Dad n' me - Pearl River, NY 1962. 5" X 7" Mixed media/board. c 2010
Arshile Gorky's Portrait of the Artist and His Mother. Collection - Whitney Museum of Art.
Today is the date of my father's birth. And so I honor him with an old artifact from 1962 and my artistic rendering of it, my favorite photo of the two of us. I'm also posting a favorite Sinatra song of his - it is him! And he loved it.
One of my all time favorite artists is Arshile Gorky - an Armenian American who helped give birth to Abstract Expressionism. Willem de Kooning worshipped the ground he walked on, as did the poet Edwin Denby. The above painting The Artist and His Mother is my all time favorite work of art. As a young artist it was always my hope that someday I'd be able to go deep within myself and produce something as personal, emotional and honest as Gorky's beautiful portrait - done recalling a most tragic, traumatic event. This is as close as I came. Losing my father at age 22 under circumstances nowhere near Gorky's, but intense just the same, had a tremendous impact on my life. Though compact as it is, for me it is a monumental work.
Also, today is Columbus Day!
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