Robert Genn's Twice Weekly Letter
Insight and inspiration for your artistic career.

Dear Artist,

Yesterday, Brigitte Nowak of Cambridge, Ontario, Canada, wrote, "Is there any chance that you might reprint the original letter sent to twenty friends that you mentioned in your book Love Letters to Art ?"

Thanks, Brigitte. It was written on a vintage Spanish computer in an Internet café in Galaroza in the Sierra de Aracena, Huelva, Spain. There was no Esoterica, no clickback to follow, and no expectations. The first name on the list was Carolyn Millard. She's still accepting them. "A Chance of Success" was sent on July 22, 1999.

Dear Carolyn,

Over the last while I've been re-reading The Autobiography of Alice B Toklas by Gertrude Stein. It's a good read--a name-dropping eternal Paris dinner party from the turn of the century to the twenties. The Cubists are there, art dealers, all kinds of celebrities.

In 1903 Gertrude Stein commissioned Picasso to paint her portrait. It was during the time when he was still trying to paint in a relatively realistic manner. Gertrude attended no less than 90 sittings. Every afternoon for three months she trotted forth with her little dog and took her position. On what was to be the last sitting, Picasso told her not to come. He scraped away everything he had done on her face and painted from memory. Thus the painting was finished.

Everyone who saw the work didn't think it looked like Miss Stein. Contemporary photos of her bear little or no resemblance to it. Picasso admitted that it didn't look like her, "but," he said, "she will begin to look like it." About this time Sargent and Whistler were doing portraits of quality, elegance--and with a likeness--in less than a dozen sittings. One might conclude that Picasso didn't know what he was doing.

There's a lesson in all of this. Shortly after the Stein portrait Picasso co-invented Cubism. The rest is history. The Cubist style did not require likeness. It required something else. Something that Picasso had. Picasso's lesson was to follow a direction that gave him a chance of success.

Best regards,

Robert

PS: "Titian, Rembrandt and Goya were the great painters. I am only a public clown." (Pablo Picasso)

Esoterica: That's it. What was my motivation? I felt the artists I knew needed straight talk, with realistic and practical information on the real motivation behind the making of art--in a form that was free of "artspeak" and jargon. I still believe this. Being habitually curious about my own art activity and the creativity of others, I felt I was up to the job. I was certainly encouraged by the increasingly mind-bending number of artist friends who find value in some of my ideas. It's been a great trip. Thanks for the fun. Happy New Year!

If you would like to read more information related to the above letter please visit the Marvelous Confabulation Clickback


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