Art in novels: Kurt Vonnegut and the most comprehensive definition of the Abstract Expressionism

The most comprehensive definition of the Abstract Expressionism’s highest achievements is given by the painter Rabo Karabekian, main character of Bluebeard, by Kurt Vunnegut, a novel we strongly recommend also to all political leaders who, in Europe, claims for the independency instead of integration. When Rabo expresses his intention to travel to Europe to learn how to paint, his editor advised him not to go, as Europe was indeed a very fighting place where countries wasted time, arguing with each other. An assumption that is certainly true to a very large extent.

Let me put it yet another way: life, by definition, is never still. Where is it going? From birth to death, with no stops on the way. Even a picture of a bowl of pears on a checkered tablecloth is liquid, if laid on canvas by the brush of a master. Yes, and by some miracle I was surely never able to achieve as a painter, nor was Dan Gregory, but which was achieved by the best of the Abstract Expressionists, in the paintings which have greatness birth and death are always there.

December 22, 2016