Letter From the Whitney

It was useful to me to hear Laurie Anderson talking about art. Anderson said she is most interested when she can feel the intense presence of the artist--even though the artist is absent, his or her soul is somehow communicating through the object in front of you.

My favorite image at the Whitney right now is "Ketchup, Thick and Thin," by Claes Oldenburg. It makes me think of recent drawings on view at the Frick--a soldier getting hanged, a preparatory sketch for the Comtesse d'Haussonville, a group of hunters in a vast landscape. By contrast, there is nothing inherently beautiful or dramatic about ketchup. It's not even "natural" in the way that a flower is natural. But who in history--before Oldenburg--had ever thought to sketch different kinds of ketchup? It's a memorable part of the Oldenburg show.

Normally, I would skip the Whitney--but a gift of marriage is that you see things you might overlook (because maybe your spouse is a Whitney fan). Marc liked "Still Life With Crystal Bowl"--and I did, too, just because it seems unlike any other still life I've ever seen. How nice to have these options so close to Penn Station.

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