It has been about 2 years now that I have been working on this documentary. Many ups and downs...the ups always outweighing the downs. And so much that I have learned. I have given the idea of a book on my travels and insights into the art world a lot of thought, and I figured I'd just go and print some of the introductions right here for you to get a peek into my life, as I am giving you a peek into these people's lives.
So without further ado. Here's how it began.
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It was 1999 when I fist got to see the film Painters Painting. I remember I went to the library that day; we have a great library in Columbus, Ohio, always voted the best, even better than NY’s public library. I found myself checking through all the vhs tapes, looking for something interesting to watch, maybe there was a nice art documentary in the art section that would give me some insight into art that I had yet to find. As my eyes darted back and forth over all the basic videos of Picasso and Renoir, I suddenly came across this white vhs tape box with red lettering that said PAINTERS PAINTING. I immediately felt, hey this might be something here, grabbing it, and checking out the back of the box. I see names like Jackson Pollock, Willem De Kooning, Barnett Newman, Larry Poons, Jules Olitski, and Frank Stella. I knew right then I was in for a treat. I almost couldn’t wait to get back home to watch this. 2 hours is a long time for a documentary, but I remember being glued to the TV as I was watching this. I only found myself hitting fast forward when Andy Warhol came on the screen. That guy has always bored me to tears. But immediately after was one of my absolute favorite painters…Frank Stella. I noticed that the way the film was put together, that it had the originators, and then it went into the generation right after, finally ending up at the end with the youngest of all the people in the film. A young Larry Poons, who had been in his second phase of his painting journey for only about 2 years when Emile De Antonio came to film. Larry is a brilliant painter, and his section is still my absolute favorite of the film. I always felt that De Antonio put his section the way it was, so that we wouldn’t be interfered in it by anyone else getting in the way of what was happening. We actually get to witness something you’ll probably never see in another film, a painter cropping his own painting. I say this not to demean, but to give you an idea of how rare videos like this really are. The window they give us into the world of these geniuses.
It was 1999 when I fist got to see the film Painters Painting. I remember I went to the library that day; we have a great library in Columbus, Ohio, always voted the best, even better than NY’s public library. I found myself checking through all the vhs tapes, looking for something interesting to watch, maybe there was a nice art documentary in the art section that would give me some insight into art that I had yet to find. As my eyes darted back and forth over all the basic videos of Picasso and Renoir, I suddenly came across this white vhs tape box with red lettering that said PAINTERS PAINTING. I immediately felt, hey this might be something here, grabbing it, and checking out the back of the box. I see names like Jackson Pollock, Willem De Kooning, Barnett Newman, Larry Poons, Jules Olitski, and Frank Stella. I knew right then I was in for a treat. I almost couldn’t wait to get back home to watch this. 2 hours is a long time for a documentary, but I remember being glued to the TV as I was watching this. I only found myself hitting fast forward when Andy Warhol came on the screen. That guy has always bored me to tears. But immediately after was one of my absolute favorite painters…Frank Stella. I noticed that the way the film was put together, that it had the originators, and then it went into the generation right after, finally ending up at the end with the youngest of all the people in the film. A young Larry Poons, who had been in his second phase of his painting journey for only about 2 years when Emile De Antonio came to film. Larry is a brilliant painter, and his section is still my absolute favorite of the film. I always felt that De Antonio put his section the way it was, so that we wouldn’t be interfered in it by anyone else getting in the way of what was happening. We actually get to witness something you’ll probably never see in another film, a painter cropping his own painting. I say this not to demean, but to give you an idea of how rare videos like this really are. The window they give us into the world of these geniuses.
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Cheers.
Thanks for reading.
Jeffrey
It's fun to read about the genesis of your project, Jeffrey. Bravo!
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