Vincent Price |
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VINCENT PRICE ON ART Vincent Price is most famous today as the star of horror films such as House of Wax, The Pit and the Pendulum, and The Abominable Dr. Phibes. However, it may be said much more accurately that Price was not an actor who collected art, but an art connoisseur who acted in order to collect! He received a degree in Art History from Yale University in 1933, and studied at the Courtauld Institute in London before turning to the stage and then to films, [making his film debut in a screwball comedy in 1938]. He had an art gallery for a brief time in Los Angeles during World War II, and in 1951 founded the Vincent Price Gallery on the campus of East Los Angeles College. From September 4, 1966 to August 10, 1970 Vincent Price wrote a syndicated art column. In just under 200 articles he spoke about every kind of art under the sun. Three Dimensional Diffusion will present the text of Price's articles here. Vincent Price's art column began on September 4, 1966. It was introduced thusly: 'Art authority, actor and author, Vincent Price has carried on a life long 'love affair' with the world of art. As head of the Vincent Price Collection of Fine Arts, he scouts the United States and abroad for original works in an attempt to bring quality art to the mass market. He also has written books on art. Beginning today, this section will feature Price's art column ever Sunday.'
The Venus of Cyreneby Vincent PriceI fell in love with her a long time ago and on first sight, but I really don't see her often enough to be able to claim it's anything more than a casual ''affair.'' I keep several pictures of her from all angles, which is something most women won't stand for, claiming, as they do, that they know which is their best side. But with this gal it doesn't matter how or from where you look at her. She's a beauty, the kind that has lasted and will last. In fact, she's made it for more than 2,000 years now and, well, look at her! She's not exactly statuesque like many of her sisters, just average height and build, but..it's the subtleties of her curves, the way the light ripples along this and plays over that...You get the picture? Of course she isn't a picture, she's a statue - the ''Venus of Cyrene'' - so the light has full play, and I envy it. She differs in another way from her many namesakes - she's really exciting. Most of the others I've seen are more than a man could handle. They're on the thick side and usually quite determined to have you think them divine. Even if my friend hadn't lost her head a long time ago, I couldn't imagine her having a haughty out-of-this world expression. She'd be kind of modest and definitely smiling with that wise smile of truly beautiful girls.
Her skin, I mean her surface, has stood up extremely well. Nothing has scratched it or bruised it - until a very few years ago, that is, and thereby hangs a mysterious tale. When I first met her 20-odd years ago [1946], she was just perfect, not a blemish; I really flipped. But about 12 years ago, when I paid her another visit, I noticed a funny little bruise on her left thigh. It was as if she had bumped into a piece of furniture in the dark. She didn't get around very much; so I was puzzled about that flaw in her otherwise perfect perfection. It was sort of yellow, like a bump gets as it begins to disappear. Still this one wasn't disappearing - it fact, three years later, I ran into her again, and it had grown definitely larger and angrier looking ... Something dreadful was happening to my love. It's difficult to bring up a subject like this to people who may not feel as keenly as I do on that subject... ''Please, sir, can you tell me how long she's had that bruise, and is anyone doing anything about it? '' Well, they look at you rather peculiarly, especially when you bring up a personal question like this about a marble statue in a museum where all the world can see and most people are willing to ignore the problem. But the difference between me and the rest of the world is that she's my very personal Venus. We've been going together for a long time, and I guess I'm hyper-sensitive to anything that might be considered as a blemish on her beauty. On inquiry, I found out that others were worried about my friend, too. Geologists were testing her, and a great many dirty old archaeologists were shaking their heads about her bruise. I began to wish I'd kept my big mouth shut, for no one has the slightest idea what caused the bruise or what to do to make it get well. Personally, I had given the whole thing up until recently. I was once more in Rome and, forgetting the little mystery, made the usual pilgrimage to see my lady friend. Everyone knows where she is in the Nation Museum, for her postcards and address are for sale everywhere (I resent this, too]! So it came as a big shock to see the bruise again, bigger and not a bit better.
Now I've done my last inquiring. It seems that marble, perfect marble of which she is made, has been known to ''blush'' before.. That's the term one expert used. It seems all the nonsense about marble having a life of its own is perfectly true. Marble can ''grow'' inside, and ''blooms'' can appear from nowhere. ''Blushes,'' ''bloom,'' ''grow,'' - I couldn't care less for all these pretty scapegoat words that are being applied to my beloved...Of course, they're rather flattering to her, if it were not for that unsightly bruise. But all in all, she's still a beauty, although there have been indelicate questions about her age. Is she Greek or Roman, B.C. or A.D.? Really, it doesn't matter; she's divine. No, there I go again, she's almost human, and as such is almost more divine. The ''Venus of Cyrene,'' a beautiful girl from a small town in northern Africa, who finally made it to the big city, Rome. it took a long time, but she's here now for the world to enjoy [except for one mysterious blemish], and she will be enjoyable forever.
1. Encyclopedia Romana, University of San Francisco 2. ACIS Educational Tours - Gods and Goddesses
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