Brain Food #394
Different selves and different styles
Daily Brain Food.
Thoughts of the day
Giorgio de Chirico, one of the most celebrated Italian painters of the past century, tended to vary his style, often to the delight of his critics who would jump at the opportunity to say he lacked a voice.
What if style was something external to his own decisions, though? Like the calling of the muse, it became something to follow, not to create: “Wanting to have a style,” he said, “is the only way to never have one […] The less you think about it, the more it needs you.”
Contingency and indifference then become an inevitable part of the creative process.
Kurt Vonnegut said, “Writers have to change because the audience changes.”
But writers change, either way.
Adapting styles, or going through periods, is something most artists have showcased. Like life itself, the act of creation is a process of discovery, fulfillment, closure and moving on.
A glance at the paintings below may suggest an exploration of styles, that still remains connected by an invisible thread, showing that the self does not disappear, it only explores.
The Song of Love, 1914
Self Portrait, 1925
Horses by the Seaside, 1928