Re: Respectable artists my <ahem>

["Ronald W. Garrison" <rwgarr@intrex.net>]

Karen Newcombe wrote:

> >Eric Clapton? Didn't he sleep with the wife of one of his best
> friends
> >(George Harrison)? Isn't that what Layla's about? Isn't this guy a
> multiple
> >time drug addict?
> >
> >That's straight down the line? You have respect for him as a person?
> >
> >He was a great guitarist with some real imagination, but those days
> are
> >long gone.
>
> The truth is that being a talented, highly recognized artist does not
> mean
> you are a likeable, all-around joe.  Many great painters, writers,
> poets,
> musicians, singers are notoriously crotchety, unpleasant, have bad
> personal
> habits, and some few of them are just not very nice people.
>
> "Respecting someone as a person" does not has one bloody iota of
> anything
> to do with how or why I might appreciate their work.
>
> I have immense appreciation for the brilliant works of Herodotus,
> Sappho,
> the scribes who wrote down the Song of Solomon and the Psalms, but
> we'll
> never know a thing about their personal lives, and it doesn't matter
> at all.
>
> Karen  kln@staralliance.com

I don't know that I'd go so far as to say that it doesn't matter at all.
Certainly, when it comes to a lot of the art I enjoy, I have to look the
other way regarding some of their personal behavior, lest it totally get
in the way of enjoying their art. *On the other hand*, I'll bet many
will agree with me that it's a real treat when you find an artist whose
creations you enjoy, *and* whom you find very likable as a person. In
fact, I think that's a lot of Kate's attractiveness, and part of what
makes her such a subject of fascination and even fanaticism for so many
people--I mean, what else would explain the shameless fawning I've seen
in so many posts on this newsgroup? :-) :-) Come on now, don't you
really wonder *how she does it*? How can she be "in the world, but not
of the world", as some religious people put it (usually without living
up to it very well, either).

--Ron


--
http://www.intrex.net/rwgarr/