John Sallis - Shades—Of Painting at the Limit

SHADESOF PAINTING AT THE LIMIT

Studies in Continental Thought

John Sallis, general editor

Consulting Editors

David Wood

The Collected Writings of John Sallis

volume 1/10

The Collected Writings of John Sallis brings together all of John Salliss writings from the late 1960s to the present. It includes all of his published books; several volumes of manuscripts and shorter texts, most of them previously unpublished; complete transcriptions of his lecture courses and seminars; and a series of addresses and interviews along with material based on his dialogues with several eminent philosophers and artists. Salliss work ranges across the entire history of philosophy and engages the thought of several of the most significant philosophers of recent times. His writings are addressed to major philosophical themes such as the senses of art and of landscape, chorology and the legacies of Platonic thought, the elemental in nature, and, above all, imagination.

SHADESOF PAINTING THE LIMIT

JOHN SALLIS

INDIANA UNIVERSITY PRESS

BLOOMINGTON & INDIANAPOLIS

This book is a publication of

Indiana University Press

Office of Scholarly Publishing

Herman B Wells Library 350

1320 East 10th Street

Bloomington, Indiana 47405 USA

iupress.indiana.edu

First paperback edition 2016

1998 by John Sallis

All rights reserved

No part of this book may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. The Association of American University Presses Resolution on Permissions constitutes the only exception to this prohibition.

The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of American National Standard for Information SciencesPermanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI Z39.48-1984.

Manufactured in the United States of America

The Library of Congress has cataloged the original edition as follows:

Sallis, John, [date]

Shadesof painting at the limit/John Sallis.

p. cm. (Studies in Continental thought)

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN 0-253-33424-1 (cloth : alk. paper).

ISBN 0-253-21222-7 (pbk. : alk. paper)

1. PaintingPhilosophy. 2. PaintersPsychology. 3. Creation (Literary, artistic, etc.). I. Title. II. Series. ND1140.S26 1998 750'. 1-dc21

98-18462

ISBN 978-0-253-33424-4 (cloth)

ISBN 978-0-253-02714-6 (paper)

1 2 3 4 5 21 20 19 18 17 16

Publication of this book is made possible in part with the assistance of a Challenge Grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities, a federal agency that supports research, education, and public programming in the humanities.

To my brother, Jim

CONTENTS

List of Plates

List of Figures

Acknowledgments

This book draws upon a series of papers that appeared in Tema Celeste; to Demetrio Paparoni, editor of this contemporary art review, I am grateful for permission to use material from these papers. I want also to thank Sperone Westwater Gallery (New York) for permission to use material that appeared in the exhibition catalogue Amici.

I am grateful also to Magdalena Dabrowski, Curator at The Museum of Modern Art (New York), whose generous assistance was invaluable in acquiring the materials and permissions needed for certain reproductions. Above all, I want to express my deep gratitude to my editor and friend Janet Rabinowitch; this book has benefited enormously from her expert editorial advice and from her tireless and uncompromising effort in its behalf.

Thanks also to my wife Jerry for her photographs of the Paladino mask (). I am grateful also to my daughter Lauren Lewis and to Nancy Fedrow and Robert Metcalf for help during the preparation and production of this book.

Boalsburg

February 1998

SHADESOF PAINTING THE LIMIT

Plate 1. Claude Monet

Wheatstacks in the Sunlight, Midday (W 1271), 1890.

65.6 100.6 cm.

National Gallery of Australia, Canberra.

Plate 2. Claude Monet

Wheatstacks, End of Summer, Evening Effect (W 1269), 1891.

60 100 cm.

The Art Institute of Chicago (Arthur M. Wood in memory of Pauline Palmer Wood, 1985.1103). Photograph 1996, The Art Institute of Chicago, All Rights Reserved.

Plate 3. Claude Monet

Wheatstack, Snow Effect, Morning (W 1280), 1891.

65 92 cm.

Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (gift of Misses Aime and Rosamond Lamb in memory of Mr. and Mrs. Horatio A. Lamb. Courtesy Museum of Fine Arts, Boston).

Plate 4. Claude Monet

Wheatstack, Sunset (W 1289), 1891.

73 92 cm.

Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (Juliana Cheney Edwards Collection. Courtesy Museum of Fine Arts, Boston).

Plate 5. Claude Monet

Wheatstacks, Sunset, Snow Effect (W 1278), 1891.

65 100 cm.

The Art Institute of Chicago (Mr. and Mrs. Potter Palmer Collection, 1922.431). Photograph 1996, The Art Institute of Chicago, All Rights Reserved.

Plate 6. Claude Monet

Wheatstack, Snow Effect, Overcast Day (W 1281), 1891.

65 92 cm.

The Art Institute of Chicago (Mr. and Mrs. Martin A. Ryerson Collection, 1933.1155). Photograph 1997, The Art Institute of Chicago, All Rights Reserved.

Plate 7. Claude Monet

Wheatstack (W 1283), 1891.

65 92 cm.

The Art Institute of Chicago (Restricted gift of the Searle Family Trust; Major Acquisitions Centennial Endowment; through prior acquisitions of the Mr. and Mrs. Martin A. Ryerson and Potter Palmer Collections; through prior bequest of Jerome Friedman, 1983.29). Photograph 1997, The Art Institute of Chicago, All Rights Reserved.