A Painting is Something

"A picture is a painting OF something, a painting IS something." Robert Henri

Great artists rarely want to show you the things and places they have seen, but generally want to share what they have made. Sometimes inspired by things seen, more often about what they think, feel, and create.

I recently visited the Baltimore Museum of Art to see an exhibition of very large, very strong, and beautiful paintings by Joan Mitchell. The subject of her work is mostly about nature, you know trees and flowers. There was not a single recognizable image of a tree or flower. Her portrait of nature was powerful, elegant, and much bigger than a vase of roses.