The Avesta, Volume 21, Number 2, Summer, 1942 Page: 18
36 p. : ill. ; 30 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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In Defense of Dali and Daring Design
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MOST people lump surrealistic painting and abstract painting under one term,
"Modern Art." They make of that term an epithet, and they would like to
make of it an epitaph.
Most people don't like modern art. I do. But being a converted enthusiast, a re-
formed nose-thumber in the matter of surrealist and abstract painting, I think I can
understand both points of view. I have heard and read a few discussions of the sub-
ject, but they all take one of two directions: they become incoherent with the fu-
tility of trying to convey understanding to a public that apparently does not wish to
understand, or they save face by hopping into the handy rabbit-hole of technical termi-
nology. Neither does modern art any good, and possibly I won't either, but I'd like
to play counsel for the defense and have a try at it.
I get into a lot of arguments about modern art. I had an argument a few days
ago with a man who presented a strong case for the prosecution. He was inspired by
indignation; his intelligence had been affronted. He had just seen a surrealistic paint-
ing that had in it, among other things, a brick kiln. It looked more like a skyscraper,
but the artist insisted that it was a brick kiln.
This cynic was further outraged that the artist could not or would not explain
the meaning of his picture. The observer had looked at it as a realistic reproduction of
obiects. which it was never intended to be. He had ignored balance in the picture,
which was better served by a brick kiln that looked like a skyscraper than it would
have been by a brick kiln that looked like a brick kiln.
The cynic said he didn't like modern art because it embarrassed him; it made
him feel that he'd rather go home, because maybe he'd forgotten to comb his hair or
put his shirt tail in. "You don't see enough abstracts and surrealistic things; you don't
like them because you're not used to them," I accused.
"Well, I'm like the tar was about eating navy beans. I don't like modern art,
and I'm glad I don't, for if I liked it I'd be looking at it all the time, and I can't stand
the sight of it."
I laughed and conceded the round to the neatest summation of the majority reac-
tion to modern art that I've heard. But I wasn't discouraged from trying the same tack
in my next argument on the subject. "You'll like surrealism when you get used to it,"
I tried to tell my adversary.
"Huh! I've taken a lot of castor oil, and I suppose I'm used to it, but I can't say
I like it."
I know why modern art is castor oil to most people. It is a cross-word puzzle
that they can't work, a brain teaser they can't puzzle out, a question without an an-
swer, a lock without a key. And they resent it. People like to be puzzled if they can
solve the problem, thump their chests, and feel superior. They begin to get mad when
they= can't find an answer.
(Continued to page 35)
NaDEANE WALKER is a defender of modern
art. To her it has meaning, reason, and a definite
place in the growing history of art. She takes
it, views it critically, and makes the most of it.M N-
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North Texas State Teachers College. The Avesta, Volume 21, Number 2, Summer, 1942, periodical, Summer 1942; Denton, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc2105649/m1/20/: accessed July 16, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Special Collections.