art

10th August: Philip got me talking about art today. I told him about how I fell in love with Gaugain's red only when I saw it in person, and how I could see that same red in Matisse, for instance, or how important it is to see Van Gogh's paintings in person, maybe more than all the rest, because you can put your nose against the canvas and see how his swirling intermixed oils create valleys and crevices of color that rise off the canvas into bright peaks and dark valleys, & how important Vermeer was for both of us, and Gregory [Corso] too, but neither of us could really articulate why.

-- Randy Roark A Month with Philip Whalen 10 August 1993