Mummy’s boy
I find it almost impossible to say which is my favourite painting. Like my favourite song or the price of red diesel UK, it changes on a daily, even hourly basis. After all, appreciation of art is totally dependent on your mood and your emotions; if I’m angry, I’d probably choose a chaotic Basquiat mural but when I’m happy and calm, my favourite would definitely be Akseli Gallen-Kallela’s beautiful picture of Lake Keitele in his native Finland.
If pushed on my favourite ever work of art – which frequently happens at the kind of dinner parties I go to – I usually plump for “Arrangement in Grey and Black” better known as “Whistler’s Mother”.
I first saw James McNeill Whistler’s masterpiece in Paris when I was only eight, and remember it so vividly that I could almost swear that was the moment I became interested in art. I find it very hard to vocalise what it is about such a simple and almost austere image that I find so rich and luxuriant, but I can stand in front of the large canvas, drinking in the colours, and spotting new details that I’ve never seen before.
Whistler himself was an interesting character; an American artist who truly embraced the bohemian life of a turn-of-the-century French artist. He created a real variety in his body of work, which at first glance seems to have been created by different men. But when you spend some time looking at all the pieces, you realise there is a common thread; Whistler’s very particular view of the world he lived in and his own talent. He put it best when he said; “The masterpiece should appear as the flower to the painter.. perfect in its bud as in its bloom.. with no reason to explain its presence.. no mission to fulfill.. a joy to the artist, a delusion to the philanthropist.. a puzzle to the botanist.. an accident of sentiment and alliteration to the literary man.”
Similar Posts:
Make your own art : It’s not as difficult as it sounds,…
Basic Ballet Exercises : A bare is not necessary if you would…
The Science Museum : There are few exterior signs that help you…
Frieze Art Fair 2010 – Review : London’s Regent Park in…
Comments are closed!