I have this curious habit of imagining I was a member of a historical art movement. I see myself as a friend of Derain and Matisse, say, and I try to imagine what kind of art I would produce. As an icon painter living at the time of the great Andrei Rubleyev, or an early impressionist...the fantasy takes me through the history of Art as I first learnt it when as a child I received The Reader's Digest Great Artists as a birthday gift.
The latest fantasy took me all the way to Château de Fontainebleau, the focus of European Mannerist artists seeking refuge from the lawlessness that had swept over many European countries. This time, as on a few other occasions, I did not limit myself to imagining the art I woud produce. I produced it.
It goes without saying that the end product is not what you would typically expect from an artist belonging to the chosen art movement or period. Obviously, if I'm going to take the trouble to envisage myself outside the bounds of the present, it will not be in the guise of what Rimbaud called 'the horrible workers'.
The latest fantasy took me all the way to Château de Fontainebleau, the focus of European Mannerist artists seeking refuge from the lawlessness that had swept over many European countries. This time, as on a few other occasions, I did not limit myself to imagining the art I woud produce. I produced it.
It goes without saying that the end product is not what you would typically expect from an artist belonging to the chosen art movement or period. Obviously, if I'm going to take the trouble to envisage myself outside the bounds of the present, it will not be in the guise of what Rimbaud called 'the horrible workers'.
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