Art_Market_-_February_2016_

I have been asked this same question many times

about my paintings and to be honest, I've never

answered it to my satisfaction, let alone to the

person who asked it of me.

The question resurrected itself recently when I

was casually reading through one of my art books

and I came across various statements by Henri

Matisse, some of which were made when he was

quite elderly. I'm quoting one of them below that

I found to be particularly intriguing:-

Was this the answer that I was looking for, an

answer which I could glibly quote to get me out

of a tight spot next time someone asked me that

infernal & annoying ideas question?

What exactly did Henri mean by it? Matisse was in

his last years of life when he made this incredible

statement, so you would think he knew what he

was talking about. I mean he had been producing

Art for decades upon decades and surely he was

very sure of his own artistic thinking about such

matters.

Firstly I think we have to separate the term

'Artist' from 'Painter'. In the 21st century an artist

is someone who makes Art from any item or

material and exhibits that art in a public forum. A

painter is a person who chooses specific tools to

create a two dimensional Art.

As a painter myself, Matisse's confident

explanation of where artists ideas come from

art blog

...Where Do You Get Your Ideas?

“

“The artist has but one idea.

He is born with it and spends

a lifetime developing it and

making it breathe”

Henri Matisse (1869-1954). holds particular resonance.

With art and artists there is always a but –

with a capital 'B' – And so I decided to try and

decipher Henri's words with the advantage of

hindsight and the help of my own work from the

last 30 years. I was born in 1951, so according

to Matisse I should have had my 'one' idea for

a long time therefore I should know this 'idea'

well. In fact, I should know it intimately. But do

I?

OK, so if we take the concept of a 'single art-

idea' acquired at birth literally, then it is clearly

incorrect, I mean everyone, including artists,

have hundreds if not thousands, of ideas over

a lifetime. I know I have. I decided to meditate

for an hour or two and go as far back as I could,

right back to my early childhood, just to see

if I could recall my very first [serious] piece

of Art. That first painting where I held a pre-

determined concept, before I made any marks

Portrait d'Henri Matisse