195
andelaboratesketches.Whenitcomestothefinalcanvas,Imustthereforeavoid
beinganenlarger.SofarasIhaveasystemforavoidingthis,itissimplicityitself.
Idonottakeupsketchestoworkfromuntiltheirpotentialitiesinterestmeasmuch
asthesketchesatthestartdid.Secondly,Ibringeverythinginthepaintingalong
together.Thefirstfewpencillinesorbrushstrokes—saywithintwentyminutes—
mustcarrythefeeling.Whatresultsmustbebasicallyalreadyfixed.OtherwiseI
willflounder,thechancesare.Butfixingthecharacterandthefeelingofthework
early,Icankeeponwiththepaintingformonthsusuallywithoutdiscouragement.
Itusuallytakesmonths.
"Idonotacceptrecentconclusionsintheartpress:thatIhaveturnedbackto
realismorthatIamaromantic.Becausethetermisambiguousandfullofmeanings,
Iamstillcontenttobecalledanabstractionist.AtthemomentIamconsidering
withsomeinterestthepossibilitythatIambringingemotionintoabstractionand
thatIamreaffirmingtherelationshipofmyworktolifeandlivingthings.
"ThispossibilityappealstomebecauseitsuggeststhatIdonotbelongtothe
directioninabstractionismwhichistodaythevogue.The'vogue'—acruelandanapt
word—isdecorativeandimpressionistabstraction...."
GreenewasborninwhatisnowsuburbanNiagaraFalls,NewYork,in1904,
butwasrearedintheMidwestandhaslivedlongerinNewYorkCitythaninany
otherplace.Hisacademictraining—largelyinphilosophy,Englishliterature,and
thehistoryofthearts—waspursuedatSyracuse,Columbia,andNewYorkUni-
versity.Astohiseducationinpainting,hestates,"Twice,foralmostthreeyears,I
livedandworkedinViennaandParis,buthadnoformaltraininginartwhatsoever.
Ilearnedfromfriend.s,andperhapsmostfromaPolishpainterinParis,Stanislas
Grabowski.WhatIlearnedfromhimwasnottechnique,buttheinsurmountable
difficultieswhichtheartisttodayfacesinsociety.Ihavelearnednoless,perhaps
more,fromthewomanImarried,andwhoseveryexceptionalintegritysurviveda
heavyacademictrainingasasculptor."
HewaschairmanofAmericanAbstractArtistsforfouryearsatitsbeginning,
and hascontributedseveralarticlesto magazines.AttheCarnegie Instituteof
TechnologyinPittsburghheholdsthepositionofProfessoroftheHistoryofArt
(includingmusicandthetheater).In^1950 hispaintingsweregivenparticularprai.se
byoneofthebetterknownartjournals.WorkbyGreeneisownedbyprivatecollectors
andbytheMuseumofModernArt(twoexamples),theMuseumofNon-Objective
Art(threeexamples),andtheWhitneyMuseumofAmericanArtinNewYork;
WalkerArtCenter,Minneapolis,Minnesota;andtheUniversityofNebraska.He
livesinPittsburgh,Pennsylvania.
CROPPER,William,CliakwaTeaPlantation, 40 x30.Illustration—Plate 23
"ThesourceofChakwaTeaPlantationistheresultofarecenttripinEastern
Europe.ItwasinthefoothillsoftheCaucasianMountains.Myreactionwasin-
toxicatedbyanexoticcountrysideandpeople.Iattemptedtotranslatethearoma
ofteaintocolor,toconveyatinkleandfeelingthatoneassociateswithtea.Itwas
paintedinthetreatmentandsimplicityofthecountry.Thesceneportraysthegather-
ingofteathathadbeendriedonlongstripsoflinen.
"Ifeelthatartisconditionedbyenvironment,thattheartistinordertoflower
andgrowmustgethisnourishmentthroughhisrootsinlife.Whenartisdivorced
fromlife,withoutanyroots,itcannotsurviveforverylonginrarefiedatmosphere.
Asdevelopmentofsocietyiseverchanging,sodoesacreativeartbloomforth.Itmay