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| Robert Motherwell studio wall |
This shot of Robert Motherwell's studio wall reminds me of my "Dr. William Jordan story." You see how overshot paint/ink marks were made on the backdrop wall behind the art? Well I had a similar pattern on my own backdrop in my Graduate studio at SMU -- only there were no paintings pinned up this one time. I had just "cleared the decks." Dr. Jordan happened by, and he thought that the backdrop was my actual artwork.
As a fan of Cy Twombly and other artists of that era, he began to lavish high praise on this "work." Since Dr. J. was one of the finest art historians I have ever known, and was responsible for curating the fabulous Meadows Museum collection, including those Velazquez and Goya masterworks, I was not about to interrupt or correct his assumptions.
Truth be known, as a neophyte Grad student, constantly challenged by my faculty over my searching efforts -- I was also "starved for compliments." So, I politely soaked it all in. After he left, I was both flattered and embarrassed by this development.
Welcome to the bitter-sweet and ambiguous world of Fine Art appreciation. Always an extremely mixed-bag of results for me. A perfect example of my lot.
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