End of 2011

Crow, balsa wood, 2011

I can't help thinking that Tracey Emin being appointed R.A. Professor of Drawing and 'the philanthropist' Paul Ruddock appearing on the New Year Honours List are characteristic events to conclude 2011.

I have just read "The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists" in which Tressell describes an extraordinary determination on the part of a majority of his Edwardian workers to support a system which offered them only impoverishment: it seems particularly relevant to contemporary times. More to my point, we seem to believe in the intrinsic virtue of the art world, as did Tressell's workers in the propriety of their 'charitable benefactors' who doled out meagre provisions when their families were literally starving, without considering that these benefactors were the very same people who reduced them to destitution. You can't help feeling that there is a parallel in the contemporary art world.

Of course, private patronage continues quietly in the background, not making a splash but keeping the diversity of art practice alive. The great service such patrons offer is never officially acknowledged, but perhaps future generations will be grateful. Such are our Owens, we just need a Barrington! This is my last rant of 2011! Hooray!