Page 42 - Studio International - April 1969

The popularization of the dubious, facetious, ification of a provocateur. He ought to be The pleasantly colored corner installation for
epithetical, proto-historically movemented art persuaded to write it out much more often.) ... a relatively barren looking room untitled (for
critical stereotypes of 'minimal' art and artists Barbara Rose as muse above the art political want of a more accurate label) (to the `innovator'
has become so nationally pervasive already wars is as incredible an image as Lady Godiva of Wheeling Peachblow) ...196<a1968 (with
that one absurdly dilettanted mid-Western riding through the countryside in Rudi proper emphasis on the later year) is set in to
woman has tried to advise me that an exposi- Gernreich's homosexually transparent undies. contrast with the lamp barred, 'cool white'
tion of mine within The Museum of Contem- lighted, emptied room, ineffectively labelled
porary Art of Chicago would have been more from recently researched information in- again as untitled but purposefully dedicated
appropriately 'minimal' if I had restrained my cluded in a letter of November 16-17, 1968 (your substitute referral to Mr. Hopper's
use of colour to one hue, yellow-instead of just for Brydon E. Smith, Curator of Contem- pleasant painted cosmic doorway at Yale, not-
two. porary Art, The National Gallery of Canada, withstanding) : (to Dorothy and Roy Lichten-
Ottawa. (On March 2, 1964 David Smith stein on not seeing anyone in the room) (I
Last year, the editor of a popular American sent me a postal card acknowledging the re- added Dorothy's name to the previously in-
magazine about art as usual, principally (dis- ceipt of an exposition announcement which tended reference to Roy's former painting
couragingly to me) directed to publishing crit- concluded, 'Your concept is good. Regards, when, on opening Saturday morning, I heard
icism, advised me that the three finest minds David S.' The following commentary is about of the Lichtenstein wedding of the day before.)
of contemporary art were critics Clement circumstances before and after receiving the The corner installation was intended to be
Greenberg, Michael Fried and Sidney Tillim. card.) beautiful, to produce the color mix of a lovely
Significantly, none of these preposterously Whether or not Smith ever came to the Kay- illusion to render the wall junction above the
praised, presumptuous, self-appointed, self- mar exposition is not known to me. His friendly `fact' of the floor triangle less visible than in
indulgent, self-inflicting appraisers and mod- attitude may imply that he remembered me usual lighting. I did not expect the change
erators on art is known as an artist first. from our considerable conversation while I from the slightly blue daylight tint on red rose
was once patrolling the Modern's 'Permanent pink near the paired tubes to the light yellow
Hyper-tense, super-serious (or is it supercilious Collection'. We never again spoke so well. I mid-way between tubes and the wall juncture
-well, slight matter) artfully footnotable pious surprised myself with Smith. I guess that I had to yellow amber over the corner itself. When
promo-proto-art historical polemicists such as gained substantial personal confidence through asked about the 'gold' light somewhat unfor-
M. Fried or Friedberg or Greenbfried or ... oh, what I had researched as my own art. Also, tunately available beside the vertical lamps
bother- as Groucho Marx used to sing, 'Show I enjoyed having to relate (respectfully) and because of the uneven plaster work of the walls,
me a rose and I'll show you a girl named Sam' yet, even to compete verbally with a plucky I complained that that phenomena was ap-
-have just about persuaded me that English veteran peer as definitely was Mr. Smith. proximately what the drip must have been for
sculptor (a rare distinction when one muses Nevertheless, somehow, as with Kline, I never de Kooning- an unavoidable incident of media
about the art history of Great Britain) A. went to visit Smith in Bolton Landing as he use...
Caro is the very best Cubist still practising (at had invited otherwise.
that, a genuine feat in post-historic artistic from a letter of November 29, 1968 to Phil
superannuation). Well, I'm glad that's over comment on a brief note of November 5, 1968 Leider in New York:...
with-and would you, could you believe that left for me in the Dwan Gallery in New York I might have enjoyed unlikely and unnecessary
I didn't have to invoke-quote Clement Green- by Artforum Editor Phil Leider: comparison with painted results such as those
berg even once to suppose it. Phil has 'confused' a dedication `(to Dorothy of Rembrandt or Caravaggio or even De la
and Roy Lichtenstein on not seeing anyone in Tour but with the Oblitskyed (that of Jules
from a postal card of February 15, 1969 in the room)' with infrequent entitling. The ref- Olitski) - that's utterly odious. There's no
reply to Barbara Reise in London : erence to 'the piece across the door' is mainly `cosmic' cosmetic on my effort.
Most opinions tell that critics fear my retali- inaccurate as only a partial indication of des- It is almost incredible, your affection-afflic-
ations against their opinionating about my cription because the apparent specific simple tion-adaptation-affectation, posing the ana-
efforts; therefore, they refuse to write. I don't act of 'cool white' light particularizing the chronistic opposition of supposed sacred and
know. But I have never struck a critic-not available room is not accounted for. Also, profane contemporary artistic attitudes.
even one of the arch bitches of New York or a paradoxically, the 'appeal' of the so palpably
member of Editor Leider's 'Hitler Youth'. illuminated interior is physically denied by the Now that I have relative reputation, affluence
It is irksome to realize that now that I am about barrier structure of the light-providing lamps and influence, I am pleased to be able to
to stop writing with any regularity, I have themselves. And so forth. perpetrate ambitious schemes which were for-
finally gained a plain, precise, 'sounding' merly prevented by lack of funds and insuffi-
writing devoid of experience cheating meta- from a discontinued letter of November 8, 1968 cient concern among other persons to help to
phors and the like. Well, that's that for all that, intended for Phil Leider in New York as infor- facilitate them. This delighted reference is to
said Robert Graves. mation for an article which he was preparing modular projects pretending to contextual in-
about a then current Dwan exposition of mine; finity such as the bright artificial barrier of the
from a letter of February 6, 1969 in reply to I explained to Phil, 'Yesterday, I began to pre- `greens crossing greens' installation accom-
Barbara Reise in London : pare a detailed letter to you about the three plished for Jean Leering's Stedelijk van
By the way, I hope that within opinions of my different attempts for the Dwan but Sonja (my Abbemuseum in Eindhoven in September
last letter, I did not persuade you that my art wife) stopped me with the censure that what 1966, or the actual barrier of blue, red and
is some sort of programmed pragmatism. Of I would provide would be misunderstood as blue fluorescent light completed last year for
course, that would be logically absurd and/or communication and generally unwelcome. As Enno Develing's and John Weber's poorly pre-
paradoxical. As Carl Andre gleefully and de- I thought about her comment, I came to agree.' judicially entitled 'Minimal Art' exhibition
cisively expostulated at a recent trivial... Subsequent misunderstandings proved Sonja which was begun in the Gemeentemuseum of
party, and unfortunately, I must poorly para- to be correct : The Hague and is presently being continued
phrase, how could Barbara Rose find such a ...I am writing because I thought that you through other European institutions, and the
plainly practical American philosophy literally might be concerned to have some specific in- wall and floor cornering perimeters of ultra-
applied to the production of such useless arti- formation about the exposition 'cool white, violet light set upon a large near square room
ficial art? (Carl is such an authentic perverse- etc.' for the proposed New York Times article ... of the Alte Galerie during last summer's vast