emily’s Reviews > Permanent Red: Essays in Seeing > Status Update
emily
is on page 106 of 224
‘Imitation amounts to no more than a salesman’s gimmick—drawings that angers—the over-sophisticated because it suggests pornography. —& although—numerous works created in such a way must fail—ones that succeed have the breath of life in them—Auerbach’s paintings have—extraordinary physical presence. One says naked instead of nude. She is there on her bed. You—by looking and not disturbing her—cease to be a stranger—’
— Jan 12, 2026 02:21AM
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emily’s Previous Updates
emily
is on page 133 of 224
‘I was drinking his Irish whiskey—he added ‘Yes—some of the best people—losers. I’ve known—terrible brilliant men—all brilliance on the outside—all morality inside—a second line of defence.’ How he hates morality—this octogenarian. For him morality is a foreign imposition brought on the point of the bayonet—this man—the last—romantics—All life—a risk—that is no reason for panic—normal course of things—ends in death—’
— Jan 17, 2026 03:15AM
emily
is on page 108 of 224
‘Incommunicability is thought to be the theme of our time—to renew—tradition to which he belongs—And to believe in continuity is to be modern—is to be—for us who can respect nothing else—revolutionary—The static single viewpoint in painting & sculpture can no longer satisfy—expectations deriving from our new knowledge of history—physical structure—psychology. We now think in terms of processes rather than substances’
— Jan 12, 2026 02:27AM
emily
is on page 70 of 224
‘Having—ability to speak—he acted dumb—Given freedom—he condemned himself to solitary confinement—Possessing memories—countless references to the outside world—he tried to lose them—preserve only—consciousness of what happened at the moment—If he had not been talented—one would simply dismiss—as incompetent—irrelevant—Pollock’s talent—make his work relevant. Through it one can see the disintegration of our culture—’
— Jan 02, 2026 05:16PM
emily
is on page 66 of 224
‘Klee can barely be considered an artist at all. A work of art must be born of conscious intention—& the spectator—must be able to infer this—Klee spent all his energies trying to rid himself of outward intention—to cease striving and become entirely passive—turned himself into an aquarium—his reflexes flower like anemones, his unconscious urges twist and turn—our curiosity, but also our total inability to be moved—’
— Jan 01, 2026 07:14PM
emily
is on page 66 of 224
‘Klee can barely be considered an artist at all. A work of art must be born of conscious intention—& the spectator—must be able to infer this—Klee spent all his energies trying to rid himself of outward intention—to cease striving and become entirely passive—turned himself into an aquarium—his reflexes flower like anemones, his unconscious urges twist and turn —our curiosity, but also our total inability to be moved’
— Jan 01, 2026 07:12PM
emily
is on page 51 of 224
‘All bad painting is sentimental—The worst of Victorian painting sentimentalised spiritual yearning; the worst of Soviet painting sentimentalises the achievements of labour; we, at our worst, sentimentalise cheese-cake. What makes a work like this almost pornographic is its destruction of all intimacy and its lack of all passion.’
— Dec 24, 2025 05:38AM
emily
is on page 33 of 224
‘—dramatised life is bound to distort—how it distorts—the perversity—is—the hero—made in the image of our most destructive & anti-social fantasies—I'm criticising from—simplest—most human position—Van Gogh was the genius he was—not 'cause he could see no way out—but 'cause he could write 'I admire the bull—eagle & man w/ such—intense adoration that it will certainly prevent me from ever becoming an ambitious person'’
— Dec 17, 2025 03:25PM
emily
is on page 24 of 224
‘Everyone remembers—he cut off his ear. Few know—he said: ‘The cart one draws must be useful to people whom one does not know’; and—he dedicated his life to trying to make this true. Lust for Life—film—by Minnelli—is interesting precisely in so far as it unconsciously reveals this need to exploit the artist’s unhappiness. I say ‘unconsciously reveals’ because this film is not just a sensational catch-dollar affair—’
— Dec 16, 2025 04:01PM
emily
is on page 3 of 224
‘The title Permanent Red was never meant to imply that I would not change. It was to claim that I would never compromise my opposition to bourgeois culture and society. In agreeing to the re-issue of the book I repeat the claim.’
— Dec 14, 2025 11:39AM
