This reminds me of an poem I wrote 20 years ago and always wanted to rework. My alarm just went off. I got no nap this hour because it took me a while to find it, but now I’m ready. It’s called “Blonde.”
“I fail to see what the Moderns are supposed to have discovered about color.”
Mary Cassatt (letter to Berthe Morisot & her daughter Julie Manet, autumn 1879)
I’ve never met a color I didn’t love, but what you? All this bother about discovering color makes me nervous. As if painting was a game of one-upmanship. Who’s got the best/most/clearest/sincerest/most outrageous perception. As if we all see/saw things the same way as each other.
And I can’t help but wonder if there’s anything new to explain about say, shades of blue – that you or Renaissance painters didn’t know? The blues in your “Little Girl in a Blue Armchair” don’t strike me as virginal. Your little girl appears thoroughly modern – slouched, legs akimbo as if bored to death of waiting for something – not a Renaissance Madonna. And that lapdog isn’t some lamb in a creche. Nor does he seem stuffed in the painting to show a patron’s wealth. I suspect he’s the family pet.
Maybe your blues aren’t medieval lapis, but let’s be modern. I’d rather be sprawled in those two peacock/cobalt overstuffed chairs than almost anywhere else.
A bit tired, a bit late but napping in between helps
Definitely 🙂
your smile
slipping a rainbow
into my dreams
Nice haiku! Such a lovely sentiment. Thanks.
This reminds me of an poem I wrote 20 years ago and always wanted to rework. My alarm just went off. I got no nap this hour because it took me a while to find it, but now I’m ready. It’s called “Blonde.”
Living Color
Which color will you choose to paint your bathroom?
Harbor gray? Egg-shell white? Paled turquoise?
Is its color so important?
What color is your skin?
Ghost white? Baby powder? Linen?
Is its color so important?
What about her skin?
Amber? Beaver? Buff?
Is its color so important?
What about your soul? What color is it?
Teal? Chartreuse? Amethyst?
Is its color so important?
When is color so important?
When you can choose it?
Or when you cannot?
DEAR MARY #2 hour 10 2017
“I fail to see what the Moderns are supposed to have discovered about color.”
Mary Cassatt (letter to Berthe Morisot & her daughter Julie Manet, autumn 1879)
I’ve never met a color I didn’t love, but what you? All this bother about discovering color makes me nervous. As if painting was a game of one-upmanship. Who’s got the best/most/clearest/sincerest/most outrageous perception. As if we all see/saw things the same way as each other.
And I can’t help but wonder if there’s anything new to explain about say, shades of blue – that you or Renaissance painters didn’t know? The blues in your “Little Girl in a Blue Armchair” don’t strike me as virginal. Your little girl appears thoroughly modern – slouched, legs akimbo as if bored to death of waiting for something – not a Renaissance Madonna. And that lapdog isn’t some lamb in a creche. Nor does he seem stuffed in the painting to show a patron’s wealth. I suspect he’s the family pet.
Maybe your blues aren’t medieval lapis, but let’s be modern. I’d rather be sprawled in those two peacock/cobalt overstuffed chairs than almost anywhere else.