Comments on: The Good, the Bad, and the Pretty http://blog.sfmoma.org/2010/04/the-good-the-bad-and-the-pretty/ Sat, 25 May 2013 00:34:27 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.5.1 By: adq http://blog.sfmoma.org/2010/04/the-good-the-bad-and-the-pretty/comment-page-1/#comment-54425 adq Mon, 05 Apr 2010 22:41:07 +0000 http://blog.sfmoma.org/?p=11112#comment-54425 Thank you Leah Levy! I have copied this to our files/records. –Apsara DiQuinzio, Assistant Curator of Painting and Sculpture

]]> By: Leah Levy http://blog.sfmoma.org/2010/04/the-good-the-bad-and-the-pretty/comment-page-1/#comment-53506 Leah Levy Sat, 03 Apr 2010 12:27:00 +0000 http://blog.sfmoma.org/?p=11112#comment-53506 Dear Dodie Bellamy,
The Jay DeFeo Trust has recently uncovered a letter in which DeFeo states that the proper title of “The Verónica” should have the accent, to be clear that she is referencing the bullfight maneuver, not the female name, in her title.
Leah Levy, The Jay DeFeo Trust

]]> By: Vance Maverick http://blog.sfmoma.org/2010/04/the-good-the-bad-and-the-pretty/comment-page-1/#comment-53385 Vance Maverick Fri, 02 Apr 2010 15:37:41 +0000 http://blog.sfmoma.org/?p=11112#comment-53385 Fair point, Dodie, but as far as I know Kimmelmann is working with the same data we are. (I would put it a bit more strongly than Brecht, especially considering that that film catches her at a low point.) Apologies for the trivial digression.

I understand intuitively the use of “pretty” to disparage a painting, but I don’t myself think that’s DeFeo’s weakness. Rather, I think the expressionism, the attempts at an overwhelming impact, sometimes fall short. (“The White Rose” itself, while great, is notably reserved — the story of her epic labors may knock you over, but the piece itself is a quiet hulking mystery in the form of an explosion.) Also, there are some pictures with an illustrational element that misfires a bit. But “pretty” suggests e.g. Sam Francis, a sweet tooth of another order.

]]> By: Brecht Andersch http://blog.sfmoma.org/2010/04/the-good-the-bad-and-the-pretty/comment-page-1/#comment-53367 Brecht Andersch Fri, 02 Apr 2010 09:57:19 +0000 http://blog.sfmoma.org/?p=11112#comment-53367 Having seen Bruce Conner’s The Rose several times, I would call her “attractive”.

]]> By: Dodie Bellamy http://blog.sfmoma.org/2010/04/the-good-the-bad-and-the-pretty/comment-page-1/#comment-53355 Dodie Bellamy Fri, 02 Apr 2010 07:17:01 +0000 http://blog.sfmoma.org/?p=11112#comment-53355 A photo and the use of the word “pretty” are two different things.

]]> By: Vance Maverick http://blog.sfmoma.org/2010/04/the-good-the-bad-and-the-pretty/comment-page-1/#comment-53350 Vance Maverick Fri, 02 Apr 2010 06:19:12 +0000 http://blog.sfmoma.org/?p=11112#comment-53350 Well, thanks for forcing me to consider alternatives — that one had clicked for me the first time I heard the title, and I was stuck on it.

Tangentially, I’m puzzled that you refer to an outside authority for the claim that she was “pretty”. Was your point to make the claim sound dubious, or reprehensible? There are plenty of photos of her (e.g. in Jay DeFeo and the Rose).

]]> By: Dodie Bellamy http://blog.sfmoma.org/2010/04/the-good-the-bad-and-the-pretty/comment-page-1/#comment-53346 Dodie Bellamy Fri, 02 Apr 2010 06:10:37 +0000 http://blog.sfmoma.org/?p=11112#comment-53346 Thanks for your comment, Vance. Yes, the bullfight reference is intriguing. I have notes to go on and on about the name—the cape included, but my post was just going on and on. Had to stop before I collapsed.

]]> By: Vance Maverick http://blog.sfmoma.org/2010/04/the-good-the-bad-and-the-pretty/comment-page-1/#comment-53345 Vance Maverick Fri, 02 Apr 2010 06:07:13 +0000 http://blog.sfmoma.org/?p=11112#comment-53345 A “veronica” is also a pass with the cape, in bullfighting. I don’t see the toro or torero, but the billowing cape is a plausible read for the picture.

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