One theory about artistic creation is that extraordinary artists come into this world with a different way of seeing… As the robustly sensuous painter Georgia OKeefe once said, “In a way, nobody sees a flower really, it is so small, we haven’t time — and to see takes time, like to have a friend takes time.” What kind of novel vision do artists bring into the world with them, long before they develop an inner vision? That question disturbed Cezanne, as it has other artists — as if it made any difference to how and what he would end up painting. When all is said and done, it’s as Merleau-Ponty says, “This work to be done called for this life.”
— Diane Ackerman, A Natural History of the Senses
One Response
All of Ackerman’s books are fantastically poetic, from the Natural Histories of Love and the Senses, to her year-long autobiography about working on a suicide hotline, to her gardening and nature books. Her straight poetry is breathtaking as well. I am a huge and lifelong fan.