Page 55 - Studio International - June 1966

Flamboyance and eclecticism

London commentary by Edward Lucie-Smith

No one, I suppose, would associate the name of Feliks Jubilee of George V. Ever since then I've had this
Topolski with that of Jim Dine. Yet recently I've had interest in English pomp and circumstance, the outsider's
conversations with each of these artists which seem to awe and amazement. If you read certain comments into,
suggest that, after all, they do have one or two things in or out of, my portrait of Prince Philip, they are there
common—most of all, perhaps, a discontent with the half by chance, but half by necessity, just as they are in
world of the big dealers. the series of murals of the Coronation which I did for
Topolski is now in China, having just finished painting Buckingham Palace. And you must remember, when you
his gigantic portrait of Prince Philip. This marriage of work to commission, how simply everything happens. In
two very different atmospheres is perhaps typical of a this case, I had a telephone call from Prince Philip, sug-
man who describes himself as 'a lone wolf'. Topolski says, gesting that I paint a portrait. Prince Philip thought he
`I don't fit into any accepted situation. I go by the art- should be shown in uniform. So I said—why not a horse?
dealer's channels altogether, and work as far as possible And the result was this gigantic picture. I believe in
to commission.' I asked him if painting a royal portrait accepting things, in not pre-planning myself. Even when
didn't present him with certain problems. 'My answer I paint a royal portrait I'm following my own bent all the
would be a sort of self-defence,' he replied. 'As you know, time.'
I'm not dogmatic. I follow the zigzagging of my instinct I asked Topolski whether he'd be content to accept the
in whatever I do—I simply let go. The picture of Prince label 'court painter'. 'Obviously not,' he said, 'because
Philip isn't an attempt to make a photographic likeness— it suggests disgusting things. In some ways I go back to
the usual kitsch portrait of royalty. What I was trying to the past, in some I turn towards the future. For example,
do was to catch the symbolic association—to make some- when I took my very big studio under the bridge by the
thing that was a kind of icon. This fits in with my own Festival Hall, I was very conscious that I was intention-
Feliks Topolski preoccupations, the line I want to take instinctively. You ally moving back to the concept of the Old Master. In
Prince Philip on horseback
Oil on canvas must remember that I came to this country ages ago—in the past, a painter was a simple craftsman, working in
12 x 9 ft 1935— and the pretext was that I wanted to draw the his own workshop. And this is my own attitude. I have
all sorts of projects which don't fit into the world of the
art-dealer at all, but which a big studio helps to make
possible. For example, I want to make two very big series
of paintings which can be added to as the spirit moves
me— one a memoir of my own times, and the other one
a developing diary. Perhaps, at some point, these two
projects will unite, will flow into one another. But I
can't undertake them if, at the same time, I have to
think of pictures as things which have to fit into the
limited space of a commercial gallery.'
This led me to inquire how he saw his work being shown,
outside the context of the studio itself. 'There's yet another
project I'm working on, this time with Cedric Price, the
architect. We're trying to invent a kind of anti-architec-
ture—or at least an architecture which isn't bound down
by its foundations. I want to transpose my painting into
the environment, in the kinetic sense—to create a port-
able exhibition which will also use sound and projections;
a travelling visual circus. We've already made some
moves in this direction, and it's quite possible that an
exhibition of this kind will be shown at a provincial festi-
val in England, and also, perhaps, in Italy and Poland.
It's the kind of thing which is best done under the aegis
of an industrial firm—it offers the kind of co-operation
which is good for the artist and good for industry.'
Topolski looks forward, as he says, to 'creating an inde-
pendent work of art, outside the museum context, and
outside the scope of the commercial galleries'. Jim Dine,
whom I saw on his recent visit here, is less optimistic
about the kind of opportunities which are now open to
the modern artist. He said, 'There now seems to be no
place for painting in America anywhere. I'm not satis-
fied with anything I see there.' What disturbs him is the
pressure of commercial exploitation. 'When I get back,
I'm going away to change the tempo of my life—I'm
going to do some teaching at Cornell University.'
Despite this Dine still strikes an Englishman as having a
tremendous, controlled vitality which makes everything
265