Wednesday, June 26, 2019

Origins of Wednesday xcvi: Unblinking at mastery


This Fall, Knopf are issuing a new
edition of the late John Richard-
son's memoir, The Sorcerer's Appren-
tice: Picasso, Provence, and Douglas
Cooper. The introduction to the new
edition has been written by Jed Perl,
whose Antoine's Alphabet, often cited
here, and whose New Art City, which
captures post-War New York with the
spirit of discovery which impelled it,
are but two highlights in a career of
criticism spanning nearly 50 years, 
with infectious illuminations which
ravish the mind with the sweet exper-
ience of discernment. We will lack
the final volume of Richardson's own
biography of the artist, but we'll
possess his ardor to face him front-
ally, with boldness unleashed by
guidance we imbibe with relish. We
are so fortunate, to know we are.



                     Nil parvum aut humili modo,
                     nil mortale loquar.

                     I shall speak nothing mean
                       or ordinary,
                     Nor what is only mortal.




































Sir John Richardson

  x Francis Goodman
  1947
National Portrait Gallery

Horace

The Odes of Horace
  iii, 25
  [fragment]
David Ferry
  translation
Farrar, Straus & Giroux
1997©





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