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Artists should endeavor to express their ideas in terms easily understandable to others. The Old Masters built up a tradition that there is first of all such a thing as good composition; that good drawing is not necessarily slavish and stupid imitation of nature; that color and tone while being in general founded on the character of nature can be treated in a wide variety of manners; that a full understanding of the qualities and possibilities of the many mediums at the disposal of the artist is of utmost importance; that technical skill must be at the command of the artist and that an understanding of and sympathy with humanity must be his guide as to what beauty is.¹
~ from a letter by Curran to a "Mr. Frager," dated August 18, 1939.
To see more work by Charles Courtney Curran, please visit my earlier post on the artist.
The above quote is from American Arts Quarterly, a magazine which "supports today’s burgeoning cultural revival by championing creative individuals in a variety of artistic disciplines." Its authors "explore the legacy and current practice of figurative painting and sculpture, the civic and symbolic ideal in architecture and memorials, formal and narrative poetry, structural melody and tonality in music, and demonstrable standards in arts education."
The journal is available free of charge to artists, scholars and related professionals. For a complimentary one-year subscription, send your request to: aaq@nccsc.net
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¹James Lancel McElhinney, "Charles Courtney Curran", in American Arts Quarterly, Vol. 28, Number 1 (Winter 2011), Newington-Cropsey Cultural Studies Center, p. 43.
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1 comment:
great quote from Curran! reminds me of something attributed to Bonnard..."composition is everything!" or something to that effect.
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