On Originality

Trying to be original, we’re too afraid of being influenced by well known artists or writers. Only some of us are actually

You know I like Dora Maar. I’ve showed you some of her photos, because I thought of doing something similar to that. And you said we shouldn’t. We shouldn’t try to copy other people’s photos, we shouldn’t do what’s been done before… we should try to be original…

Well, I think we can still be original while letting ourselves influenced by others. Have a quick look at Dali, for example:

Dali, a famous preacher on originality, has said: “The first man to compare the cheeks of a young woman to a rose was obviously a poet; the first to repeat it was possibly an idiot.” Then he went on saying about Picasso’s originality: “he had a feel for adjectives, but few ideas. (…) Hos whole brilliance lay in his skill as plagiarist (…) Picasso was a duettist . He always needed a partner: Ingres, Delacroix, Velasquez, and others I forgot. But he was a eunuch, a caricaturing imitator who tore down and made fun of what he could not outdo.”

Some say it’s jealousy. That would be funny, knowing how often Dali parodied other painters. Also, there were many surrealists who felt that the early Dali lacked originality. Maybe at the time when early Dali was heavily influenced by Picasso, whom he greatly admired?

I find it even funnier when he says Picasso “always needed a partner: Ingres, Delacroix, Velasquez”. Ha ha ha ha, what about you Mr. Dali? Where did you get your flamboyant moustache from? From the master painter Diego Velázquez, maybe? )

So that’s not jealousy, I don’t think. I’d remind you how Dali loved attention, and I’d say this taunts have the purpose of a contemporary direct marketing campaign. Just to refresh publicity a bit!

And also, I know, you’ll laugh to hear that he once sent a telegram praising Ceausescu (Romanian Communist leader) for his ridiculous adoption of a scepter as part of his regalia (!?). Having no clue of its mocking aspect, a Romanian daily newspaper – I won’t say which one: Scanteia – published it!!!!

With Dali, it’s impossible to tell whether his statements were genuine or whimsical… Oh, I meant to tell you about Dali’s Elephant and post photos of the one in London on the South Bank. Forgot about that! Got carried away…

be back soon