excerpt
“It’s the largest working ranch there is – a genuine ranch. Nothing to
do with pickup trucks. It’s a cowboy ranch and it’s everything that I’ve
heard you talk about. You love fishing, and you love hunting. You love the
outdoors. You love that country. This is the man that owns the Douglas
Lake Ranch.”
Minutes later, a shiny, silver-gray Aston Martin pulled up outside the
gallery and a tall, lean, dignified looking gentleman with graying hair got
out and strode into the gallery.
Alex shook his hand and waved his arm at several of Ken’s paintings
propped up against the walls of the gallery. “This young fellow here paints
these paintings. Chunky, I want you to have a couple of them. I recommend
them strongly.”
After completing the transaction, they had lunch, and by the time the
bill arrived, Ken had an invitation to the ranch. “Do you feel better now?”
Fraser asked. “And do I have your permission now to have an exhibit? Are
you still nervous?”
“Yes, yes, and no. But all of this is quite mystifying.”
“You’ll see,” Fraser said. “In time you’ll learn.”
“But, why do we want to have a show when all the paintings are sold?”
“We’re not having a show. We’re having an exhibit.”
“What’s the difference?”
“There’s a huge difference. A show is something thin and tinny – something
that ordinary people would do. We aren’t ordinary, are we? We’re
going to do the extraordinary. You should already know that. A show is
a modern thing that implies show, tell, and sale. I’m talking about an exhibit,
and by exhibit I mean displaying something that nobody can have.”
“But won’t people be put out when they come and there’s nothing to buy?”
“I certainly hope so. That’s the main reason for having an exhibition.
People want what they can’t have. And it’s not just a matter of them being
sold, but of who has purchased them and that they were left out of the
picture – so to speak. You see, when you’re selling something that nobody
needs, you don’t leave it up to the gods. You have to engineer matters –
which is what we’re doing.”
“You’re the first genuine primitive I’ve encountered. I’d sworn off taking
on any more people but you interest me. You’re unschooled in the
extreme – so much so, you don’t know that the way you’re painting isn’t
supposed to work. But, you don’t know that and it so happens that what
you’re doing does work – it works beautifully. But beyond all that, anyone
who goes into the business of selling firewood so he can sell paintings
is worth looking into, don’t you think? Besides, you were becoming an
interesting nuisance. God knows what you’ll get up to next.”
Ken asked him about his Arctic paintings. What was it about them that
he didn’t like?
Libros Libertad 