|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
in a car crash on june 26th, [arshile] gorky's neck was broken and his painting arm was temporarily paralyzed. writhing in traction, he raged at the nurses who urged him to be brave: "why on earth should i be brave? i've spent my whole life making myself tremble like a leaf at whatever happens, and now you want me to be like an unpeeled onion. i have no more skins."
in another encomium, [willem] de kooning made startling use of the future tense: "i tell you one thing, some of his paintings will be much better than some of the ones by picasso, matisse, el greco." the implication is that quality is not inherent in works of art but is something that happens to them.
- peter schjeldahl, "self-made man: how arshile gorky changed art," new yorker september 8, 2003
posted September 22, 2003 in art, print.