Assaulting Beauty

I've always had a weak spot for people able to create - musicians, singers, writers... even for those who manage to clap their hands in a different way. The ability to transform impressions into expressions is a gift that the worlds seems to oversee.

So I went to see 'An Outsider in French Art' today - a small exhibit on André Derain. What I knew of him was that he used to 'assault beauty' with big strokes and very few colours: the sky is green, the water is yellow. By the time he began painting (early XXth Century), the world had already got over Manet, Renoir, and the impressionist gang, so he landed on soft cotton. Even more, he was a friend of Matisse and practically all the A-list people of his time: Picasso, Braque, Apollinaire.

But then the fantastic fauve turned into what you become when you grow up. War came, disenchantment hit and it is possible to see in his later works that he just... got serious. Go back to classics, do paintings that people hang in the living room, follow the main stream with a twist and live a glamourous life. The guy was without a doubt highly talented and knew what he was doing, but the passion of the wonderful 'wild animal' strokes only lasted three years. Three amazing years though. Hope he got his chance to take a bow.

If there's one thing that I hate... is everything

-The Annoying Devil from 'Balls of Steel'.