The 48 Laws Of Power

18!?

‘

LAW 24

SceneX

The

greatEnglish

landscape

painter

M.W. Turner

(1775-1851)

was

knownfor

hisuseof

color,

whichhe

applied

withabrillianceanda

strange

iridescence.

The

colorin

his

paintings

was

so

striking,

in

fact,

that

other

artistsneverwantedhiswork

hung

nexttotheirs:It

inevitably

made

every-

thing

arounditseemdull.

The

painter

SirThomasLawrenceoncehadthemisfortuneof

seeing

Turner’s

masterpieceColognehanging

inanexhibitionbetweentwoworks

ofhisown.Lawrence

complainedbitterly

tothe

gallery

owner,

who

gave

himno satisfaction:After

all,

someone’:

paintings

hadto

hang

next to

Tumer’s.ButTurnerheardofLawrence’s

complaint,

andbeforetheexhibi-

tion

opened,

hetoneddownthebrilliant

goldensky

in

Cologne,making

itas

dullasthecolorsinLawrence’sworks.AfriendofTumer’swhosawthe

paintingapproached

theartistwithahorrifiedlook:“Whathave

you

done

to

yourpicture!”

hesaid.

“Well,

poor

Lawrencewasso

unhappy,”

Turner

replied,

“andit’s

onlylampblack.

It’llwashoffaftertheexhibition.”

Interpretation

Many

of

acourtier’s

anxieties

havetodowiththe

master,

withwhommost

dangers

lie.Yetitis

a

mistaketo

imagine

that

themasteristhe

only

oneto

determine

your

fate.Your

equals

andsubordinates

playintegralparts

also.

Acourtis

a

vaststewof

resentments,fears,

and

powerfulenvy.

Youhaveto

placateeveryone

who

mightsomeday

harm

you,

deflecting

theirresent-

mentand

envy

and

diverting

their

hostility

ontoother

people.

Turner,

eminent

courtier,

knewthat

his

good

fortuneandfamede

pended

onhisfellow

painters

aswellasonhisdealersand

patrons.

How

many

ofthe

great

havebeenfelled

by

envious

colleagues!

Better

temporar-

ily

todull

your

brilliancethantosufferthe

slings

andarrowsof

envy.

SceneXI

WinstonChurchillwasanamateur

artist,

andafterWorldWarIIhis

paint-

ings

becamecollector’sitems.TheAmerican

publisherHenry

Luce,

in

fact,

creatorofTimeand

L2)?magazines,kept

oneofChurchill’s

landscapes

hanging

inhis

private

officeinNewYork.

Onatour

through

theUnitedStates

once,

ChurchillvisitedLuceinhis

office,

andthe

two

menlooked

at

the

paintingtogether.

The

publisher

re-

marked,

“It’sa

goodpicture,

butIthinkitneeds

something

inthefore-

ground-—asheep,perhaps.”

MuchtoLuce’s

horror,

Churcl1ill’s

secretary

calledthe

publisher

thenext

day

andaskedhimtohavethe

painting

sent

to

England.

Lucedid

so,

mortifiedthathehad

perhaps

offendedtheformer

prime

minister.

A

few

days

later,however,

the

painting

was

shipped

back,

but

slightly

altered: a

single

sheep

now

grazedpeacefully

in thefore

ground.

Interpretation

Instature

and

fame,

Churchillstoodheadandshouldersabove

Luce,

but

Lucewas

certainly

aman

of

power,

soletus

imagine

a

slightequality

be-

tweenthem.

Still,

whatdidChurchillhavetofearfromanAmerican

pub

lisher?

Why

bowtothecriticismofadilettante?