Purity in Art - Colm Toibin's 'The Master'

It's the school holidays and I'm barely writing; so I'm in 'thinking about writing' mode, which is no bad thing. I get some of my best inspiration at times like this. Inspiration comes in fragments, at odd moments, in unexpected ways. I'm thinking about my novel in progress and I'll work on it a little in Tuscany next week where I'm teaching and coaching for Artemisia holidays link

But in the meantime I'm distracted by holiday activities: yesterday visiting this fabulous National Trust property, the medieval Bodian Castle, climbing the ramparts with the kids; today teaching my son to ride a bicycle in Bushy Park. And in the evenings, reading what I can. Perhaps its not surprising that I've begun to think about 'what next'? And I'm continuing to think about writing about art; in particular an artist biography, though I won't say too much about that one; it needs research and room to grow.

My reading includes Colm Toibin's 'The Master' a fictional portrait of the life of Henry James that was shortlisted for the 2004 Man Booker Prize, dipping into Gij Van Hensbergen's 'Gaudi' again, though I am finding it somewhat dry, and Christian Parisot's 'Modigliani' (research for my novel in progress). Perhaps it is because I am not writing, what leaps out at me are descriptions of the artists'/writer's creative processes; and their states of mind also. A few paragraphs in the Toibin particularly struck me:

"It was easy to feel that he was destined to write for the few, perhaps for the future, yet never to reap the rewards that he would relish now, such as his own house and a beautiful garden and no anxiety about what was to come. He retained his pride in decisions taken, the fact that he had never compromised, that his back ached and his eyes hurt solely because he continued to labour all day at an art that was pure and unconstrained by mere mercenary ambitions...for many in London too, a failure in the market was a kind of success, and a success in the market a matter not to be discussed. He did not ever in his life actively seek the hard doom of general popularity. Nonetheless, he wanted his books to sell, he wanted to shine in the marketplace and pocket the proceeds without compromising his sacred art in any way."

I am often struck with the hard contrast between a desire for purity in art and the demands of today's media-savvy world, where even the act of blogging might be, in that sense a 'compromise'; and to blog about this the greatest irony of all...

But I remain inspired by dedication to art itself, and this description of Modigliani's early working habits, as described in his mother's diary, is a wonderful homage to the importance of artistic passion:

"Dedo has totally abandoned his studies (at the Lycee) and does nothing but paint. He paints all day and every day with an unflagging enthusiasm which astounds and delights me. If this is not the way to success, nothing is"

And at this time, when I'm not writing, to think about dedication, ideals of art and the vitality of these creators is hugely rewarding. As was seeing the look on my son's face today when he pedalled a few hundred yards on his bike without falling off.

Comments

[genevieve]

I enjoyed The Master beyond my modest expectations - to write faction about James, of all people, is a tremendously ambitious undertaking. I thought Toibin pulled it off very well and adjusted his own style meticulously to reflect that of James without copying it, in a way that James himself might have admired.
My goodness, that Tuscan workshop sounds wonderful. Thanks for a lovely post.