For the next few weeks, I'll be sharing my favorite works of art. These are not necessarily my answers to "What is the best movie/tv show/song, etc.?" They merely represent some of my favorite pieces that, perhaps, have shaped me. Now, I share them with you.
Favorite Painting:
"The Lovers," 1928, René Magritte
This, cut from an introduction I was planning to my first book of plays: "As a student at a performing arts center in Birmingham, I was unaware or appreciative of my own background as an adolescent. Like a lot of starry-eyed theatre people, I was a wannabe New Yorker or Angeleno. I did not appreciate my Southern identity until I studied in New England. Suddenly, I was an outsider, and my true voice (not necessarily dialect) was starkly apparent...Still, I had been writing many years before I decided to write a play set in the South. I didn’t feel that the stock of people I came from would automatically sing onstage. I was wrong in virtually every way. On the same fortunate trip to New York described earlier, thousands of miles away from home, detached and lonely for the first time in my life, I started writing a sketch about two Southerners in an art museum in New York. I had seen one of Magritte’s paintings entitled 'The Lovers' and thought to myself, 'Now, what would a guy from Alabama have to say about something like that?' It had still not occurred to me that I was just a guy from Alabama."
Favorite Sculpture:
The Bust of Pericles
I stumbled upon the bust of Pericles quite accidentally. I never really believed my 11th grade American Literature teacher when she said one should never pay attention to the cover of a book. I thought, "Surely those people must think about the image they choose." No, it turns out. I picked up a copy of William Shakespeare's Pericles, Prince of Tyre and the cover had the bust of Pericles the statesman—who could not be further from Shakespeare's version of Apollonius of Tyre. Regardless, I've had a fascination with the statue ever since. What we have, I believe, is a Roman copy of a Greek original. I suppose I could be more original in my choice as I've seen some stunning sculpture in my life. I almost chose Robert Wilson's installation 14 Stations, but many of my choices in this blog series are contemporary anyway so this slice of the ancient world will stand as a favorite in the world of recreation from stone and other materials. Pericles is equally fascinating as a person, but the artistry of the bust is reason enough for awe.
Favorite Ballet:
Giselle
It should be said, right here at the top, that this category is the one in which I am least qualified to judge. My ignorance of the work of dancers led a friend of mine in my performing arts high school to use John Ford’s dictum "Actors are crap" as her senior quote. If I were smart, I would have used “Dancers are crap—Ryan C. Tittle.” But, if I have a favorite ballet, (at the risk of being old-fashioned) it must be the Jean Coralli/Jules Perrot ballet. I have a fondness for my memory of seeing it live. I may never fully understand the intricacies of ballet (where viewers pay top dollar to watch feet), but I can appreciate the artistry behind telling a story with the subtlest of movements (like Noh theatre) and using body language to express a multitude of emotional experiences.
Favorite Photograph:
"Untitled," David Hamilton
Say what you want about the controversial photographers Jock Sturges, David Hamilton, and/or Sally Mann, the quality of the artwork accepts no quibbling. Hamilton's famous soft-focus photography is perhaps at its best in his homages to famous painters, such as Degas and Balthus, but there is something about this untitled piece, most likely taken at his beloved Saint-Tropez, that captures both his love of fantasy and his quest to preserve innocence eternal.
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