Re: 'Sir Joshua Reynolds, a flashy painter ...' Alas we disagree about Reynolds. For me he is one of the best English painters. I even prefer him to Gainsborough and Turner. Certainly to the Romneys etc. He is definitely in my 'canon'.
(The sooner the word 'canon' is forgotten in relation to art, the better, in my view. It fosters a very short-sighted view of art history.) D On Tue, Jun 24, 2008 at 12:22 AM, William Conger <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Every artist works with a model in mind, however vague > or eclectic. The artist is always working for and > against some model of what art can be. There's no > such thing as a canon. That's the creation of art > history and it has no life of its own, as it were, but > is animated solely by art historians doing their work > and competing with one another for what's in and > what's out. > > Artistic death occurs when some supposed canon becomes > the measure of what an artistic success is. This has > been proven over and over in the course of history. > Sir Joshua Reynolds, a flashy painter and English > Royal Academy director said it best: "He who follows > must necessarily stay behind." > > It was said that the most adventurous American > frontier pioneers moved on when they heard the sound > of another man's axe. Similarly, for artists, as > soon as the canon is defined, it's time to move on. > In pioneering days the preachers, teachers, and > lawyers followed after the frontiersmen. Likewise in > art. For that reason I agree that art schools should > "preach and teach" some of the "traditional" curricula > and studio practices, the civilizing impulse and > shaper of the art theory, but no one should equate > those with the need for the serious artist to > continually "break new ground" by moving on, and on, > and on still more, and excited by the freshness and > wildness of lawless discovery and free from canonical > cautions. > > WC > > -- Derek Allan http://www.home.netspeed.com.au/derek.allan/default.htm
