The Whine of the Amateur, the Cry of the Critic

In 1877 the art critic John Ruskin damned James McNeil Whistler's magnificent Nocturne in Black and Gold by saying he "had never expected to hear a coxcomb ask two hundred guineas for flinging a pot of paint in the public's face." Whistler sued, and wrote afterward:

Over and over again did the Attorney General cry out aloud, in the agony of his cause, "What is to become of painting if the critics withhold their lash?"

As well might he ask what is to become of mathematics under similar circumstances, were they possible. I maintain that two and two the mathematician would continue to make four, in spite of the whine of the amateur for three, or the cry of the critic for five... It suffices not, Messieurs! a life passed among pictures makes not a painter - else the policeman in the National Gallery might assert himself. As well allege that he who lives in a library must needs die a poet. Let not Mr. Ruskin flatter himself that more education makes the difference between himself and the policeman when both stand gazing in the gallery.

- Whistler, The Gentle Art of Making Enemies

And thus another title that would have served so well for my autobiography turns out to be already taken.

August 24, 2008 7:16 PM | | Comments (3)

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3 Comments

You could always go with "The Private Memoirs and Confessions of a Justified Sinner," except that's also already taken too. . .

1877? That's completely in the public domain. Go for it.

One of Whistler's best bitch-slaps came when a critic slammed his Nocturne in Blue and Gold because it contained very little blue and gold, mainly black.

Whistler retorted: "Idiot! Is a symphony in C nothing but C, C, C?"

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Sites To See

Postclassic Radio! - Kyle Gann's internet radio station that accompanies the blog; see the playlist at kylegann.com

American Mavericks - the Minnesota Public radio program about American music (scripted by Kyle Gann with Tom Voegeli)

Kalvos & Damian's New Music Bazaar - a cornucopia of music, interviews, information by, with, and on hundreds of intriguing composers who are not the Usual Suspects

Iridian Radio - an intelligently mellow new-music station

New Music Box - the premiere site for keeping up with what American composers are doing and thinking

The Rest Is Noise - The fine blog of critic Alex Ross

William Duckworth's Cathedral - the first interactive web composition and home page of a great postminimalist composer

Mikel Rouse's Home Page - the greatest opera composer of my generation

Eve Beglarian's Home Page - great Downtown composer

Just Intonation Network - a meeting place for people interested in alternative tunings

Erling Wold's Web Site - a fine San Francisco composer of deceptively simple-seeming music, and a model web site

The Dane Rudhyar Archive - the complete site for the music, poetry, painting, and ideas of a greatly underrated composer who became America's greatest astrologer

Utopian Turtletop, John Shaw's thoughtful blog about new music and other issues

About this Entry

This page contains a single entry by PostClassic published on August 24, 2008 7:16 PM.

Sources of Originality was the previous entry in this blog.

Mouths of Babes is the next entry in this blog.

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