academic drawing

This striking drawing was made by Neil Harvey, a UK artist whose work I stumbled upon while looking for something else. I cannot say I enjoy the painting he puts it into, but the drawing itself is certainly interesting, well-drawn and entertaining in a partly unintentional way.

It may come to pass that readers of Art Writing will suppose that the author is traditional or conservative or some other label more aptly applied to religion or politics.

Actually, the Art Writer is traditional and contemporary (if we must have labels) which is to say that Art Writer has sought to gain skills and ideas from the history of art to use in the making of modern images. The Art Writer would be the first to praise the study of art history, and the last to argue that the "old ways" need a revival.

Really important ideas never really need PR, since the audiences to which they matter can grasp the idea without being taught. There's a certain kind of intelligent idea that can defend itself, which knows when to speak and when to be silent. It may not speak to everybody, but when it does speak, it speaks clearly enough.

Or then it might just make itself visible.