Queen of Hearts: Audrey Flack
- Description
- Reviews
- Credits
- Cataloging
- Transcript
At 88 years-old, Audrey Flack holds a unique place in the history of contemporary art in America. Feminist, rebel, mother, painter, sculptor and teacher, Audrey’s often controversial 40-year career evolved from abstract expressionism in the 1950s to photorealism in the 1970s. One of the first women ever included in the famed Janson’s History of Art, Audrey continues to create, explore, and inspire with her unique style and indomitable spirit. Queen of Hearts follows Flack as she takes her work in a brand new direction and reveals her long-term struggles as the mother of a child with autism. Flack has something deep and genuine to communicate to the world. She is a provocateur and a rebel, an example and an inspiration. Queen of Hearts is a moving portrait of an artist who is still testing, still experimenting, still searching.
"...she has been an incredible photorealist, armed with a convincing spray brush. Now, the artist finally gets her due in this documentary about her life." Nadja Sayej, Forbes
Citation
Main credits
Shaffer, Deborah (film director)
Shaffer, Deborah (film producer)
Reichman, Rachel (film director)
Reichman, Rachel (editor of moving image work)
Pardo, Davina (film producer)
Flack, Audrey (on-screen participant)
Other credits
Cinematography, Elizabeth Nichols, Brad Wickham.
Distributor subjects
Art, Biography, Disability, Women Directors, Women's StudiesKeywords
WEBVTT
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(film reel rattling)
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(intense music)
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- This painting is based
on a Rubens painting
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called the Garden of Love.
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(intense music)
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And if you know
Rubens, flesh, jewels,
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he\'s a sexy guy, he\'s great.
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(intense music)
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So here are these women
from the 15th, 16th century,
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and flying in Superman
and Supergirl.
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(intense music)
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I believe art cuts across time.
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(intense music)
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We can\'t live without art.
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Human beings need
art to help them deal
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with their mortality,
\'cause we\'re all gonna go.
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(intense music)
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(intense music)
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- Audrey was not only one
of the top photorealists,
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she was also the only woman
in that movement at the time.
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(intense music)
00:03:00.542 --> 00:03:02.998
- One of the interesting
things about Audrey\'s work
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is its overt defiance
of good taste.
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(intense music)
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- Audrey said, \"I am
not a feminist artist,
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\"I am a feminist
who\'s an artist.\"
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(intense music)
00:03:48.999 --> 00:03:51.238
(people chattering)
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- Lewis, it\'s a fabulous show.
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- There are two more rooms.
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- Fabulous.
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(camera clicking)
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What were you looking at?
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- On that one,
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did you need a ladder
to paint the top of it?
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- Yes, she needed a ladder.
- You know, I did.
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- [Andrew] Sydney
really likes that one.
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- Let me tell you, I
looked at a lot of skulls
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until I found one that
I thought was perfect,
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and you notice it
has all its teeth?
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That\'s what we all look
like underneath the skin.
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Everybody.
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(whimsical music)
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Cooper Union was the
greatest art school
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in the country at that time.
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It opened a world for me.
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And it was 8th Street
and Astor Place,
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in the heart of
Abstract Expressionism.
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It was burgeoning there.
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All the artists\'
studios, you know,
00:05:33.208 --> 00:05:36.356
that were around 10th Street,
8th Street, 9th Street.
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(whimsical music)
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When I got to Cooper Union
I was an abstract artist.
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(whimsical music)
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My teacher was Nick
Marsicano who was one
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of the founding members
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of the Abstract
Expressionist artists\' club.
00:06:02.458 --> 00:06:04.457
And that\'s how I
got to meet Pollock
00:06:04.458 --> 00:06:06.630
and Kline and de Kooning.
00:06:09.999 --> 00:06:12.368
And it wasn\'t like it is now.
00:06:13.000 --> 00:06:15.124
Nobody thought about money.
00:06:15.125 --> 00:06:17.883
You just wanted
to make great art.
00:06:20.999 --> 00:06:23.562
Your fame consisted of
respect that you had
00:06:24.959 --> 00:06:26.290
from your fellow artists.
00:06:26.291 --> 00:06:28.082
And when somebody
made a new painting,
00:06:28.083 --> 00:06:30.775
when de Kooning
made a new painting,
00:06:30.792 --> 00:06:33.550
everybody knew he
made a new painting.
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It was a very pure, great time.
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I was throwing paint
from 30 feet away,
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hanging out with those guys.
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It was thrilling.
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(whimsical music)
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And Pollock, I loved his work.
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All relics, like you find
in churches out there,
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paint cans and brushes.
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And the irony of somebody
who broke all the rules
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and spilled all the paint,
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and we have to wear
these little booties.
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He\'s painting.
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That\'s not a drip.
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This is very interesting,
what he\'s doing here.
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It\'s gorgeous.
00:08:04.458 --> 00:08:07.866
You know, the struggle that
the early Byzantine artists
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and the early 13th or
14th century artists had,
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they tried so hard to
put a figure in space.
00:08:21.208 --> 00:08:23.082
So Giotto would make a box.
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He would really create
00:08:23.999 --> 00:08:26.562
like a little
architectural enclosure,
00:08:26.999 --> 00:08:30.279
and he put a figure in it,
and he tried perspective.
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At first it\'s very primitive.
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As you skip centuries,
you get up to Cezanne.
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He paints objects on a
table, apples, fruit.
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And that table begins to tilt.
00:08:46.333 --> 00:08:49.936
And as art continues
that picture plane
tilts, tilts, tilts.
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Cubism it\'s about, it\'s
depth, is like that,
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a shadow box space.
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This guy shatters
the whole thing.
00:09:05.500 --> 00:09:06.249
Pow!
00:09:06.250 --> 00:09:08.942
He goes right through
the picture plane.
00:09:10.875 --> 00:09:13.828
The crazy thing is he does
it in a space on a floor,
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in a room.
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He\'s in outer space.
00:09:19.375 --> 00:09:21.350
(gentle music)
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The photorealist work that
I produced has a lot to do
00:09:31.999 --> 00:09:34.562
with my being an
abstract expressionist.
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The picture plane is tilted up,
00:09:39.125 --> 00:09:41.947
and there\'s things
all over my painting.
00:09:43.291 --> 00:09:45.463
My work has an overall pattern,
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pretty much the
way Pollock\'s does.
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You know, I\'m thinking like
an abstract expressionist.
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(intense music)
00:10:19.792 --> 00:10:22.615
What can I tell you
about my childhood?
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I probably would
have been on Ritalin.
00:10:26.417 --> 00:10:28.328
I was very hyperactive.
00:10:29.166 --> 00:10:31.210
Just da-da.
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Couldn\'t sit still.
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What happened was because
I was always pulled out
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of class for being b-a-d,
they sent me into the hallway
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and one teacher, God
bless this teacher,
00:10:45.625 --> 00:10:48.772
had a little pity on me,
gave me a piece of oak tag
00:10:51.999 --> 00:10:55.149
and a pencil, and that was
it, I became the class artist.
00:10:56.999 --> 00:10:59.758
And I think that made
the world something
00:11:00.375 --> 00:11:03.067
I could understand
and deal with.
00:11:03.250 --> 00:11:05.292
(intense music)
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My mother was a big gambler.
00:11:14.458 --> 00:11:16.760
Her primary love was cards.
00:11:19.792 --> 00:11:21.457
She used to lose the food money.
00:11:21.458 --> 00:11:24.152
And my mother would send
me around the corner
00:11:25.041 --> 00:11:28.255
to the Sunshine Dairy
and told me to charge it.
00:11:30.375 --> 00:11:33.850
And I remember the man, on a
paper bag he would add it up
00:11:36.834 --> 00:11:39.592
and I realized she
never had the money.
00:11:39.917 --> 00:11:41.567
(intense music)
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She did leave me alone a lot.
00:11:46.792 --> 00:11:48.749
I was jealous of the other kids
00:11:48.750 --> 00:11:49.998
because when the mothers came
00:11:49.999 --> 00:11:52.562
to pick their children
up after school,
00:11:52.583 --> 00:11:55.277
my mother was invariably
not there or late.
00:11:57.333 --> 00:11:59.374
(intense music)
00:12:03.709 --> 00:12:05.618
(traffic humming)
00:12:10.542 --> 00:12:11.999
This, right in here.
00:12:12.000 --> 00:12:14.303
Bob lived down there.
00:12:14.500 --> 00:12:16.411
That\'s my building!
00:12:17.625 --> 00:12:19.536
J. Hood Wright Park.
00:12:22.291 --> 00:12:24.397
Magnificent building.
00:12:24.792 --> 00:12:26.703
(traffic humming)
00:12:27.208 --> 00:12:30.422
- [Anita] We first met
when we were about eight.
00:12:30.458 --> 00:12:31.874
- You were on the third,
00:12:31.875 --> 00:12:33.666
right?
- Third floor.
00:12:33.667 --> 00:12:35.839
We became very close friends.
00:12:36.542 --> 00:12:39.300
In high school we went
to a lot of museums,
00:12:39.917 --> 00:12:42.089
a lot of the galleries together.
00:12:42.333 --> 00:12:45.417
She always had a sketchbook,
and she was drawing
00:12:46.000 --> 00:12:47.998
or painting or whatever.
00:12:47.999 --> 00:12:49.847
(intense music)
00:12:53.625 --> 00:12:54.582
We were talking about art,
00:12:54.583 --> 00:12:56.916
and what we thought
was more beautiful,
00:12:56.917 --> 00:12:59.155
a man\'s body, a woman\'s body.
00:12:59.333 --> 00:13:01.374
(intense music)
00:13:02.999 --> 00:13:05.563
Well, it was a primarily
Jewish neighborhood.
00:13:06.625 --> 00:13:08.275
(intense music)
00:13:09.333 --> 00:13:11.998
There was a Y a few
blocks from our house
00:13:11.999 --> 00:13:14.822
and it was like where
all the kids congregated.
00:13:14.834 --> 00:13:17.004
So we decided to go to a dance.
00:13:17.999 --> 00:13:20.562
- [Audrey] I bought
tangerine lipstick,
00:13:22.583 --> 00:13:25.796
and when I got two blocks
away I put on my lipstick.
00:13:29.709 --> 00:13:32.856
- [Bob] I remember
it very distinctly,
I was 15, she was 13.
00:13:35.999 --> 00:13:37.290
- [Audrey] And
this boy comes over
00:13:37.291 --> 00:13:40.507
and he had long black hair
and he wore it straight back.
00:13:43.834 --> 00:13:46.656
- [Bob] I went over to Audrey
and met her that evening.
00:13:50.834 --> 00:13:52.874
- [Audrey] And we danced.
00:13:52.875 --> 00:13:55.892
And then I remember he put
his hand behind my back,
00:13:56.166 --> 00:13:57.998
and he dipped me.
00:13:57.999 --> 00:14:01.344
- And from that moment on
we dated for the next four
00:14:02.959 --> 00:14:05.584
or five years the way
kids dated back then,
00:14:05.999 --> 00:14:08.043
usually in groups.
00:14:08.417 --> 00:14:10.326
(gentle music)
00:14:14.999 --> 00:14:17.563
- I accidentally
heard there\'s a school
00:14:18.166 --> 00:14:20.860
where you could
study art and music.
00:14:21.125 --> 00:14:23.883
Well, I didn\'t know
if I believed in God,
00:14:25.208 --> 00:14:27.874
but every night I
prayed that I could go
00:14:27.875 --> 00:14:29.874
to Music and Art High School.
00:14:29.875 --> 00:14:32.047
But you needed a portfolio.
00:14:32.875 --> 00:14:35.373
So I go to Woolworth\'s,
lo and behold,
00:14:36.208 --> 00:14:39.356
there\'s a little thing
this big, brown leatherette
00:14:42.583 --> 00:14:45.796
with gold embossed writing
that says, \"Portfolio\".
00:14:47.999 --> 00:14:50.954
So I had my little
portfolio and comes the day
00:14:51.667 --> 00:14:54.748
and I see all of these students
carrying real portfolios,
00:14:57.999 --> 00:15:00.108
huge black portfolios.
00:15:01.000 --> 00:15:02.541
I just wanted to die.
00:15:02.542 --> 00:15:03.499
This was my dream.
00:15:03.500 --> 00:15:06.192
I said, \"You know,
daddy, take me home.\"
00:15:06.999 --> 00:15:09.304
And he said, \"You\'re a Flack.
00:15:12.375 --> 00:15:13.999
\"Flacks don\'t give up.\"
00:15:14.000 --> 00:15:16.822
And he opens the door
and he shoves me out.
00:15:18.834 --> 00:15:21.720
The great thing was that you
had to take a test there,
00:15:25.041 --> 00:15:27.538
and they gave you charcoal.
00:15:28.333 --> 00:15:30.505
I had never seen charcoal.
00:15:30.999 --> 00:15:33.822
And I began drawing and I began
to feel that exhilaration.
00:15:38.667 --> 00:15:41.425
And then I looked
on either side of me
00:15:42.999 --> 00:15:45.172
and I knew I was good.
00:15:45.542 --> 00:15:47.165
I knew I was good.
00:15:47.166 --> 00:15:49.210
(gentle music)
00:15:54.125 --> 00:15:56.167
(hands clapping)
00:15:58.500 --> 00:16:00.280
(birds chirping)
00:16:01.834 --> 00:16:02.582
(people chattering)
00:16:02.583 --> 00:16:05.796
Okay, sit wherever you can,
and the rest sit on the floor.
00:16:06.083 --> 00:16:08.775
Well, nice to have
you, and you and you.
00:16:10.208 --> 00:16:13.488
So, when I went to high
school everything was Picasso,
00:16:16.041 --> 00:16:18.864
everything was Juan
Gris and Braque,
00:16:19.999 --> 00:16:21.332
and everything was Cubism.
00:16:21.333 --> 00:16:24.417
But when I saw an Old
Master, wow, I wanna do that.
00:16:27.667 --> 00:16:30.748
And they knocked it out of
you, that was old-fashioned.
00:16:31.000 --> 00:16:32.624
So that was the atmosphere.
00:16:32.625 --> 00:16:35.448
You were gonna be
new and original.
00:16:35.999 --> 00:16:37.708
You never copied.
00:16:37.709 --> 00:16:40.336
I really will
encourage you to do
00:16:40.375 --> 00:16:42.547
what I was taught not to do.
00:16:42.667 --> 00:16:45.490
You copy, you copy,
you copy, you copy.
00:16:45.709 --> 00:16:48.531
Nobody will ever take
your originality away.
00:16:49.792 --> 00:16:51.999
Nobody, certainly
no good teacher.
00:16:52.000 --> 00:16:55.278
Except that Albers screwed
up a couple friends of mine
00:16:56.417 --> 00:16:59.761
who were terrific painters
and became scrap painters.
00:17:00.999 --> 00:17:02.716
(gentle music)
00:17:22.999 --> 00:17:25.108
That is so depressing.
00:17:27.166 --> 00:17:28.998
Oh, my God.
00:17:28.999 --> 00:17:31.693
Intellectually I know
what he\'s trying to do.
00:17:32.834 --> 00:17:35.592
Emotionally, you stand
in front of this thing,
00:17:35.750 --> 00:17:38.703
I mean, if they talk about him
bringing you through emotion,
00:17:39.792 --> 00:17:42.484
you could kill yourself
from this painting.
00:17:42.583 --> 00:17:44.235
(intense music)
00:17:44.999 --> 00:17:48.018
Obviously this brings back
memories from 1951, \'52.
00:17:51.375 --> 00:17:53.350
(intense music)
00:17:55.625 --> 00:17:58.709
Here he was, Bauhaus
master, and he had a vision
00:18:01.750 --> 00:18:03.922
to go to Cooper Union and ask
00:18:07.500 --> 00:18:09.958
for their most
avant-garde students,
00:18:09.959 --> 00:18:12.131
and they gave him my name.
00:18:13.834 --> 00:18:16.004
I dragged 10 of my best works,
00:18:16.999 --> 00:18:19.758
shoved them into the
backseat of my father\'s car,
00:18:20.875 --> 00:18:22.786
and we drove up to Yale.
00:18:25.208 --> 00:18:27.165
And then suddenly
the door opens,
00:18:27.166 --> 00:18:30.316
and I remember him bursting
in, never said hello,
00:18:31.458 --> 00:18:33.369
and I\'m like, \"Ah.\"
00:18:33.959 --> 00:18:36.911
Looked at every work, he
said, \"You will go to Yale.
00:18:39.999 --> 00:18:40.999
\"You will go.\"
00:18:41.000 --> 00:18:43.561
That was a big deal for me.
00:18:44.583 --> 00:18:46.249
My parents were immigrants.
00:18:46.250 --> 00:18:47.290
They were very bright people,
00:18:47.291 --> 00:18:50.114
but my father never
went to high school.
00:18:51.999 --> 00:18:54.562
Anyhow Albers gives me
a scholarship to Yale.
00:18:55.999 --> 00:18:58.499
And I\'m, \"Hey mom, look.\"
00:18:59.999 --> 00:19:02.562
You know, I\'m
waving this letter.
00:19:03.041 --> 00:19:04.374
She\'s in the kitchen.
00:19:04.375 --> 00:19:07.655
And she has this dish towel
and she starts wiping her eyes
00:19:10.959 --> 00:19:13.584
and I think she\'s
crying with joy.
00:19:15.999 --> 00:19:18.954
\"Too much education ruins a
girl\'s chance of marriage.\"
00:19:23.208 --> 00:19:25.374
She was not very happy.
00:19:25.375 --> 00:19:27.350
(gentle music)
00:19:43.458 --> 00:19:46.152
Albers did not allow
any nude models.
00:19:47.500 --> 00:19:49.332
You know, if you were
going to be yourself,
00:19:49.333 --> 00:19:51.833
he was a very difficult
teacher to have
00:19:51.834 --> 00:19:54.461
and maintain your
identity and your style.
00:19:57.125 --> 00:19:59.167
(gentle music)
00:20:02.291 --> 00:20:03.998
So he comes into my studio
00:20:03.999 --> 00:20:06.563
and he starts talking
about my painting.
00:20:06.999 --> 00:20:08.290
And we\'re both sitting there.
00:20:08.291 --> 00:20:11.571
He put his hand on my knee
and it traveled up my thigh.
00:20:14.750 --> 00:20:17.541
And as we were looking, it
was almost like a masher
00:20:17.542 --> 00:20:20.819
on the subway when you\'re
not sure what they\'re doing
00:20:22.375 --> 00:20:25.003
\'cause they\'re looking
straight ahead.
00:20:25.999 --> 00:20:28.082
It had no connection to me.
00:20:28.083 --> 00:20:30.514
He wasn\'t looking at me at all.
00:20:30.625 --> 00:20:33.772
It was just really weird for
me and very shocking for me
00:20:36.999 --> 00:20:39.822
because I was in awe of
Yale and the whole idea
00:20:40.999 --> 00:20:43.416
of being there, and
I could not believe
00:20:43.417 --> 00:20:46.239
that this was happening
until he reached here,
00:20:49.542 --> 00:20:52.365
and which case I jumped
up from the chair.
00:20:53.999 --> 00:20:56.499
And the chair got knocked over,
00:20:57.375 --> 00:20:59.611
and I didn\'t know what to say.
00:21:04.917 --> 00:21:05.916
And that was it.
00:21:05.917 --> 00:21:08.089
I never spoke to him again.
00:21:09.625 --> 00:21:12.772
I stayed away from him, I
didn\'t take a course of his,
00:21:15.750 --> 00:21:18.444
and I never told anybody
about it until years
00:21:22.500 --> 00:21:25.258
and years later when I
was interviewed on WBAI
00:21:25.999 --> 00:21:29.083
and I sort of mentioned
it, many women called in.
00:21:31.125 --> 00:21:34.469
I was not the only one, \'cause
you\'re never the only one.
00:21:39.458 --> 00:21:41.303
(gentle music)
00:21:44.959 --> 00:21:45.749
While I was at Yale,
00:21:45.750 --> 00:21:48.508
I was copying the Old
Masters, secretly.
00:21:51.999 --> 00:21:53.847
(gentle music)
00:21:57.041 --> 00:22:00.386
So I had sketchbooks filled
with Old Master drawings.
00:22:05.250 --> 00:22:07.942
The drive to do realism
was always with me.
00:22:12.291 --> 00:22:15.507
I took a course called
\"Iconography of the Bible\"
00:22:17.125 --> 00:22:19.428
and it changed my life.
00:22:21.959 --> 00:22:24.131
It enriched the art for me.
00:22:24.417 --> 00:22:27.239
Every object there was
tremendous symbolism.
00:22:28.500 --> 00:22:31.258
Is the fruit fresh
or is it rotten?
00:22:34.208 --> 00:22:36.966
The burning candle,
how high is the flame?
00:22:41.542 --> 00:22:43.712
That was a turning point for me
00:22:44.291 --> 00:22:46.463
to start following my true gut.
00:22:52.999 --> 00:22:54.847
(cheerful music)
00:22:56.750 --> 00:22:59.767
After I graduated Yale, I had
a little studio on 8th Street.
00:23:02.999 --> 00:23:05.562
Studio had no
heat, no hot water.
00:23:06.999 --> 00:23:09.874
There was a hole in the
floor, you could see down
00:23:09.875 --> 00:23:12.631
to the guy on the second
floor who inked Batman.
00:23:14.333 --> 00:23:17.613
Comic strips were done in
pencil by the comic artists.
00:23:20.792 --> 00:23:23.094
And then there was an inker.
00:23:24.333 --> 00:23:27.027
And when he was
busy, I helped him.
00:23:29.500 --> 00:23:31.672
I had one job after another.
00:23:34.083 --> 00:23:37.297
And then I worked for six
months and go on unemployment
00:23:37.500 --> 00:23:39.411
and then I could paint.
00:23:39.875 --> 00:23:42.047
Then I sold my first painting.
00:23:43.959 --> 00:23:45.207
That was great.
00:23:45.208 --> 00:23:47.250
I got 250.
00:23:47.875 --> 00:23:48.457
That was enough.
00:23:48.458 --> 00:23:51.216
I could go to Europe
for the whole summer.
00:23:54.834 --> 00:23:56.548
I was in heaven.
00:23:56.583 --> 00:23:58.299
(gentle music)
00:24:02.999 --> 00:24:05.627
I come back, I\'m
back a week or two.
00:24:09.375 --> 00:24:11.547
My father just drops dead.
00:24:13.125 --> 00:24:15.883
I loved my father,
it was really hard.
00:24:16.875 --> 00:24:18.525
(gentle music)
00:24:47.999 --> 00:24:50.833
I don\'t think I would
have married my ex-husband
00:24:50.834 --> 00:24:52.745
if my father was alive.
00:24:53.625 --> 00:24:55.275
(gentle music)
00:24:58.709 --> 00:25:01.467
- Her first husband,
he was a cello player.
00:25:04.041 --> 00:25:07.255
He came from a good family
with quotes around it,
00:25:08.458 --> 00:25:10.825
you know, intellectuals,
musicians.
00:25:11.999 --> 00:25:14.758
So it seemed like a
really good match to her.
00:25:19.458 --> 00:25:22.086
- Well, I got
pregnant right away.
00:25:23.542 --> 00:25:25.712
And Melissa was born in 1959.
00:25:30.999 --> 00:25:33.693
So you\'re talking about
a very alive, active,
00:25:35.667 --> 00:25:38.748
up-and-coming young
artist in love with life.
00:25:41.417 --> 00:25:44.175
A year later I didn\'t
even wanna live anymore.
00:25:49.834 --> 00:25:52.461
I had been so trained
to trust my eyes
00:25:53.625 --> 00:25:56.319
that I just picked
up everything.
00:25:57.917 --> 00:26:00.608
I remember asking the
doctor in the hospital
00:26:01.000 --> 00:26:04.214
if my child could hear, because
her reactions were strange.
00:26:07.500 --> 00:26:10.648
And he goes over to the
bassinet where she\'s sleeping
00:26:10.999 --> 00:26:13.043
and he goes, boom!
00:26:14.166 --> 00:26:17.511
And, you know, poor little
Melissa, she startles
00:26:17.999 --> 00:26:20.043
and starts screaming.
00:26:20.917 --> 00:26:23.089
Didn\'t stop screaming for hours.
00:26:23.417 --> 00:26:25.587
And he says, \"She can hear\".
00:26:28.125 --> 00:26:31.339
I knew that there was
something wrong with her.
00:26:32.250 --> 00:26:35.398
Nobody knew anything
about autism at the time.
00:26:36.999 --> 00:26:40.083
You ask any parent who
had an autistic kid then,
00:26:43.333 --> 00:26:46.222
who didn\'t have
any money or help,
00:26:49.625 --> 00:26:51.275
it was brutal.
00:26:53.999 --> 00:26:56.822
When it became apparent,
then I was told I caused it.
00:27:00.834 --> 00:27:03.720
Because I\'m so unfeeling
and unemotional and cold,
00:27:04.291 --> 00:27:07.375
which is the whole
refrigerator mother thing.
00:27:09.999 --> 00:27:11.847
(fanfare)
00:27:13.709 --> 00:27:14.998
- [Announcer] The
Dick Cavett Show!
00:27:14.999 --> 00:27:17.954
- And I think that for the
child, in order to survive,
00:27:19.166 --> 00:27:21.833
one must have the
feeling that somebody,
00:27:21.834 --> 00:27:23.874
you are terribly
important to somebody.
00:27:23.875 --> 00:27:26.631
- Somebody cares.
- That somebody really cares
00:27:27.333 --> 00:27:27.998
for you.
00:27:27.999 --> 00:27:30.040
In the case of these
extremely disturbed children,
00:27:30.041 --> 00:27:33.321
not only nobody cared, but
this autistic child felt
00:27:35.000 --> 00:27:37.692
that everybody wants
him to be dead.
00:27:39.999 --> 00:27:42.562
- It was a terrible,
terrible time,
00:27:44.000 --> 00:27:46.692
for the children
and for the parents.
00:27:48.834 --> 00:27:51.592
How do you tell someone
that you have a child
00:27:51.667 --> 00:27:53.374
that maybe sleeps one hour.
00:27:53.375 --> 00:27:56.198
And they think, \"Well,
you\'re exaggerating.\"
00:27:58.250 --> 00:28:01.464
When she went to bed, sometimes
she\'d get three, four hours.
00:28:05.041 --> 00:28:07.541
Often I had to paint
holding Melissa,
00:28:07.542 --> 00:28:10.365
\'cause that was the only
time she\'d stop crying.
00:28:11.709 --> 00:28:13.359
(gentle music)
00:28:14.999 --> 00:28:18.018
In the middle of the night it
was a beautiful time for me,
00:28:19.041 --> 00:28:21.344
the world was asleep.
00:28:23.999 --> 00:28:25.624
That kept me alive.
00:28:25.625 --> 00:28:27.275
(gentle music)
00:28:28.999 --> 00:28:31.562
Hannah was born
when Missy was two.
00:28:32.125 --> 00:28:35.013
The minute I saw her,
I knew she was fine.
00:28:38.999 --> 00:28:40.958
- We\'d come down to the house.
00:28:40.959 --> 00:28:41.998
It was always exciting.
00:28:41.999 --> 00:28:42.916
What are you doing?
00:28:42.917 --> 00:28:44.998
What are you working on now?
00:28:44.999 --> 00:28:46.782
(gentle music)
00:28:52.999 --> 00:28:56.018
And we\'d talk about the
difficulties of her marriage.
00:28:56.041 --> 00:28:59.386
Her husband was nowhere to be
seen in terms of the children.
00:29:01.750 --> 00:29:03.833
She had to go to work,
and she taught art
00:29:03.834 --> 00:29:05.998
\'cause there wasn\'t enough
money coming into the household.
00:29:05.999 --> 00:29:09.474
And you always had
to find somebody to
take care of Melissa.
00:29:10.999 --> 00:29:13.758
But she never stopped painting,
never stopped drawing.
00:29:15.333 --> 00:29:17.505
It was her heart and soul.
00:29:18.041 --> 00:29:20.085
(gentle music)
00:29:33.083 --> 00:29:35.386
(traffic humming)
00:29:52.917 --> 00:29:54.828
- Do you step back much?
00:29:54.999 --> 00:29:56.998
Or do you keep
the same distance?
00:29:56.999 --> 00:29:59.954
- [Philip] You know, I get
close and I step back, both.
00:30:04.291 --> 00:30:05.916
- Her face is wonderful.
00:30:05.917 --> 00:30:08.089
Realism was looked down upon.
00:30:10.667 --> 00:30:12.249
So there were a few artists,
00:30:12.250 --> 00:30:15.073
we drew together in
each other\'s houses.
00:30:16.250 --> 00:30:18.420
We\'d hire a model.
00:30:19.041 --> 00:30:22.386
I was the only woman, never
thought about it, just was.
00:30:26.291 --> 00:30:28.833
So, how many years
do we go back?
00:30:28.834 --> 00:30:31.654
- Early 1950s.
- Early 1950s, and this is...
00:30:33.959 --> 00:30:34.541
What is this?
00:30:34.542 --> 00:30:37.300
2017.
- Wow, that\'s a long time.
00:30:40.625 --> 00:30:43.383
- I became more
and more realistic.
00:30:44.834 --> 00:30:47.070
I just wanted to perfect this.
00:30:48.083 --> 00:30:50.191
(gentle music)
00:30:51.250 --> 00:30:54.789
Then I wanted to paint the
kids, Melissa and Hannah.
00:30:55.166 --> 00:30:57.989
Well, they\'re not
gonna sit still,
00:30:57.999 --> 00:31:00.238
and the time I had was at night,
00:31:00.917 --> 00:31:03.374
so I had a little
Brownie camera.
00:31:03.375 --> 00:31:06.067
It produced a picture
that was that big.
00:31:07.166 --> 00:31:09.924
And I started working
using that as reference,
00:31:11.625 --> 00:31:13.927
little black and
white snapshots.
00:31:14.125 --> 00:31:16.491
And that\'s how it started.
00:31:17.875 --> 00:31:19.525
It didn\'t move.
00:31:19.583 --> 00:31:22.796
If I was gonna do a still life,
the fruit didn\'t get rotten,
00:31:25.000 --> 00:31:27.822
the model didn\'t twitch
and run to the bathroom.
00:31:31.999 --> 00:31:34.368
So I began to study photographs,
00:31:35.291 --> 00:31:38.441
and there\'s something wonderful,
what the photograph does.
00:31:40.333 --> 00:31:43.678
It goes into my brain, and
it has to get translated
00:31:46.792 --> 00:31:48.874
into something flat.
00:31:48.875 --> 00:31:51.113
And it enhanced my vision.
00:31:53.000 --> 00:31:55.888
But, you know, you
were the only one
00:31:56.792 --> 00:31:59.678
that wasn\'t mad at me
for using photographs.
00:32:00.125 --> 00:32:03.339
- I remember they decided
to call a conference.
00:32:03.750 --> 00:32:06.702
And then about 300 people
every week showed up
00:32:08.166 --> 00:32:10.794
to discuss the problems
of figurative art.
00:32:14.000 --> 00:32:16.627
Not working from
photographs became one
00:32:16.959 --> 00:32:19.290
of their principles.
- Oh, yeah,
00:32:19.291 --> 00:32:21.463
I was the devil incarnate.
00:32:22.667 --> 00:32:23.998
- No, no, you weren\'t.
00:32:23.999 --> 00:32:25.958
- Yes.
- Chuck Close.
00:32:25.959 --> 00:32:28.584
- If--
- They invited Chuck Close.
00:32:28.999 --> 00:32:30.977
And Chuck gave his talk.
00:32:30.999 --> 00:32:33.624
Then when he asked for
questions they showered him
00:32:33.625 --> 00:32:36.319
with beer cans, many
of which weren\'t empty.
00:32:38.999 --> 00:32:41.562
- You know, we accept
the camera now.
00:32:41.959 --> 00:32:44.131
But then only the lowest artists
00:32:47.709 --> 00:32:50.075
used the camera: illustrators.
00:32:52.375 --> 00:32:55.374
And it was a really hard time
because the kids were little
00:32:55.375 --> 00:32:58.655
and I lost a lot of my
friends, and I needed them
00:32:59.999 --> 00:33:00.998
and they wouldn\'t talk to me
00:33:00.999 --> 00:33:03.627
\'cause I was using
the photograph.
00:33:07.083 --> 00:33:07.916
\'61, \'2, \'3.
00:33:07.917 --> 00:33:10.739
Now the whole world stops
\'cause Kennedy is assassinated
00:33:12.375 --> 00:33:15.133
and I had to paint
that, I had to.
00:33:16.709 --> 00:33:18.359
(dramatic music)
00:33:19.083 --> 00:33:22.167
You know, it was a photograph
I found in a magazine.
00:33:24.125 --> 00:33:26.167
(dramatic music)
00:33:28.999 --> 00:33:31.562
- It was kind of a
bright November day,
00:33:31.583 --> 00:33:34.406
and Jackie with her
little pillbox hat,
00:33:34.999 --> 00:33:38.215
and, of course, implicit in
that is they\'re so happy,
00:33:39.792 --> 00:33:42.615
when moments later he
would be assassinated.
00:33:43.792 --> 00:33:45.442
(dramatic music)
00:33:54.625 --> 00:33:56.582
- If Audrey started painting
off of those photographs,
00:33:56.583 --> 00:33:59.796
it was not in order to tell
us something that had happened
00:33:59.834 --> 00:34:02.720
but in order to test the
waters as to what we feel
00:34:03.458 --> 00:34:05.040
about what\'s happened.
00:34:05.041 --> 00:34:07.085
(gentle music)
00:34:12.959 --> 00:34:15.586
- I got to be very
political, which I still am.
00:34:16.458 --> 00:34:19.216
Even in the still lives
the work is political.
00:34:21.999 --> 00:34:23.165
- [Interviewer] Were
these photographs
00:34:23.166 --> 00:34:24.374
that you\'ve taken yourself?
- No.
00:34:24.375 --> 00:34:26.582
Some of the photographs were
journalistic photographs
00:34:26.583 --> 00:34:29.733
and some were photographs
that I took myself.
00:34:29.875 --> 00:34:31.525
(dramatic music)
00:34:49.458 --> 00:34:52.672
- I followed what her career
was up to at that point,
00:34:52.999 --> 00:34:54.782
in 1963 or \'64.
00:34:56.667 --> 00:34:59.748
I just picked up the phone
and we met for a drink
00:34:59.999 --> 00:35:02.758
and we just talked for
hours about old times
00:35:03.500 --> 00:35:05.672
and what was in our lives now.
00:35:05.999 --> 00:35:08.693
And I think there was
certainly a large degree
00:35:08.999 --> 00:35:11.238
of unhappiness for both of us.
00:35:11.834 --> 00:35:14.249
And occasionally
we\'d see each other.
00:35:14.250 --> 00:35:16.499
Certainly, no other
thought was in my mind,
00:35:16.500 --> 00:35:18.998
and I wondered the possibilities
of getting back together
00:35:18.999 --> 00:35:21.562
and it had to be in
Audrey\'s mind also.
00:35:23.917 --> 00:35:26.608
We decided that we were
each gonna get divorced.
00:35:28.208 --> 00:35:31.422
And then we set a date in 1970
to get married and we did.
00:35:34.875 --> 00:35:36.525
(gentle music)
00:35:42.000 --> 00:35:43.998
- Bob loved the children.
00:35:43.999 --> 00:35:45.912
He loved them.
00:35:47.999 --> 00:35:50.304
And he adopted both of them.
00:35:50.999 --> 00:35:52.912
(gentle music)
00:35:58.792 --> 00:36:01.550
I worked with Melissa at
home, but it was 24/7.
00:36:04.709 --> 00:36:06.618
Melissa needed help.
00:36:09.291 --> 00:36:12.180
I read in \"Good
Housekeeping\" about a school.
00:36:14.750 --> 00:36:17.573
We went and visited it
and I liked it a lot,
00:36:18.792 --> 00:36:21.550
and I thought they\'d
be very kind to Missy.
00:36:21.999 --> 00:36:25.215
There was nothing for
autism around at the time.
00:36:31.583 --> 00:36:33.235
(birds chirping)
00:36:37.999 --> 00:36:39.541
(indistinct)
00:36:39.542 --> 00:36:41.256
(Melissa laughs)
00:36:42.083 --> 00:36:42.998
Hello!
- Hi.
00:36:42.999 --> 00:36:45.541
- Hi Bob, how are you?
- Good, how are you?
00:36:45.542 --> 00:36:46.791
- Fine, thanks.
00:36:46.792 --> 00:36:47.874
- Melanie, thanks!
00:36:47.875 --> 00:36:50.569
- You\'re so welcome.
- Hi, cutie pie!
00:36:51.166 --> 00:36:51.874
- Ah!
00:36:51.875 --> 00:36:53.786
Oh, this is heaven.
00:36:54.792 --> 00:36:55.624
This is heaven.
00:36:55.625 --> 00:36:57.499
- [Melanie] Wow, that\'s good.
00:36:57.500 --> 00:36:59.477
♪ I love you a lot ♪
00:37:01.041 --> 00:37:03.374
♪ I love you a lot ♪
00:37:03.375 --> 00:37:05.874
- Come on, let\'s go
look at the house.
00:37:05.875 --> 00:37:07.786
Let\'s show everybody.
00:37:07.792 --> 00:37:10.678
We\'re gonna show
everybody where you live,
00:37:11.250 --> 00:37:13.207
what is like, you know...
00:37:13.208 --> 00:37:16.031
Here are the rooms
of the other boys.
00:37:16.625 --> 00:37:18.602
♪ I love you a lot ♪
00:37:25.125 --> 00:37:27.374
- Bob was my rock.
00:37:27.375 --> 00:37:30.040
There was a great
kindness to the man.
00:37:30.041 --> 00:37:32.864
And I could talk to him,
he was very supportive,
00:37:33.625 --> 00:37:35.536
I mean, I was an artist.
00:37:36.000 --> 00:37:37.999
And he liked that.
00:37:38.000 --> 00:37:40.042
(intense music)
00:37:44.999 --> 00:37:47.954
- Towards the end of the
60\'s, there were 100 artists
00:37:48.166 --> 00:37:51.446
that were called New Realists:
Pearlstein, Bruder, Tillim,
00:37:55.875 --> 00:37:58.047
and Morley and Estes and Audrey.
00:38:01.083 --> 00:38:03.841
Some of them went on
to be far more precise
00:38:03.999 --> 00:38:06.998
and started using the
camera in a different way,
00:38:06.999 --> 00:38:10.149
and a few of them became what
I call the Photorealists.
00:38:11.999 --> 00:38:14.582
- I don\'t ever thought of
myself as a photorealist,
00:38:14.583 --> 00:38:16.998
I just think of
myself as a painter.
00:38:16.999 --> 00:38:19.563
It was when I started
working in advertising.
00:38:20.709 --> 00:38:23.726
I worked at these various
art studios in New York
00:38:24.291 --> 00:38:26.463
and we always used photos.
00:38:27.999 --> 00:38:30.954
Somehow, it\'s a way to
just do the abstract beauty
00:38:32.417 --> 00:38:33.582
of the thing \'cause it can be
00:38:33.583 --> 00:38:36.082
very compositionally
interesting,
00:38:36.083 --> 00:38:38.775
but it\'s not necessarily
beautiful in itself.
00:38:45.125 --> 00:38:48.339
- First I was just drawing
from the photographs,
00:38:50.041 --> 00:38:52.864
using the photography as
reference for painting.
00:38:54.875 --> 00:38:57.047
It was very time-consuming.
00:38:57.166 --> 00:39:00.316
So I had this idea one
night and I called a friend.
00:39:01.166 --> 00:39:03.989
I said, \"Jerry, you got
a projector, come over.\"
00:39:07.417 --> 00:39:10.631
And that\'s when it started,
and that was thrilling.
00:39:12.625 --> 00:39:14.165
That was thrilling.
00:39:14.166 --> 00:39:16.210
(intense music)
00:39:23.208 --> 00:39:24.874
- The first show at the Whitney
00:39:24.875 --> 00:39:27.631
in the \'70s decade was
called \"22 Realists.\"
00:39:30.333 --> 00:39:31.791
(intense music)
00:39:31.792 --> 00:39:33.703
That cemented it.
00:39:33.709 --> 00:39:35.359
(intense music)
00:39:40.917 --> 00:39:43.609
- The Farb Family portrait
is a turning point
00:39:43.834 --> 00:39:44.416
in her career.
00:39:44.417 --> 00:39:47.239
She gets a commission
to make this portrait.
00:39:47.291 --> 00:39:50.702
And one of the family members,
a boy, is holding a camera.
00:39:51.083 --> 00:39:54.165
So, in some ways it exposes
the artifice of everything
00:39:54.166 --> 00:39:56.860
that\'s happening in this
particular portrait.
00:39:57.834 --> 00:39:59.484
(intense music)
00:40:01.542 --> 00:40:04.690
- American photorealism
focuses on the pop dimensions
00:40:07.000 --> 00:40:09.042
of our reality.
00:40:10.166 --> 00:40:12.332
So it is not just
about the photograph,
00:40:12.333 --> 00:40:15.547
it\'s about photographs as
documents of popular culture.
00:40:20.999 --> 00:40:22.998
- I don\'t think
photorealist works
00:40:22.999 --> 00:40:25.627
that we did look
like photographs.
00:40:25.999 --> 00:40:27.998
You can\'t make an exact copy
00:40:27.999 --> 00:40:30.888
\'cause you\'re a human being
making a mark on a canvas
00:40:32.834 --> 00:40:33.998
and your hand\'s gonna move,
00:40:33.999 --> 00:40:36.416
your eye sees
something different.
00:40:36.417 --> 00:40:38.326
(intense music)
00:40:45.999 --> 00:40:48.627
- I began representing
Audrey Flack in 1972.
00:40:50.333 --> 00:40:52.541
And it was the
beginnings of her years
00:40:52.542 --> 00:40:54.124
as a true photorealist.
00:40:54.125 --> 00:40:56.233
(intense music)
00:40:57.999 --> 00:40:59.998
- What Audrey began
to understand is
00:40:59.999 --> 00:41:02.499
that color is really light.
00:41:05.041 --> 00:41:07.669
The clear, gelatinous
color of slides.
00:41:11.375 --> 00:41:14.133
So to emulate that, she
developed a technique
00:41:15.792 --> 00:41:18.550
of making these slides
and then projecting them
00:41:20.667 --> 00:41:23.425
onto a canvas, and
then spray painting
00:41:25.999 --> 00:41:28.562
so you get this fine
mist of little droplets,
00:41:29.375 --> 00:41:32.133
which is very similar
to the kind of emulsions
00:41:33.333 --> 00:41:35.374
that you see on slides.
00:41:36.875 --> 00:41:39.631
She\'d mask parts out
and then spray it on.
00:41:42.250 --> 00:41:45.530
So she would get these
beautiful luminous works.
00:41:47.667 --> 00:41:48.582
(camera clicks)
00:41:48.583 --> 00:41:50.299
(intense music)
00:41:52.500 --> 00:41:53.624
(camera clicks)
00:41:53.625 --> 00:41:55.341
(intense music)
00:42:05.375 --> 00:42:08.655
- She was touring Europe
and she photographed a lot
00:42:11.834 --> 00:42:14.136
of the sculptures and churches.
00:42:18.083 --> 00:42:21.297
And she did four very, very
strong paintings of cathedrals.
00:42:22.834 --> 00:42:24.484
(intense music)
00:42:28.959 --> 00:42:31.584
She also did the four
Madonna pictures based
00:42:32.000 --> 00:42:34.303
on her photographs.
00:42:34.999 --> 00:42:37.562
One is in the Met,
one is in the Whitney.
00:42:41.667 --> 00:42:44.490
- [Audrey] Somebody
sent me a postcard.
00:42:45.999 --> 00:42:47.416
I said, \"Oh, my God.
00:42:47.417 --> 00:42:49.499
\"Bob, I\'ve got to go to Seville.
00:42:49.500 --> 00:42:51.736
\"I have to see this original.\"
00:42:52.291 --> 00:42:55.571
And there\'s a very
modest church, and there,
00:42:56.999 --> 00:43:00.149
like a Las Vegas show girl,
was this queen of heaven.
00:43:02.875 --> 00:43:04.917
It was bedazzling.
00:43:12.959 --> 00:43:13.708
- These were influenced
00:43:13.709 --> 00:43:16.531
by the Spanish Baroque
sculptor Luisa Roldan.
00:43:18.208 --> 00:43:21.227
Audrey was really suffering
because of Melissa
00:43:22.291 --> 00:43:24.624
and the fact that she
couldn\'t help Melissa
00:43:24.625 --> 00:43:26.536
or communicate with her.
00:43:28.083 --> 00:43:31.427
- She was crying for her son,
I was crying for my daughter.
00:43:33.333 --> 00:43:34.998
No doubt.
00:43:34.999 --> 00:43:37.238
Did I know it consciously?
00:43:38.083 --> 00:43:38.791
No.
00:43:38.792 --> 00:43:40.703
Not until years later.
00:43:40.999 --> 00:43:43.563
I knew I just had to
make those paintings.
00:43:47.625 --> 00:43:49.998
- Audrey is very unusual
as a contemporary artist
00:43:49.999 --> 00:43:52.562
to have that passion
for religious images.
00:43:55.999 --> 00:43:58.954
That doesn\'t necessarily
jive with what was in vogue
00:44:02.125 --> 00:44:04.491
in the New York art world.
00:44:06.458 --> 00:44:08.791
- Audrey was in
reality the only woman
00:44:08.792 --> 00:44:10.964
in that movement at the time.
00:44:11.999 --> 00:44:15.215
Blackwell and Parish
motorcycles, Goings\'
pickup trucks,
00:44:18.417 --> 00:44:21.695
all these macho Estes
storefronts and reflections.
00:44:23.583 --> 00:44:25.494
But it began with that.
00:44:26.999 --> 00:44:29.624
- We were all interested
in reflective surfaces.
00:44:29.625 --> 00:44:32.772
It was one of the early
phenomenons of photorealism.
00:44:33.959 --> 00:44:36.976
So when I was setting up my
still life I found objects
00:44:37.000 --> 00:44:39.165
that I liked and what
I found was a bottle
00:44:39.166 --> 00:44:42.380
of Jolie Madame perfume
and some jewelry and beads.
00:44:42.917 --> 00:44:45.608
I wanted to paint glass,
what color was glass?
00:44:46.667 --> 00:44:47.998
So there were a lot of problems
00:44:47.999 --> 00:44:50.627
that were just
artistic problems.
00:44:50.999 --> 00:44:54.083
But I was not interested
in the reflective surface
00:44:54.500 --> 00:44:55.457
of a car fender.
00:44:55.458 --> 00:44:58.021
I\'m just not interested
in a car fender.
00:44:58.166 --> 00:45:00.210
(intense music)
00:45:05.291 --> 00:45:07.582
- [Patricia] Audrey,
like all the rest of us,
00:45:07.583 --> 00:45:10.406
we were involved with
the Women\'s Movement.
00:45:11.625 --> 00:45:14.448
- Marcia Tucker, who was
a curator at the Whitney
00:45:15.834 --> 00:45:18.004
and then she started New Museum,
00:45:18.792 --> 00:45:21.678
she got women to gather in
her loft on Elizabeth Street.
00:45:26.333 --> 00:45:27.916
There were a couple
of women artists,
00:45:27.917 --> 00:45:30.739
but most of them were the wives
of well-known male artists,
00:45:34.083 --> 00:45:35.374
who were saying things
like, \"Oh, well,
00:45:35.375 --> 00:45:37.499
\"when he\'s painting
I leave a tray
00:45:37.500 --> 00:45:40.714
\"of food outside his studio
door not to bother him.\"
00:45:42.208 --> 00:45:45.488
And one of them actually said
she put a pot of geraniums,
00:45:46.917 --> 00:45:49.608
and I\'m sitting there
thinking, \"Oh, my God!
00:45:50.959 --> 00:45:52.998
\"When I get finished work Bob
00:45:52.999 --> 00:45:55.758
\"and Hannah are waiting
there for me to make dinner.\"
00:45:57.625 --> 00:46:00.383
It was hard to be a
woman artist then.
00:46:02.458 --> 00:46:05.216
Having children, I
never mentioned it,
00:46:06.542 --> 00:46:08.844
because you were
thought less of.
00:46:10.333 --> 00:46:13.499
First of all, you were a
woman, you had to be tough,
00:46:13.500 --> 00:46:16.258
you had to drink, you
had to screw around.
00:46:20.999 --> 00:46:23.954
- The condition for women
was really not just unfair
00:46:25.834 --> 00:46:28.656
but nobody even perceived of
the idea of fairness for women.
00:46:32.999 --> 00:46:34.791
Even as late as 1970,
00:46:34.792 --> 00:46:37.374
a woman couldn\'t have
her own credit card,
00:46:37.375 --> 00:46:38.165
or if she was married,
00:46:38.166 --> 00:46:40.860
she couldn\'t have
her own bank account.
00:46:42.959 --> 00:46:44.609
(gentle music)
00:46:49.333 --> 00:46:52.091
It was really in 1970
and \'71 that there began
00:46:53.041 --> 00:46:55.799
to be protests against
the lack of fairness
00:46:57.417 --> 00:46:58.582
in the art community.
00:46:58.583 --> 00:47:01.796
There were artists who were
not only protesting the lack
00:47:02.041 --> 00:47:05.255
of representation of women
but the content of art itself,
00:47:06.500 --> 00:47:08.666
and whether there was content
00:47:08.667 --> 00:47:11.295
that would be
exclusively female.
00:47:17.041 --> 00:47:20.321
There were artists exploring
female sexual experience.
00:47:22.667 --> 00:47:25.620
There were other artists
who were exploring yarn
00:47:25.792 --> 00:47:28.680
and weaving and fabric as a
defiant act of art materials.
00:47:36.375 --> 00:47:37.916
- [Audrey] Early \'70s
00:47:37.917 --> 00:47:40.608
there was the first
very important show
00:47:40.999 --> 00:47:43.627
at the Huntington
Hartford Museum,
00:47:43.792 --> 00:47:46.420
a show called \"Women
Choose Women.\"
00:47:47.208 --> 00:47:49.250
(gentle music)
00:47:54.959 --> 00:47:57.845
And it was a fabulous show
and it got rave reviews
00:47:59.458 --> 00:48:00.998
in the Times.
00:48:00.999 --> 00:48:02.847
(gentle music)
00:48:06.999 --> 00:48:10.083
- Rosalyn Drexler said, \"Jolie
Madame is gorgeous, decadent,
00:48:11.999 --> 00:48:13.249
\"opulent and jeweled.
00:48:13.250 --> 00:48:15.942
\"It is vulgar and risky,
a powerful comment,
00:48:15.999 --> 00:48:19.083
\"an artificiality in the
absurdity of the good life.
00:48:19.375 --> 00:48:22.624
\"This painting is one of the
most beautiful ugly paintings
00:48:22.625 --> 00:48:24.536
\"I\'ve ever seen.\"
00:48:24.999 --> 00:48:27.954
The only reason I can think
she used the word ugly was
00:48:28.583 --> 00:48:30.755
because it was so voluptuous.
00:48:30.999 --> 00:48:34.083
I think that was shocking
in a subversive way.
00:48:37.375 --> 00:48:40.523
All of her work is an
exploration of the painterly
00:48:40.750 --> 00:48:43.702
and the feminine, and it\'s
such an interesting mixture,
00:48:44.125 --> 00:48:46.883
and it takes her outside
of her historical time
00:48:48.333 --> 00:48:50.505
and even outside of feminism.
00:48:54.917 --> 00:48:57.608
- Chanel No. 5 was one
of her famous pictures.
00:48:59.709 --> 00:49:02.249
And I remember
that Hilton Kramer,
00:49:02.250 --> 00:49:05.594
the New York Times reporter,
just thought she was kitschy
00:49:06.999 --> 00:49:09.693
and terrible and called
her the Barbra Streisand
00:49:12.750 --> 00:49:13.749
of painting.
00:49:13.750 --> 00:49:16.508
I said, \"Audrey, he\'s
being anti-Semitic.\"
00:49:17.625 --> 00:49:20.383
Barbara Streisand is a
wonderful popular singer
00:49:20.583 --> 00:49:23.277
that Hilton Kramer felt
very snobbish about.
00:49:24.583 --> 00:49:26.332
- You realize that Hilton
Kramer was just talking
00:49:26.333 --> 00:49:28.791
from prejudice only,
and it\'s social,
00:49:28.792 --> 00:49:30.964
economic and ethnic prejudice.
00:49:31.750 --> 00:49:33.332
(gentle music)
00:49:33.333 --> 00:49:35.961
She paints in a really,
really lavish way.
00:49:37.333 --> 00:49:40.027
She paints in a way
that involves all kinds
00:49:40.083 --> 00:49:42.841
of baroque decoration
and she does the things
00:49:43.999 --> 00:49:46.954
that modernists are
supposed never to do, right?
00:49:47.250 --> 00:49:49.422
And she does them gleefully.
00:49:49.834 --> 00:49:51.484
(gentle music)
00:50:12.709 --> 00:50:14.359
(intense music)
00:50:17.999 --> 00:50:21.149
- I\'ve been doing really big
works, so the last three,
00:50:22.166 --> 00:50:25.380
the Vanitas, took two
years for three paintings.
00:50:30.458 --> 00:50:33.738
Vanitas is a Renaissance
theme, from Ecclesiastes,
00:50:34.625 --> 00:50:37.772
\"Vanity, oh, vanity, all is
vanity saith the preacher.\"
00:50:38.500 --> 00:50:39.998
And it\'s a thing that they used
00:50:39.999 --> 00:50:41.457
in the Renaissance all the time.
00:50:41.458 --> 00:50:44.608
They had very intricate
symbols, having to do with life
00:50:45.291 --> 00:50:48.507
and death, and the vain quality
of worrying about riches,
00:50:51.999 --> 00:50:54.433
worrying about the way we look.
00:50:55.999 --> 00:50:58.499
My art is saying, \"Thank you.\"
00:50:58.999 --> 00:50:59.457
Yeah.
00:50:59.458 --> 00:51:01.696
In fact, I\'m very proud of that.
00:51:02.333 --> 00:51:04.374
So, what we...
00:51:05.125 --> 00:51:07.167
(gentle music)
00:51:10.291 --> 00:51:13.114
So \"Wheel of Fortune\"
there\'s a tarot card.
00:51:14.917 --> 00:51:17.608
You don\'t know what
life deals you,
00:51:17.999 --> 00:51:20.562
what you have to
manage if you can.
00:51:23.834 --> 00:51:26.720
It gave me a very beautiful
daughter who can\'t speak,
00:51:32.583 --> 00:51:33.999
who can\'t write.
00:51:34.000 --> 00:51:36.042
(dramatic music)
00:51:36.875 --> 00:51:39.332
\"Wheel of Fortune\"
there\'s a skull
00:51:39.333 --> 00:51:41.505
and there\'s a mirror next to it.
00:51:41.999 --> 00:51:44.562
And there\'s a reflection
in the mirror,
00:51:44.834 --> 00:51:47.786
but there\'s a rainbow I
introduce in that mirror.
00:51:49.959 --> 00:51:52.715
So there\'s this
transcendence, there\'s hope.
00:51:55.709 --> 00:51:57.423
(dramatic music)
00:52:00.458 --> 00:52:03.216
- [Patricia] Probably
my favorite is Marilyn,
00:52:03.792 --> 00:52:06.484
which is big and
glorious and tragic.
00:52:08.875 --> 00:52:09.624
I would always teach it.
00:52:09.625 --> 00:52:12.772
I would say this is Marilyn
Monroe when she was Norma Jean,
00:52:14.750 --> 00:52:17.573
who can very well
stand in for women
00:52:18.583 --> 00:52:21.406
of the mid-20th century,
and all that that meant,
00:52:22.250 --> 00:52:25.008
all that a woman had
to do to survive,
00:52:25.875 --> 00:52:28.047
play the game, at that time.
00:52:28.999 --> 00:52:30.652
(gentle music)
00:52:37.999 --> 00:52:40.165
- [Samantha] The first
Vanitas painting I ever saw
00:52:40.166 --> 00:52:43.446
in person was World War II and
I was completely overwhelmed
00:52:46.999 --> 00:52:49.043
by the scale of it.
00:52:50.750 --> 00:52:53.639
And the color is just
so vivid, and the way
00:52:54.500 --> 00:52:57.780
that everything glitters,
and I find it to be crushing.
00:53:05.750 --> 00:53:08.444
- I felt I had to do
something for my people.
00:53:09.959 --> 00:53:12.584
Here I was doing
all these Macarenas,
00:53:13.625 --> 00:53:14.666
these weeping Madonnas.
00:53:14.667 --> 00:53:17.490
Everybody thought I was
Catholic, which is fine,
00:53:17.792 --> 00:53:20.094
but somebody had
to do something.
00:53:22.500 --> 00:53:25.648
- [Patricia] She included these
little afternoon tea cakes
00:53:27.667 --> 00:53:30.230
and the Margaret
Bourke-White photograph
00:53:30.667 --> 00:53:33.295
of the concentration
camp victims.
00:53:34.208 --> 00:53:37.617
It shows the fragility of our
society, when people can go
00:53:40.959 --> 00:53:43.586
from living a nice, comfortable
middle class existence
00:53:47.000 --> 00:53:49.888
to then being in a
concentration camp.
00:53:53.959 --> 00:53:56.584
- In a painting, it
stares you in the face.
00:53:57.750 --> 00:54:00.573
And the thing was
to paint the horror
00:54:00.792 --> 00:54:03.809
so that you could look at
it, make it that beautiful.
00:54:06.999 --> 00:54:09.954
- One critic said, \"It\'s a
painting we will not forget.\"
00:54:10.250 --> 00:54:13.464
Whereas another critic
said that she was repulsed
00:54:13.875 --> 00:54:16.631
by Audrey\'s vulgar
literal-mindedness.
00:54:18.709 --> 00:54:21.725
- There are critics who
really understand the work
00:54:24.999 --> 00:54:27.541
and really see the complexities.
00:54:27.542 --> 00:54:30.690
But there are those that
have a lot of trouble with it
00:54:30.999 --> 00:54:34.215
and don\'t understand the
work and misinterpret it,
00:54:36.625 --> 00:54:38.275
misinterpret me.
00:54:40.959 --> 00:54:43.584
And I guess I would like
that to be different.
00:54:45.208 --> 00:54:48.488
I\'ve been happy with the way
the public sees the work.
00:54:49.250 --> 00:54:52.464
People come to the gallery,
they have no problem, you know.
00:54:53.250 --> 00:54:54.416
What I really would like,
00:54:54.417 --> 00:54:56.457
I\'d like it to work
like Shakespeare.
00:54:56.458 --> 00:54:59.152
On the highest level,
for the scholars,
00:55:00.999 --> 00:55:03.758
who can spend a lifetime
studying Shakespeare,
00:55:04.417 --> 00:55:07.541
on a basic level, anybody
can go into the Globe Theater
00:55:07.542 --> 00:55:10.300
and laugh at the
jokes and get it.
00:55:10.333 --> 00:55:13.091
To me this is what
great art should be.
00:55:13.458 --> 00:55:14.082
All great art.
00:55:14.083 --> 00:55:16.514
It is not exclusive of people.
00:55:16.999 --> 00:55:18.958
It\'s for people, you know.
00:55:18.959 --> 00:55:20.582
Who else is it for?
00:55:20.583 --> 00:55:22.040
(gentle music)
00:55:22.041 --> 00:55:25.255
- Photorealism was very popular
and that created a backlash
00:55:26.999 --> 00:55:28.977
within higher culture.
00:55:31.458 --> 00:55:33.708
It seemed just stupid
to an awful lot
00:55:33.709 --> 00:55:35.249
of people in the art elites
00:55:35.250 --> 00:55:38.124
and they thought it was just
mechanical reproduction.
00:55:38.125 --> 00:55:38.999
Who cares?
00:55:39.000 --> 00:55:41.042
Why bother?
00:55:55.375 --> 00:55:57.350
(dramatic music)
00:56:04.583 --> 00:56:06.998
- [Audrey] People were
waiting for my work
00:56:06.999 --> 00:56:10.344
and I went into a real
depression because
I couldn\'t paint.
00:56:14.999 --> 00:56:16.332
- All of the negative
reinforcement
00:56:16.333 --> 00:56:19.027
for so long really
took its toll on her.
00:56:22.500 --> 00:56:25.323
- [Audrey] And I had a
painting on the easel,
00:56:25.458 --> 00:56:27.369
I couldn\'t finish it.
00:56:29.999 --> 00:56:32.822
I locked the door to the
studio and stopped painting.
00:56:36.875 --> 00:56:39.374
And I say I\'m not
a depressed person,
00:56:39.375 --> 00:56:42.133
when I get depressed it
lasts two, three days.
00:56:46.333 --> 00:56:49.027
This one lasted a
long time, two years.
00:56:54.625 --> 00:56:55.374
So that was part of if,
00:56:55.375 --> 00:56:58.133
but I don\'t think that
was the whole thing.
00:56:58.709 --> 00:57:01.725
I had expressed a lot of
what I\'d wanted to express.
00:57:01.834 --> 00:57:04.004
I had really investigated light
00:57:05.083 --> 00:57:07.514
and analysis of color and form.
00:57:08.500 --> 00:57:11.323
I had done what I wanted
to do with photorealism.
00:57:15.166 --> 00:57:17.989
- I remember the day
when Audrey told me
00:57:17.999 --> 00:57:20.249
that she was stopping painting,
00:57:20.250 --> 00:57:23.008
I thought she was
out of her mind.
00:57:24.625 --> 00:57:27.772
- She was making a difficult
move because she was a very,
00:57:28.667 --> 00:57:30.839
very prominent photorealist.
00:57:30.999 --> 00:57:32.999
Her dealer was
very upset with her
00:57:33.000 --> 00:57:35.249
because he just wanted
her to paint and said,
00:57:35.250 --> 00:57:37.457
\"You paint and we\'ll
put them up on the walls
00:57:37.458 --> 00:57:38.666
\"and they\'re gonna go.
00:57:38.667 --> 00:57:39.998
\"You\'re just that good.
00:57:39.999 --> 00:57:42.172
\"Why are you stopping now?\"
00:57:45.041 --> 00:57:47.085
(dramatic music)
00:57:50.583 --> 00:57:52.755
- At one point I saw some clay,
00:57:54.999 --> 00:57:57.499
I picked it up and that was it.
00:57:59.125 --> 00:58:01.883
For the next over
30 years I sculpted.
00:58:06.041 --> 00:58:08.864
I remember, I think
it was first grade,
00:58:10.375 --> 00:58:13.655
that the teacher told us we
were going to make a diorama.
00:58:16.999 --> 00:58:19.332
And you know what it was?
00:58:19.333 --> 00:58:21.505
Do you remember Esther Williams?
00:58:22.250 --> 00:58:24.422
She was in a water ballet.
00:58:26.000 --> 00:58:28.042
It was magical.
00:58:29.333 --> 00:58:32.156
She was an Olympic
swimming champion.
00:58:33.750 --> 00:58:35.998
I thought, \"Wow,
that\'s some woman.\"
00:58:35.999 --> 00:58:38.238
You know. (laughs)
00:58:38.375 --> 00:58:41.719
I made a little cut out with
my father\'s shirt cardboard,
00:58:42.333 --> 00:58:45.483
and my mom\'s blue compact
mirror was the lake.
00:58:49.083 --> 00:58:51.841
And she was a hero, she
was a heroine, for me.
00:58:53.999 --> 00:58:55.782
(cheerful music)
00:59:01.125 --> 00:59:03.491
I wanted to do public sculpture.
00:59:03.917 --> 00:59:06.545
You know, nobody
knew Bartolli\'s name,
00:59:07.208 --> 00:59:09.966
the man that did The
Statue of Liberty,
00:59:10.166 --> 00:59:11.999
but it\'s a great symbol.
00:59:12.000 --> 00:59:14.822
So I wanted to do
public art like that.
00:59:14.999 --> 00:59:18.083
It was also my statement,
from me, about the art world.
00:59:19.999 --> 00:59:22.562
The art world can
be very elitist.
00:59:23.792 --> 00:59:25.964
I wanted release from that.
00:59:28.250 --> 00:59:31.530
My main mission was to put
statues of women out there.
00:59:33.542 --> 00:59:36.819
For the most part all over the
country, all over the world,
00:59:37.208 --> 00:59:40.031
you get women looking up
adoringly at a general.
00:59:43.375 --> 00:59:45.677
And mainly you get presidents,
00:59:45.999 --> 00:59:48.627
Teddy Roosevelt leading
the charge in front
00:59:48.999 --> 00:59:51.499
of the Museum of
Natural History.
00:59:51.750 --> 00:59:54.444
I\'ve put strong,
sleek muscled women,
00:59:57.834 --> 01:00:00.851
who women can look up to,
who men can look up to.
01:00:01.583 --> 01:00:03.235
(gentle music)
01:00:19.834 --> 01:00:21.457
- Audrey Flack
got the commission
01:00:21.458 --> 01:00:24.608
to do the Rock Hill Goddess
which became Civitas.
01:00:25.999 --> 01:00:29.018
When you got off the interstate
you aim into Rock Hill
01:00:30.125 --> 01:00:31.290
and it wasn\'t doing well.
01:00:31.291 --> 01:00:34.050
And somebody said,
\"We need a symbol.\"
01:00:35.125 --> 01:00:36.040
- [Audrey] Wait a minute,
01:00:36.041 --> 01:00:38.864
this is Main Street?
- This is Main Street.
01:00:39.750 --> 01:00:40.582
- [Audrey] Oh, wow,
01:00:40.583 --> 01:00:43.165
it\'s a real little town.
- So there\'s a lot going
01:00:43.166 --> 01:00:44.833
on here now.
01:00:44.834 --> 01:00:46.998
- [Audrey] So Rock
Hill is on its feet.
01:00:46.999 --> 01:00:49.998
- Hello, nice to meet you.
- Nice to meet you.
01:00:49.999 --> 01:00:50.791
- Stand by.
01:00:50.792 --> 01:00:53.615
Here we go, in five,
four, three, two, one.
01:00:54.208 --> 01:00:55.165
- Welcome to the City Minute.
01:00:55.166 --> 01:00:57.989
I\'m Betty Jo Rhea, and
today I\'m so pleased
01:00:57.999 --> 01:01:01.215
to welcome Audrey Flack,
our world renowned artist
01:01:02.792 --> 01:01:05.420
who did our sculptures
at our gateway.
01:01:05.667 --> 01:01:08.425
- I haven\'t seen
them in 25 years.
01:01:09.166 --> 01:01:10.998
I mean, now you\'ve
got to laugh at it,
01:01:10.999 --> 01:01:11.998
right?
- Uh-huh.
01:01:11.999 --> 01:01:14.888
- Where the material
flowed across the breast,
01:01:15.625 --> 01:01:16.998
I had nipples.
01:01:16.999 --> 01:01:19.562
And there was some
consternation.
01:01:21.166 --> 01:01:21.998
(Betty laughs)
01:01:21.999 --> 01:01:24.562
They asked me to do
something about it.
01:01:24.583 --> 01:01:27.277
And so we had to file
down the nipples.
01:01:30.875 --> 01:01:31.998
Oh, look at her!
01:01:31.999 --> 01:01:34.238
- [Betty] Aren\'t they gorgeous?
01:01:34.709 --> 01:01:36.879
We even made Glamour Magazine!
01:01:40.999 --> 01:01:42.912
(traffic humming)
01:01:43.250 --> 01:01:45.358
(gentle music)
01:01:50.667 --> 01:01:52.998
- Oh, I remember
getting an envelope
01:01:52.999 --> 01:01:55.172
and it had a blue crown.
01:01:55.999 --> 01:01:58.758
It had a letter asking
me to submit work.
01:02:00.542 --> 01:02:03.819
They wanted a statue of a
woman coming right at a time
01:02:04.999 --> 01:02:07.304
when I wanna put
women out there,
01:02:07.875 --> 01:02:10.631
and you were asked
to make a maquette.
01:02:12.291 --> 01:02:12.958
I won.
01:02:12.959 --> 01:02:15.781
- Queen Catherine of Braganza
was a Portuguese princess
01:02:16.999 --> 01:02:19.562
who married Charles II,
the King of England.
01:02:21.125 --> 01:02:23.883
The site of the Queen
Catherine statue was
01:02:24.999 --> 01:02:27.562
on the Queens side
of the East River
01:02:27.834 --> 01:02:30.004
directly facing the UN building.
01:02:30.458 --> 01:02:33.866
Supposedly Queens was named
in honor of Queen Catherine.
01:02:36.583 --> 01:02:39.624
The Portuguese community
seemed to be very interested
01:02:39.625 --> 01:02:42.448
in producing this
gift to New York.
01:02:44.083 --> 01:02:46.125
(gentle music)
01:02:46.999 --> 01:02:48.124
- The statue was
gonna be 35 feet tall.
01:02:48.125 --> 01:02:51.469
Now, that\'s tiny compared
to the Statue of Liberty,
01:02:51.834 --> 01:02:54.070
which it was often compared to.
01:02:54.083 --> 01:02:56.514
But it\'s still pretty big.
01:03:00.709 --> 01:03:02.618
(people chattering)
01:03:05.375 --> 01:03:07.541
- I was bothered as
an urban historian
01:03:07.542 --> 01:03:10.756
by both the process that
had approved this placement
01:03:11.709 --> 01:03:14.336
of a private monument
in a public park
01:03:15.625 --> 01:03:18.772
and the symbolism of what
Queen Catherine represented.
01:03:24.999 --> 01:03:28.149
Once that op-ed appeared,
opposition seemed to come out.
01:03:30.709 --> 01:03:33.725
- We learned about it, and
learned about Catherine
01:03:33.959 --> 01:03:36.584
of Braganza, that\'s when
we began to protest.
01:03:37.125 --> 01:03:40.078
The community, to my
knowledge, was never consulted.
01:03:42.500 --> 01:03:44.791
- I don\'t wanna start
a war in my borough
01:03:44.792 --> 01:03:46.964
between two ethnic groups.
01:03:47.208 --> 01:03:49.250
(train rumbling)
01:03:53.500 --> 01:03:55.280
(dramatic music)
01:03:57.999 --> 01:04:01.018
- The parts that were cast
got melted down for scrap.
01:04:07.709 --> 01:04:09.879
- 10 years of work for Audrey.
01:04:09.999 --> 01:04:13.215
On the other hand I do feel
like the statue has a life.
01:04:13.458 --> 01:04:15.916
It will go down in the
annals of public art
01:04:15.917 --> 01:04:18.608
as a very notable
cautionary tale.
01:04:23.999 --> 01:04:26.172
(traffic humming)
01:04:34.709 --> 01:04:36.618
(people chattering)
01:04:42.208 --> 01:04:44.836
- So, look, we\'re gonna
flip through David
01:04:45.500 --> 01:04:48.648
and you\'re gonna see how
basically frontal he is also.
01:04:50.333 --> 01:04:52.374
Look at this figure.
01:04:54.542 --> 01:04:57.300
What you get is this
very stiff thing.
01:04:58.917 --> 01:05:01.608
Then you get Géricault,
who does action figures,
01:05:04.917 --> 01:05:07.805
tremendous movement, he\'s
ready to try and they hate him.
01:05:08.750 --> 01:05:10.457
They try to throw him out.
01:05:10.458 --> 01:05:11.998
- Oh, that\'s so beautiful.
01:05:11.999 --> 01:05:12.958
(Audrey laughs)
01:05:12.959 --> 01:05:13.874
- These guys are interesting too
01:05:13.875 --> 01:05:16.763
because they\'re still dealing
with frontal single figures.
01:05:19.999 --> 01:05:22.888
They\'ve got a kind
of crazy freedom.
01:05:23.041 --> 01:05:25.538
They begin tilting, words,
01:05:27.291 --> 01:05:30.636
floating, flying, it\'s all
with your linear shading.
01:05:33.125 --> 01:05:33.998
Enough said.
01:05:33.999 --> 01:05:36.172
We\'re gonna work.
01:05:37.291 --> 01:05:39.335
Let\'s go.
01:05:42.875 --> 01:05:45.047
I\'m really hot about drawing.
01:05:46.999 --> 01:05:49.433
You know, drawing is the bones.
01:05:50.291 --> 01:05:51.999
You\'ve got a skeleton.
01:05:52.000 --> 01:05:55.473
Without those bones, it\'s like
a glove without a hand in it.
01:05:59.999 --> 01:06:01.874
- [Assistant] And change.
01:06:01.875 --> 01:06:03.249
- Okay, hold it.
01:06:03.250 --> 01:06:04.374
Keep your pose.
01:06:04.375 --> 01:06:07.133
Shorthand for the
rib cage, right?
01:06:07.667 --> 01:06:10.359
Look at that, there\'s
his two floaters.
01:06:11.125 --> 01:06:13.428
There\'s that arc.
01:06:13.999 --> 01:06:15.652
Let\'s go.
01:06:18.999 --> 01:06:21.954
Okay, Connie, can you both
just stand there for a minute?
01:06:22.291 --> 01:06:25.636
So we\'re gonna look at the
female and the male body?
01:06:27.125 --> 01:06:29.491
Oh, look at this, Adam and Eve.
01:06:31.417 --> 01:06:32.624
Interesting.
01:06:32.625 --> 01:06:34.797
Oh, he\'s offering her the apple.
01:06:34.999 --> 01:06:37.108
(students laughing)
01:06:37.625 --> 01:06:38.791
They\'re gonna keep the pose.
01:06:38.792 --> 01:06:39.958
You\'re not drawing now.
01:06:39.959 --> 01:06:42.584
I want you to see them
from different angles.
01:06:46.667 --> 01:06:49.295
We are down to the
basics of what our life
01:06:50.999 --> 01:06:52.977
as artists is about.
01:06:53.041 --> 01:06:56.321
And it is about the beauty
of these two people.
01:06:59.291 --> 01:07:01.708
There\'s something that takes
us out of this profane world
01:07:01.709 --> 01:07:04.401
that we live in into
a sublime place.
01:07:05.959 --> 01:07:08.781
And to me, looking at that
is absolutely sublime.
01:07:13.458 --> 01:07:15.303
Okay, thank you.
01:07:15.500 --> 01:07:17.280
Let\'s go.
01:07:18.917 --> 01:07:20.567
(wind howling)
01:07:31.999 --> 01:07:33.652
Why, Deborah?
01:07:33.875 --> 01:07:36.178
Why did I pick it up now?
01:07:37.999 --> 01:07:41.083
This canvas has been in my
studio for 36 years unpainted.
01:07:46.834 --> 01:07:49.654
The canvas was leaning
against the back wall
01:07:50.291 --> 01:07:52.985
when I stopped painting
about that time.
01:07:55.333 --> 01:07:56.582
So you stand before
it and you say,
01:07:56.583 --> 01:07:59.791
\"Oh, my God, I\'m gonna run
it, what am I gonna do?\"
01:07:59.792 --> 01:08:02.678
And I have to say to
myself, \"Take the plunge.\"
01:08:02.999 --> 01:08:05.304
All artists go through that.
01:08:07.750 --> 01:08:09.400
(blues music)
01:08:54.542 --> 01:08:57.756
There\'s a spot that the
gold leaf did not adhere to.
01:09:03.999 --> 01:09:06.563
Either I didn\'t
put the glue there.
01:09:08.999 --> 01:09:11.562
Maybe there wasn\'t
enough glue there.
01:09:11.583 --> 01:09:14.342
And I\'ve been looking
at that spot for months.
01:09:15.166 --> 01:09:16.624
You know, there are
other little spots.
01:09:16.625 --> 01:09:19.165
There\'s like a little spot
there where you see the canvas.
01:09:19.166 --> 01:09:22.511
But do you know the Leonard
Cohen song \"Ring the Bells?\"
01:09:26.291 --> 01:09:28.165
The bells that ring.
01:09:28.166 --> 01:09:30.468
Forget your perfect offering.
01:09:31.417 --> 01:09:34.239
There is a crack, a
crack in everything.
01:09:36.250 --> 01:09:38.422
That\'s how the light gets in.
01:09:38.500 --> 01:09:40.672
That\'s how the light gets in.
01:09:41.125 --> 01:09:43.491
And you know, this is Fiat Lux.
01:09:44.750 --> 01:09:46.624
Let there be light.
01:09:46.625 --> 01:09:48.040
So she\'s shooting out light,
01:09:48.041 --> 01:09:50.735
and yet there\'s a
little crack of light.
01:09:55.000 --> 01:09:57.042
(birds chirping)
01:09:57.999 --> 01:10:00.433
(string instruments strumming)
01:10:08.291 --> 01:10:09.541
That E\'s a little sharp.
01:10:09.542 --> 01:10:11.712
(string instruments strumming)
01:10:15.291 --> 01:10:16.374
- It\'s always there with me.
01:10:16.375 --> 01:10:18.350
(bluegrass music)
01:10:24.875 --> 01:10:25.290
Ready?
01:10:25.291 --> 01:10:27.985
Play a couple of
notes and I\'ll play.
01:10:27.999 --> 01:10:29.977
(bluegrass music)
01:10:44.999 --> 01:10:47.954
♪ God gave Noah the rainbow
sign, don\'t you see? ♪
01:10:49.500 --> 01:10:50.332
♪ Don\'t you see? ♪
01:10:50.333 --> 01:10:53.541
♪ God gave Noah the rainbow
sign, don\'t you see? ♪
01:10:53.542 --> 01:10:55.778
- Push that down a little bit.
01:10:55.999 --> 01:10:56.833
Hit it with this.
01:10:56.834 --> 01:10:57.998
♪ God gave Noah
the rainbow sign ♪
01:10:57.999 --> 01:10:59.833
♪ No more water but
the fire next time ♪
01:10:59.834 --> 01:11:02.654
♪ Hide me, oh, Rock
of Ages cleft for me ♪
01:11:03.999 --> 01:11:05.912
(bluegrass music)
01:11:14.250 --> 01:11:16.998
- [Audrey] I\'ve been
thinking of it for hours.
01:11:16.999 --> 01:11:18.912
(bluegrass music)
01:11:24.166 --> 01:11:27.055
♪ Poor old Lazarus, poor
as I, don\'t you see? ♪
01:11:28.999 --> 01:11:31.627
♪ Poor old Lazarus, poor
as I, don\'t you see? ♪
01:11:35.041 --> 01:11:36.998
♪ Poor old Lazarus, poor as I ♪
01:11:36.999 --> 01:11:39.624
♪ When he died he
had a home on high ♪
01:11:39.625 --> 01:11:42.448
♪ Hide me, oh, Rock
of Ages cleft for me ♪
01:11:45.792 --> 01:11:48.678
- No, no, no, no, I want
it jammed on the wall.
01:11:49.166 --> 01:11:51.468
(bluegrass music)
01:11:58.208 --> 01:11:59.958
Honey, what did you do?
01:11:59.959 --> 01:12:01.870
(bluegrass music)
01:12:10.959 --> 01:12:13.715
♪ Poor old Noah drank a
little wine, don\'t you see? ♪
01:12:15.625 --> 01:12:18.772
♪ Poor old Noah drank a
little wine, don\'t you see? ♪
01:12:21.999 --> 01:12:23.708
♪ Poor old Noah
drank a little wine ♪
01:12:23.709 --> 01:12:26.207
♪ He got higher than
a Georgia vine ♪
01:12:26.208 --> 01:12:29.031
♪ Hide me, oh, Rock
of Ages cleft for me ♪
01:12:30.999 --> 01:12:33.108
(bluegrass music)
01:12:53.999 --> 01:12:56.888
♪ Poor old Noah drank a
little wine, don\'t you see? ♪
01:12:58.917 --> 01:13:01.673
♪ Poor old Noah drank a
little wine, don\'t you see? ♪
01:13:05.041 --> 01:13:06.998
♪ Poor old Noah
drank a little wine ♪
01:13:06.999 --> 01:13:09.562
♪ He got higher than
a Georgia vine ♪
01:13:09.583 --> 01:13:12.406
♪ Hide me, oh, Rock
of Ages cleft for me ♪
01:13:14.959 --> 01:13:16.870
(bluegrass music)
01:13:59.375 --> 01:14:02.523
♪ Poor old Noah drank a
little wine, don\'t you see? ♪
01:14:03.999 --> 01:14:07.018
♪ Poor old Noah drank a
little wine, don\'t you see? ♪
01:14:10.291 --> 01:14:11.582
♪ Poor old Noah
drank a little wine ♪
01:14:11.583 --> 01:14:13.998
♪ He got higher than
a Georgia vine ♪
01:14:13.999 --> 01:14:16.563
♪ Hide me, oh, Rock
of Ages cleft for me ♪
01:14:18.999 --> 01:14:21.043
(bluegrass music)