You’re tired. I’m tired. We’re all tired. Tired of the lies, the ads, the bitterness, the hateful rhetoric, the divisiveness, the name-calling, the texts, arguments, tweets, and posts. Tired.
We’ve studiously avoided overtly political commentary here on Muddy Colors; we don’t all think alike (hell, who does?) and know it, and even when one post or another has had some sort of (arguably) political aspect we’ve also walked a line and tried to respect opposing views (if they can be found among the myriad robot comments about making $3000 a week at home or the benefits of cannabinoids edibles). But it’s also absolutely true that art—no matter the message, no matter how realistic or fantastic—is inseparable from, and in many ways a reflection of, the real world. A reflection of us.
Above: “Dewey Vs Truman (The Great Debate) by Norman Rockwell. 1948. This large and gorgous original is in the collection of the Harry S. Truman Presidential Library & Museum in Independence, MO.
We’re all affected by everything that goes on around us. Always. Whether art depicts our hopes or our fears, our dreams or our despairs, our prejudices or our compassion, all depends not only on the art (and the artist) but on the reactions of the audience. Art, real art, the best art, can call out hate, injustice, and oppression—think of Picasso’s “Guernica” or Rockwell’s “The Problem We All Live With”—while invoking our empathy and reminding us of our humanity.
Above: “The Problem We All Live With” by Norman Rockwell. 1964.
Norman Rockwell’s political art is non-partisan, especially his “Four Freedoms” paintings above [Clockwise from top left: “Freedom of Speech,” “Freedom of Worship,” “Freedom From Want,” and “Freedom From Fear”], so I thought I’d use them today, along with several of his other artworks, as gentle encouragements to my fellow U.S. citizens to go out tomorrow, November 5th, and VOTE! As George Jean Nathan once said, “Bad officials are the ones elected by good citizens who do not vote.” Please…be the good citizen who does vote.
I’m flying from the east coast to Phoenix tomorrow morning, leaving before the polls open, and won’t be home until the early morning Saturday. I knew I wouldn’t be here for the Election, so I voted early. When it comes to our responsibility to vote, there are two adages I believe: only those who vote have the right to complain after, and that Democracy is the only form of government that ensures The People get what they deserve.
Rockwell was sneered at for being a mere illustrator and a sentimental one at that when I was taking art classes. But the power in those paintings is undeniable.
Wishing you guys all the best, from Germany with love and a quote from George Orwell:
“But every writer, especially every novelist, has a ‘message,’ whether he admits it or not, and the minutest details of his work are influenced by it. All art is propaganda.”
Quill or keyboard, brush or stylus, I think it’s the truth. On the one hand we demand that art must be rough, daring, edgy, relevant and devoid of taboo, on the other we detest when it’s the truthful expression of the artist’s inner turmoil.
All art is propaganda: it simply has to be.