The Hold Up, Professor Woodruff's masterpiece. Speculating here, I am going to guess Woodruff painted his dream, or a vision, or an obsession. I hope it was not painted from life, as it appears to show a man holding a gun on a nude woman, And Woodruff seems pretty darn proud of himself. I have checked the inventories of some lauded institutions with no luck. Does anyone out there know where Woodruff's rough masterpiece ended up?
(Just for the record, see the link HERE)
Real Photo Postcard circa 1915 collection Jim Linderman
BOOKS AND EBOOKS BY JIM LINDERMAN (MORE COMING)
ARE AVAILABLE HERE
I can find virtually no artists who specialize or specialized in painting under the influence of hypnosis. I wonder why? Every manner of altered state, disability or Psychotropic drug known has been used to influence artists...as has the old stand by booze, and I do not just mean a few snifters at the opening. Some painters were drunk longer than they painted. From what little I know about hypnosis, you would think it could lead to increased concentration, wacky influences, a driven disciplined approach, who knows...so why aren't there more artists giving it a try? Could it be that painting under hypnosis sucks?
Alter your mind and who knows what might result? In this case, what resulted is a mundane portrait with nothing trippy at all...do you suppose the artist barked like a dog or took his clothes off while under suggestion? "You are feeling VERY, VERY realistic, literal and perfectly representational today" This portrait is so straight, it could go right over the mantle in the boardroom (which it probably did,) In fact, it is so boring I would pass it by at the Salvation Army.
But wait! NO THUMB!Don't snap your fingers until he puts one in. Press Photograph 1963 Collection Jim Linderman
Circa 1935 postcard with "missing painting" gummed insert "canvas" to affix a picture of a loved one (or to mail a picture of yourself to one) Unmailed. Colllection Jim Linderman
Artists often "find themselves" and repeat. Having a recognizable style is important to the career of any artist. After all, what's the use of spending money on a painting if when company comes, they don't recognize the work? "Oh THAT? That's just my VLAMINCK." A good example is Susan Rothenberg. By now she's probably done enough horses to fill Ted Turner's stable, which the last time I checked was about 1/3 of Colorado. I always admired Jasper Johns, because anytime he needed a house, he could paint an American Flag. Not to begrudge them...if you do something well, you should keep doing it.The King of repeated work is certainly one William Allen Bixler. You've never walked into a room and seen a Bixler? Well, maybe you have but don't know it. His most prolific period was his "old swimming hole" period. Between 1912 and 1918 he painted it 5,000 times. Each was 20" x 30" That's right, 3 million square inches of it. The same painting. Over and Over and Over like a wild animal stuck in a cage too small.
Bixler was a poet and liked poetry. So when he read the James Whitcomb Riley poem "The Old Swimming Hole" he went to the spot which inspired it and painted it up. It was one of his first paintings. Why, i'm not sure, as one line in the poem reads "Whare the old divin'-log lays sunk and fergot and I stray down the banks whare the treese ust to be--" Well, you get it, but something struck a nerve in our prolific artist. A friend printed up a picture of the painting and sent it to the poet, who liked it enough to mail back a gift of his collected works to the painter.
Several years later, folks in Indiana decided to raise money to erect a statue of the Hoosier Bard but how to pay for the tribute? School children collected pennies, and for each school which raised a few dollars, Bixler came and painted the Old Swimming Hole in their school. The painting is adequate. You would NOT confuse it with the Eakins swimming hole. A stump in a pond. For each $12.50 raised, a school would receive a painting and a small bust of Riley. More than a million kids contributed.
When the depression hit, kid's pennies were now worth a meal. Bixley went on to publish several books and commenced a career as a speed-painter of sorts...a Chalk Talker! He would bring his easel anyplace which would put him and his wife up for the night. He gave lectures on the Lord and illustrated them with chalk drawings made on the spot with lightning speed. The book shown here, one of my favorite books of all time, was first published in his home state of Indiana in 1932.
Chalk Talk Made Easy by William Allen Bixler, 1932 (later edition 1948) Collection Jim Linderman
Two generic Presidents by the one artist listed in BOTH the Guiness Book of World Records AND Ripley's Believe it or Not. That would be the world's fastest artist, Morris Katz (1931-) I used to see him walk around New York City in the early 1980's. He had a television show of his own at the time, "The Instant Art Show" in which he would churn through canvas after canvas while appraisers watched. According to the artist's website, Mr. Katz is still available for Publicity Stunts, Corporate Events and more. Whatever the price, it is a steal. As his website asks "how many of you can say you have seen someone paint thirty-six 8x10 inch paintings in one hour?" The link here shows more of the Morris Katz Presidential series. Seldom a day goes by without a Katz being listed on Ebay. The more common (and by that I mean, THOUSANDS AND THOUSANDS and THOUSANDS of more common) are usually palette knife works you can't avoid at flea markets. God willing, Mr. Katz is working on his Obama.Two Morris Katz postcards, 1967 Collection Jim Linderman
