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John Crowther · 10-06-2012, 07:41 PM

Thanks for that response, Michael. I agree wholeheartedly with everything you say. I'm thinking of Robert Henri, and though he's not everybody's "cuppa" Lucien Freud, for my money, one of the great 20th century artists and portraitists. His journey from a young modernists doing technically "tight" work to painterly realism is instructive.

Ironically, when I was in my twenties I struggled to do tight, slick representational painting very much against the mid-20th century astract-expressionist fashion. My mother kept telling me she wanted to "see more brushstrokes." I of course resented and rejected her suggestion. It's taken me decades and a lot of effort to understand what she was talking about.

10-06-2012, 07:41 PM	#5
John Crowther Associate Member Joined: Jan 2004 Location: Los Angeles, CA Posts: 118	Thanks for that response, Michael. I agree wholeheartedly with everything you say. I'm thinking of Robert Henri, and though he's not everybody's "cuppa" Lucien Freud, for my money, one of the great 20th century artists and portraitists. His journey from a young modernists doing technically "tight" work to painterly realism is instructive. Ironically, when I was in my twenties I struggled to do tight, slick representational painting very much against the mid-20th century astract-expressionist fashion. My mother kept telling me she wanted to "see more brushstrokes." I of course resented and rejected her suggestion. It's taken me decades and a lot of effort to understand what she was talking about.