Sancta Simplicitas

Probably this latin saying is abstracted from its original context but I could not resist (vanitas! vanitas vanitatis!) to parade a bit my (not very extensive) latin quotes… In fact, recently finishing reading one of Paul Coelho books I was thinking at “the secret” of this author’s succes (and not only – Georges Simenon, Agatha Christie, Dan Brown and other best-sellers authors could have the same “secret”)… The simplicity, the clarity of style could be it… Seems simple but it isn’t. This authors have this talent: to express in simple, short, clear sentences essential human sentiments… somethimes giving you the impression of complexity (like Dan Brown with his Da Vinci code). The most elementary human feelings, the most basic conflicts: love, hate, family, greediness… I wonder if the same “simplicity principle” could apply to drawing and painting… Could be… Van Gogh’s paintings and drawings are like that. Miro and Paul Klee cultivated the simple, elementary, expressive signs. So did Georges Bracque and Picasso. So did a lot of others… Maybe the “secret” isn’t really a “secret”… Maybe it’s just concision and simplicity?

I choose one of my simple paintings to illustrate, from my point of view, the simplicity… (It’s a charcoal portrait of Georges Bracque, after a photo by Henry Cartier-Bresson from the same 2002-2003 period)