Quote:
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Originally Posted by Amanda Grosjean
Why would there be big swooping drapes behind a figure, ever?
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That's one of the things Daniel Greene said he didn't like. My only excuse was that I, younger then, had draped the cloth in that way, in part because I'd seen others do it, and in part simply to see if I could paint drapery. It happened to be a still life in which I'd also included a plaster cast, a violin (my grandfather's), a pocket watch (the other grandfather's), some grapes, a couple of books, a copper pitcher -- I threw in every type of object, just to see if I could paint those different materials. As it turns out, I could, but it wasn't much of a painting. More of an etude in oils. But Greene disliked only the staginess or "prop" look of the draped cloth in the background. (I'm sure that drapery effects where they belonged -- in clothing, say, or the corner of a tablecloth -- were not objectionable.)