Letters to the Editor
-
The paintings...
are way cool. That's for sure.
-
unfortunate
I wanted to believe in Marla. Shame that it seems to be a hoax.
-
I don't get any of it
The paintings...
are way cool. That's for sure.
Are they orders of magnitude more cool than any other paintings done by any other four-year-old with access to fingerpaints and nice paper?
This is what I don't get about the whole thing. What makes her paintings "masterpieces", but the equally "abstract" finger-paintings and brush paintings and teddy-bear-head sticker art by every other little kid just regular kid-art?
-
Exrtraordinary Claims
"Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence."
— Carl Sagan
Journalistic betrayal? Confidence artistry? Oh, the pathos! The humanity! If only Jacob Riis had photographed the landlords' point of view. If only Woodward and Bernstein had let Nixon tell his own story. If only Helen Thomas would just let George Bush have his presidency the way he wants it!
But no, these journalists have to go nosing around, pretending that there's something called "truth." This poor family has their side of the story. So what if it doesn't jibe with the side of the story that comes out on film. Can't we just agree to disagree?
No. Extraordinary claims, such as a 4-year-old painting like a modern master, require extraordinary evidence. We wouldn't accept a parents' claim, sight unseen, that a recording of a violin was their virtuoso child, would we? Why on earth would we accept the same claim when it comes to painting — let alone shed big, wet tears for their shattered dream when it turns out that there's no "there" there?
If the parents were closet alcoholics and kept insisting that the social workers who called them on it were destroying their family life, would we respect their delusion as having some overriding moral authority?
-
Are they...
...orders of magnitude more cool than any other paintings done by any other four-year-old with access to fingerpaints and nice paper?
Yes, they are. Google her, look at her site, and look at the paintings. They're dynamic, interesting, and expressive, whether they were actually painted by a four-year-old or not. Compare them with the simple stick figures with fourteen fingers you get from your average five-year-old, and it's pretty clear there's a VAST difference between the two.
-
@KitchenGirl
Hanging out at kindergarten as I do, yeah, not many kids could paint like that. They could paint abstract compositions, yes, but kids' art generally follows 'rules' about what is and isn't in a canvas-- composition is a big part of it, as little kids generally don't have any, and then, as they get older, get a very simple composition going-- ground and sky, for example.
If this kids' talent is real, I fear mom and dad will ruin it by wanting her to continue to produce 'marketable' pieces and not follow her own artistic muse (and natural development).
-
Wow...
...wish I'd known that I could smear paint on a canvas and become rich from it.
This reminds me of some pieces that I've seen in NYC museums that consist of a string, some wood, and a paint can that cost thousands. Please. A lot of modern art makes me think of contemporary classical music, the type where one note gets played for 25 minutes, followed by the composer's cat walking on the keyboard to make up the rest.
-
Herein Lies The Rub
"As to the question recently raised by L.A. Weekly art critic Doug Harvey -- if Marla's paintings are any good, aren't they still good if someone else painted them, or helped her paint them? -- that never even comes up here."
And why doesn't it come up? Art is all about an individual viewer's personal appreciation, his or her singular emotional experience when viewing any work of artistic expression. Who cares who painted it? If it pleases the viewer, then it has merit. If Marla's father is the actual artist, then--although he may be an artist who lied--he still commands respect as an artist.
I'm looking forward to seeing this documentary, and my thanks to Mr. O'Hehir for his very intriguing article.
-
"...his whispered urgings captured on tape are described as lapses in judgment, the product of anxiety. "
I was struck by how similar this sounds to the kinds of situations that arise when "miracle workers" or "psychics" or other practitioners of the likely impossible are caught out.
The preternaturally gifted individual really does -- it is said -- have the power, but it can't be forced, particularly in public, and so "cheating" -- just this once, just this twice -- occurs.
-
Good art, she might be coached but hey, she is only four
Here are some pics
http://www.marlaolmstead.com/availablework.html
Her art looks like the work of a preschool age child with a lot of natural talent. My son did stuff a lot like this (except with markers) when he was that age. I am glad her family is encouraging her. Lots of families nowadays treat the arts as frivolous. I hope they give her some formal training, so that she can grow as an artist. There is no need to remain "self taught" just because she is selling a lot of work in that style now.
And if her dad is coaching her, so what? Young musicians are taught to play their instruments. Almost none of them sit down at a piano like Mozart.
If her dad is painting her pictures, he needs to stop being shy and come forward. They are still good pictures. And it takes talent to do "naive" so well.
-
These were NOT painted by a 4-year-old
Nope - eye-hand coordination, composition, focus and attention of the painter - no way were these painted by a 4-year-old...unless she did the "underpainting" and then someone (her dad?) came along and painted over it - built the picture up in layers - no way.
Is there someone who actually paints and/or is an arts professional who is seriously, genuinely going to argue these were painted by a 4-year-old?
No, no, NO WAY. LOOK AT A 4-year-old's hands, I mean seriously. Look at the painting called "Lines." There are a majority of ADULTS who probably could not manage that with PAINT. Drawing yes, but paint no. Take it from someone who can draw but struggles like hell with painting - it is a very loose medium compared to drawing.
Let this little girl have her childhood.
Please. Give me a break.