Andrew Wyeth was accused by his many critics of depicting a false world, a world that on the surface may appear to be realistic (he was viewed as a realist) but was actually false and not at all representative of the world he lived in. Wyeth depicted a selective, nostalgic view of a quieter, simpler America, akin to the themes of Norman Rockwell or Edward Hopper.
I’d have no problem with that even if I thought it were true. That could very well be the way he viewed his life and the critics just don’t get it. Then again, I have never been known to agree with the critics or modernist views on art. I’ve been experimenting with egg tempera so I had just started looking at Wyeth’s work again in December. I love this photograph. He looks like such a character.
“Wyeth remained a polarizing figure even as the traditional 20th-century distinction between abstraction and avant-gardism on the one hand and realism and conservatism on the other came to seem woefully inadequate and false.”
http://www.iht.com/articles/2009/01/16/america/wyeth.3-409455.php
EDIT: Lord Whimsy’s wonderful post about Wyeth.
Obit on the “false world” theme pointed out by C.P. McDill Ricardo Montalban was most remembered for his role in Fantasy Island, wherein his character created virtual worlds for paying customers to act out their fantasies. Patrick McGoohan was the creator of a British Sci-Fi television series about a man who is transported to a fake village where nothing is as it appears.
Another one…
British lawyer and writer John Mortimer, creator of the curmudgeonly criminal lawyer Rumpole of the Bailey, died Friday. He was 85. – Associated Press, Jan 16, 4:13 PM EST.
Thought it was last Friday. But I think he deserves a mention.
Re: Another one…
They were all in their 80s except for Wyeth who was 91.
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Lots of people died this week… poor guy in the wheelchair…
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Lots of people die every week! Most of us don’t make the news though. I want to skip the news and die in obscurity in some not at all dramatic and hopefully not too painful circumstance.
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True. Same. But we can’t always get what we want hey…
I just thought of another layer to the synchronicities. Many of Andrew Wyeth’s famous paintings were done on Islands (in Maine). The village in The Prisoner was on an island if I recall. And of course, Fantasy Island.
You are so good at this. If it was a parlor game, you would win.
An advantage of being non-competitive is that nothing I involve myself in has a winner or loser. I find it more fun to brainstorm with others than to play to win.
Now I know why you won’t play scrabble with me. :P
Wyeth’s work was fantastic. More evidence that the critics don’t have a clue. :/
There is a very good reason why critics are critics. :)
I’m more of a dork, I remember Montalban the most for his funny fake chest on ST4: The Wrath of Khan. He was a most awesome Khan.
Oh. I’m right with you. I always think of Montalban as Khan.
“Khaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaan!” :)
I was weaned on original ST. My parents were Trekkies. I think that when he played Khan in the original series he was genuinely ripped. The fake chest in the movie was hilarious. I’m sure it was the second ST movie though. ST4 is the one about saving the whales. That’s the one where Kirk said…
“No Ma’am. No dispshit.”
My favorite Kirk line next to…
“Khaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaan!”
I think you’re right, it’s been too long.
It’s so weird to look at William Shatner today and remember his younger days.
My English BFF and I used to eat cereal and watch Star Trek before going to bed… yes, original Star Trek. what a phenomenon that show turned out to be.
It sometimes disturbs me that these are the things I remember. I can’t even remember the last name of people I worked for or dated and when that was exactly.
Captain Kirk was my first crush. I was so disappointed that he wasn’t a real person and didn’t count. I left him for Barry Gibb.
ROFL!
See, I can’t even remember who was my first crush. Probably something embarassing like David Cassidy or Donny Osmond.
Although my mum swears I was in love with “Roger-Dodger Miller” when I was a tot and could sing all his songs from the radio.