forget] but I loved the angles… I loved the coloration… I loved the scene.
After I got the thing, I realized that from either the extreme left or the extreme right, as you look at the picture, that man in the foreground, and his entire boardwalk, is coming towards you! Even if you are totally sober! Now that in itself has got be worth a few bucks, no?
I loved the detail of the house in the foreground set against the abstractity of the houses in the middle-ground…. I don’t know. It just [of a piece] resonated with me and I shelled out many hundreds of slave-earned dollars for it.
One person looked at it, in my apartment, and condemned it.
Said it was not worthy of “the garage”!
Did that phaze me?
No.
I still loved the thing.
Yet the comment, and the surety with which it was delivered, startled me.
So here is what I want to know. It is very simple.
Would you, yourself, have such a painting in your house?
Would you?
And furthermore… select among the following options, regarding your opinion of my devotion to such a piece:
A) I love it, too. Would hang it!
B) I don’t like it. But do not think you are retarded.
C) I don’t like it. And I think you are retarded.
D) You wasted your money. Should have stuck with the Van Gogh.
No need to elaborate. A simple letter will do, one of the four.
Thank you, dear readers.
***********
A
ReplyDeleteAhhhh... thank you anonymous-reader.
ReplyDeleteI had an appointment booked with an Artistic Therapist.
Shall cancel!
-- Cip
A
ReplyDeleteIt reminds me of Edward Hopper! ;D
Dear Maggie:
ReplyDeleteHmmm... I am confused, your response BEGINS with an "A" and ends with a "D".... should I reschedule my appointment for therapy?
[I love Hopper].
-- Cip
A. It's a gorgeous Casson, after all.
ReplyDeleteOh, thank you, Melanie.
ReplyDeleteIf I am not mistaken... this is THREE "A's" I have received.
Detractors be damned!
My peeps say this painting is fly!
It's "representin'."
-- Cip
I think it is beautiful and would hang it in my house in a heartbeat. I love the color and the bolt of lightning in the sky and I like the horizontal lines that run through it that nicely ground the verticalness of the houses and trees and the man. I'd say money well spent :)
ReplyDeleteFour for four!
ReplyDeleteThis is good.
This is encouraging....
I like it. It has some striking features, as you've noted I'm not sure I'd like living with it, but I'd visit it from time to time.
ReplyDeleteDude...that's a wink and wide mouthed smile! :D Oh, and yes get help quick! ;D
ReplyDeleteA few months ago someone commented on the fact that I have nothing (and I mean absolutly nothing) on my walls, and so he gave me a 3D ceramic carving of 4 horses, the first one painted purple, the next orange, then turquoise and finally maroon. Now my walls are completely bare except for this austintatious carving of four horses.
ReplyDeleteYes, I would definitely hang it in my house. (Option A).
ReplyDeleteAnd, Cip, what that person said or what your readers say doesn't really matter. You love it. That's what counts.
Isabella, thank you for your qualified endorsement.
ReplyDeleteMaggie, I am seeing a reputable shrink!
Shark, can I inherit your Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse when you move to Paris?
Beth, thank you, and you are right. I should just trust my instincts a little more.
I like it therefore it's choice a).
ReplyDeleteMoney spent on art is usually well spent.
Thank you, May.
ReplyDeleteThe overall consensus is encouraging.
And I totally agree, Money spent on art usually IS a good thing.
What if its value will centuplicate in ten years?
ReplyDeleteYou might be able to retire.
Is there not another option, a sub-A, perhaps? I do like it, but I'm not sure I would want it in my living room to look at every day. (Choosing art is very personal, as you well know).
ReplyDeleteI certainly don't hate it. You made an excellent choice. Poo to the person who criticised your choice. For all you know, they have a velvet painting of a bunch of dogs playing poker hanging over their fireplace.
May:
ReplyDeleteThis is awesome! Now I have another word to add to my list of frequently used words that do not exist.
Centuplicate.
I love it. Shall use it.
Patricia:
I agree.
I could have used a few more categories there, yes.
I seem to always gravitate toward classifications that, in one way or another, incorporate "retardedness" and "non-retardedness" as elements of evaluation. Perhaps not always the best method of meaningful assessment.
What do you mean?
ReplyDeletePerhaps you meant: "Now I have another word to add to my list of INfrequently-used words that DO exist".
A- Really like it-love is a little strong-but it looks more like an "Epilogue" to me...he's walking AWAY from the stormy sky and the company's houses..unless it's a Prelude to change or prelude to his new life...heck i don't know...I do like it though
ReplyDeleteCipriano,
ReplyDeleteyou don't need our opinion about the art YOU ENJOY having in your four walls! And yes, sure, mail it over here. I'll hang it as soon as the nail's in the wall! :-)
May:
ReplyDeleteIs there really such a word? My Mac Dictionary says no.
But if you say there is one.... I shall not only believe it, but shall immediately start using it!
Cleo:
I think that the "prelude" idea alludes to the presage of a storm, sort of, with the lightning and all. But then again, that's just a guess.
Merisi:
Thank you for your endorsement, and for giving me license to trust my own judgment. You have now given me the power to go and get that mohawk haircut I have been wanting.....
A, absolutely
ReplyDeleteTruly!
ReplyDeleteThank you.
I shall not take it down.