Artipathy discussion

Ok, I'll be the first to admit I've gotten really slow on this read. He just kind of gets on my nerves, despite the wonderful information he slips in. I've been underlining what I find relevant for me so I'll get to that soon. Particularly I liked his comparison of the carpenter's pencil vs. Faber for a rougher look. Might have to try that one. And I've never tried the milk addition to cut down glare. Anybody here tried that? Anyway, I get kinda annoyed at his constant reliance on his brother but I guess that's what he needed to do to get his art done. I'm sure his life wasn't an easy one, but I keep thinking that I also know he was an absinthe addict as well, so I feel less sorry for him than he would like. Is anyone here feeling the same?

I thought about this some more. It's not really the reliance on his brother that bothers me but the way he just seems so manipulative about it. But perhaps that was what he needed to do to be taken seriously and survive to do his work and study.

He does seem manipulative and seems to feel entitled to it too.

Aha! So it's not my imagination! Thank you, Terri! Still, I guess we have to remember that he was mentally ill... so this was no doubt part of his psychosis. As was his interpretation of what people said to him. I have to say, I wonder what his brother's letters were like back to him. He was also born into a certain "class" so that could also attribute to his attitude of privilege.

Good point. Class was much stronger then.

You can really see it when he talks about the woman he lives with. His whole thing about worrying if the family will accept it and how he acts like he's doing her this big favor. Actually, he probably was. An unwed mother at that time did not fare very well and he implies she was a prostitute before. And his way of talking about painting the common man. Well, that's true, he was one of the few doing that too. So yes, class was an issue. It is annoying to hear how he puts it but he was a product of his time. At the same time he wants to escape it he is also a victim of it because it is a part of him.

I need to go back and look at his work with this in mind. How he is showing the common man yet not one of them. Perhaps this gave him the perspective he needed to represent them, giving him a certain distance. When you are "in" a situation it is so much harder to show how it really is. So, the question is, does he show himself as the viewer or the participant. What role does he put the viewer of his paintings in, a passerby? A worker in the field? Hmm....

Interesting question...

I'm starting to get excited as V.G. discovers even more how he loves painting and his connection to it. I find it so reassuring that he spent two years drawing before he even felt comfortable with painting. It reminds me to slow down gives me permission to draw more, which I love. Keep thinking I have so little time, but when you see how he makes himself wait, even though he considers he has started late, it confirms that patience is indeed the virtue here.

Oh, and I like that he keeps on going, in spite of his various illnesses, real and imagined and other life complications. He keeps returning to his art in spite of life's interruptions and never says, ok, this is happening so I'll never get there or I might as well give up. No, as soon as he has a chance, he gets back to work. I wonder if he keeps this drive throughout the book/his life?

What I liked ws he would exlpain to Theo why the drawing was so important to him and his development. He makes a valid case.

Yes, I really like that too. You really get inside his head and understand what he was looking for.