My post on Andrew Wyeth below got me thinking about the whole business of realism in painting. And that reminded me of a story I read, years back.

A pastor I worked for occasionally got long letters (more like manifestos) from a friend who was an artist. I got to look at the letters too, if I cared to. From looking at them, I concluded that this artist was a) not as talented as he thought he was, and b) a little nuts. However, he told a story—or rather related an added sidelight to a well-known story—that I’ve never forgotten, and am inclined to believe.

The story of Diego Rivera’s mural, “Man At the Crossroads,” is pretty well known. John D. Rockefeller commissioned Rivera to paint the mural for Rockefeller Center in 1933. Rivera deviated from his original plan by adding the figure of Lenin to it, and refused to change it at Rockefeller’s request. So Rockefeller paid him for it, then covered it up and later had it demolished.

Now here’s the sidelight my pastor’s artist-friend added. He said that, because of the embarrassment of this experience, Rockefeller made a vow. “Never again,” he said, “will I allow an artist to play this kind of trick on me. This new Abstract Art is all about shapes and colors. You can’t tell what it’s saying. It would be impossible for an Abstract artist to do to me what Rivera did. Therefore, from now on I will commission only Abstract works.”

And because of Rockefeller’s stature (this artist claimed), Abstract Art became tremendously fashionable with wealthy art patrons everywhere. Thus Abstract became the dominant artistic style of the 20th Century—not because it actually gave artists greater scope to explore new frontiers of creativity, but simply because that was where the money was.

I like the story because I’ve always disliked Abstract. When I was a kid who thought he’d grow up to be (some kind of) an artist someday, I took pride in being able to draw things that actually looked like things, and resented all the excitement about cubes and smears.

But I’m asking here—is the story true? Does anybody know? Is it possible to know?

Welcome to the Forum, on the way to which a funny thing happened. Why the crowd is laughing so much, I don’t know, but maybe I’m just visualizing the threat of battle too much.

I can’t help thinking the axe-welder at the beginning did not prevail only because of a technicality. I’d like the referees to examine the tapes. Doesn’t the axe touch the other player’s head and stomach (or hypochondriac region)? Shouldn’t that have put him down a good bit?

Andrew Wyeth, who helped make realism in painting respectable again, has passed away.

He was the son of N. C. Wyeth, the brilliant book illustrator.

Brian Riedl of The Heritage Foundation has ten questions about the “Economic Stimulus Bill.”

#10 Mayors have pledged to spend stimulus funds on items such as a mob museum in Nevada, a polar bear exhibit in Rhode Island, and curbing prostitution in Dayton, Ohio. As National Review asked, how come one Bridge to Nowhere is a national embarrassment and 1,000 Bridges to Nowhere are a “stimulus?” Given the 11,000 annual earmarks, why should taxpayers trust politicians to spend this money better than they would spend it themselves?

# 8 The economy sank because people over-borrowed for houses they couldn’t afford, and financial institutions over-borrowed for investments they badly misjudged. Washington’s solution is to borrow $800 billion that it cannot afford. How will adding $800 billion to the national debt (which will also raise interest rates) solve a recession created by imprudent borrowing? And who will bail out the American taxpayer when the bill comes due?

Why can’t we solve our current debt/economy problem by doing something reasonable, like selling California to private investors? (via World)

I swear before Heaven and earth that I heard a young man say the following today, in the Men’s Room at the Bible School:

“I’ve been reading this book called The Faery Queene. I heard it’s where Shakespeare got some of his ideas. It’s really good.”

Somewhere, C. S. Lewis smiled.

As Phil noted below, Patrick McGoohan died yesterday (Ricardo Montalban too, but I have less to say about him). McGoohan is most famous for his roles in the TV series, Secret Agent (known as Danger Man in England), and The Prisoner. Also for his one-dimensional but massively entertaining portrayal of King Edward I of England in Braveheart.

I watched both Secret Agent and The Prisoner when I was a kid. Can’t say I was a big fan, though. Secret Agent, in my opinion, didn’t have enough pretty girls, and The Prisoner was all style, no actual story (and again, not enough pretty girls).

It turns out the lack of pretty girls was purposeful. According to McGoohan’s Wikipedia entry he accepted the leads in these programs partly on the condition that he do no kissing. Apparently he had moral objections (like Kirk Cameron) to kissing a woman who was not his wife. Continue reading RIP The Scarecrow, and other maunderings →

Having seen the imminent (eminent?) demise of personal blogging, I have decided to post my random musings for the day, adding to them as the day drags on. Feel free to join me by adding your own musings. Perhaps we will amuse ourselves a bit. Ha, ha! I crack myself up.

I like French Onion soup. A while back I had a great bowl of it at Big River Grill, which used one of their microbrews in the recipe. Yummy, heart-warming, reminding me of all the French matrons in my life who have urged me to have another helping of Marengo Veal Sauté or Tomates confites. I also had a bowl of Campbell’s Caramelized Onion Soup on Monday, and it could not compare. There’s something different with Campbell’s Select soups lately. They don’t taste as good as they used to.

I didn’t remember that Richard Montalban was Khan. I guess that means I am not a trekkie, even if I wanted to be. How could a fan forget something like that?

I see that it’s 25 below in Lileks neck of the woods. Continue reading Personal Random Musings →