Alex (whose name is also sometimes American Alex) awoke this morning at 5:30AM preoccupied with the thought of American Art. I decided I would work out the sand in my psychic oyster and share a pearl of knowledge and or/ opinion about the history of American art. Colonial art is not worth a hill of refried beans so I will not speak of this at this time. Americans were searching for an identity and the best they could do was ape the English and make lifeless portraits which did not yet flow with the blood of American genius or spirit. There were a few noble attempts and a Benjamin West etc and whatnot and etc. But they were still too busy making antiques and churning butter and cropping to make great art. One should take a moment to ponder the naïve artists and folk artists and then realize you have wasted your moment pondering something not worth the pondering you pondered. Soon we arrive at the Hudson river school painters who were noble and well intentioned and most fell short of greatness save for Church who was the greatest of American artist’s and Bierdstadt and a few select others whose names are not on the tip of my brain right now. Then we must come to (and think highly of) the great illustrators from the golden age especially Pyle and NC Wyeth who are the greatest of American artists and go far beyond the “I” label that is often place on them as illustrators. Remington was a truly American artist who had not the skill of Pyle but made nice Horses and developed a unique style all his own. Hopper cut his teeth as an illustrator and crossed into being a celebrated fine artist and had he not been an illustrator and faced deadlines and knew perspective he would not have become the hopper we know. Now lots hop back to the American impressionists and say they meant well and leave it at that as Pyle (who was only an Illustrator) far surpassed their daubings and paintings of fields and streams. (Sometimes you must go North by Northwest.) I will now mention Norman Rockwell and The younger Wyeth's and leave them a rightful place in The pantheon of great American artists. I will also mention Ryder as he was the most original of all American artists. I will also mention Sydney Mount as he was the first surrealist and did not even know it so I cannot give him overmuch credit. If you invent the wheel on accident I suppose it still rolls. I will now talk about the decline of American art and the abstract expressionist whose paintings are now as dated as disco and leisure suits and perms. The great mistake in American art was made when one man screamed "go flat!" It was then that all knowledge and hope and geometry fell out of art like candy from a pinata. Art was now in the hands of house painters and charlatans. They are best left as footnotes on the great American Art Dream. Pollock stole his drips from Max Ernst (who showed him the tin can of automatic drips) The Op artists could have been something had they real understood geometry but alas it all became a childs game of visual puns and optically promises that were broken in their own lifetime. We can breeze through the 60’s and seventies and mention Warhol, who (admittedly) took his whole thing from Dali But made some valid points about mass production and commodification (my word) . (His best work was his shoe drawings he did pre-fame for a living.) The 80’s will be ignored by alex as will all art up until now aside from Dr. Seuss who had a greater mind than all the American artists of the last 50 years with the exception of charles schulz who was a minimalist and a genius. Photography must be mentioned as it changed art forever. Abstraction and "non representational art was a reaction to photography but only Dali (not American) saw the genius in "hyper realism" which is one step beyond photography and two steps beyond "photorealism" which was a non intellectual-mechanical endeavor and no better than abstract depressionism.
oh yes---I forgot eakins
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