Barrington River

6" x 12" oil on panel

"This is a serious attack on the heritage of humanity," said Christophe Girard, deputy culture secretary of France with regard to the recent art theft at the Museum of Modern Art in Paris (see the full article in The Guardian). Artinfo.com has a list of the titles of stolen works by Picasso, Matisse, Leger, Modigliani, and Braque. The latter three are often dropped in the articles with attention focused on Matisse and Picasso because they have had the highest auction sales. I'm miffed for the other artists. Much more importantly it is very sad when greed asserts itself in the art world in the form of theft and in other ways such as owning a work of art as a trophy rather than because of sincere appreciation. Private ownership is necessary to support the works of artists (buy art!) and often leads to recognition and acquisition into a museum via direct purchase or donation. It is in museums, however, that art is democratic and available to all (at least on free nights). There is very little in this world, if anything, that isn't effected by money. We want art to be part of an ideal, something intellectual, cultural, and for many, spiritual or at least in some sense sacred. Paintings are objects and so are tied to ownership. I admire performance artists and artists involved in the ephemeral which take the object out of art; their work is anti "objet d'art".

Doing this plein air (painted outdoors on site) water view brings me into some uncomfortable territory. 1. it's a painting and already an object tied to commerce 2. landscapes inherently relate to ownership, territories, land values, public vs. private, etc. 3. sailboats are depicted which are most often for leisure and require expendable income 4. such water scenes are often collected as souvenirs of the shore or by boat lovers. It's complicated, though. Most boat lovers appreciate nature, the elements, and the beauty of being on the water, things that aren't things but are immaterial. They are the subjects I was painting, color and light being a part of them. While I was out there I thoroughly enjoyed a few people who came by to talk to me and look. Two construction workers walked over from the bridge they were repairing, pronounced it "beautiful" and remembered watching Bob Ross on T.V. A man who lived in a house behind me and owned a boat just to the left of the ones I painted talked to me about the town. He first introduced himself by miming the idea of being in the painting by walking into my field of vision; it was friendly and cute. I mention it because it reveals how people are drawn to art; art is for everyone.

It's all in the painting of the Barrington River, as well as this painter's perceptions of it all.