Tuesday, June 9, 2009

Amherst




by Fairfield Porter

The presence in a painting," he once wrote,

is like the presence a child feels and recognizes in things and the way they relate, like a doorknob, the slant of a roof or its flatness, or the personality of a tool. Art does not succeed by compelling you to like it, but by making you feel this presence in it. Is someone there? This someone can be impersonal.