Page 45 - Studio International - August 1966
P. 45
Red 4 1966 the major colour is applied with a brush, however regu- would be pleased if his work had the same effect, because
4 ft x 4 ft larly, and the slight variations in thickness and texture it is not there to inquire into but to be accepted and must
P.V.A. and Acrylic compound
emulsion on canvas contribute to the expression of that colour's qualities. In be allowed to act in as immediate and unconscious a way
some pictures underpainting is allowed to show through as possible.
—with the same effect—and the bands and lines at the What Plumb's paintings have is an authority, a 'right-
edges can be seen, on close inspection, to bleed into one ness' which continually amazes because it has been
another, or to overlap or change size in a variety of ways. brought off with an absolute minimum of means. Res-
There is nothing in them which is exact or precise in tricting himself so severely, Plumb is always on the thin
the scientific sense. Each slight modification results from dividing line between conspicuous success and even more
the demands of a brief moment and bears witness to the obvious failure. Because the means are so limited,
continual process of revision so important to his method. because the final effect can so easily be everything or
The seductive power of Plumb's paintings, their 'magic', nothing, the phrase Alloway used to describe Barnett
defies all verbal analysis, as indeed it should. People with Newman, his 'heroic concentration', can be applied with
an objective cast of mind are always troubled by such equal truth to Plumb. Although the relationship between
work, and it has been said that it is children who are the picture and the spectator must be an intimate one,
particularly delighted by the paintings of Barnett New- the picture remains ultimately aloof and grand. It keeps
man, a painter whom Plumb greatly admires. Plumb its secrets because it cannot work if it is understood. q
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