Thursday, October 11, 2007

Great Art: Paul Behnke

Man O'War, acrylic on panel, 42 in. x 42 in.

Howard Roark's Dream, acrylic on panel, 42 in. x 42 in.

More of Paul's work here.
See Paul's blog here.

6 comments:

Bob Hoeppner said...

Uh, why is it great?

In poetry, there is often a question of what works on the page vs. what works on the stage. Some literary types tend to discount slam, and some slammers tend to discount literary poetry. I suppose there may be the same contentions in the visual arts. I think some would look at this art work and say it's not art, that a child could have done it. Or that it's illustration craft, not art. Or maybe there are principles at work here that I am not educated about.

Dana Herbert said...

I love the simplicity, the designs and the use of color!

I also happen to love children's art. As do most of my clients who have works done by their children hanging all over their homes. They work purely from imagination and the heart, and their work is sometimes more brilliant than it is when they become educated.

Bob Hoeppner said...

Fair enough!

Paul Behnke said...

Once de Kooning was asked how he'd respond if someone told him a monkey could paint his pictures. His response: "I'd say dat monkey can PAINT!"

Bob Hoeppner said...

Hah! That's a good one!

Anonymous said...

The Tao Te Ching says, "a good artist lets his intuition lead him wherever it wants". People often respond to art with "my child could do that". Yes, a child could do that - but in most cases an adult could not do that. A child also moves his or her body freely, stretching, dancing, running, exclaiming, crying etc... freely, unashamed, not trying, just being - An adult must effort in this way - must learn and relearn how to become free in his mind/body. I think it is a compliment of the highest order when a person's work is compared to a child's potential.