DIY History | Transcribe | Iowa Women’s Lives: Letters and Diaries | Eve Drewelowe's journals, volumes II-III, 1950s

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Eve Drewelowe's journals, volumes II-III, 1950s

Page 118

counsil, keep his own stride and abide by his own ideas and faith. He must furthermore maintain his independence of thought and expression and, I fear, his aloneness. No one can travel with him the road of struggle and torment. If he is not able to maintain his own independence, he may be caught in a whirlpool, spun with its convultions, and finally be engulfed in a mass of driftwood that was unable to keep attached to its moorings.
There were those too, who dislike my paintings. At least I hope there were. Otherwise I am on a one way street; a dead-end alley. This group, however, is not so articulate - not to me at any rate - as the others who admire my painting. Undoubtedly thee are novices whispering. I hope so, with my whole heart.
At my New York premiere, those in charge of the galleries said they had never had a show that had received so much comment. It seems that people were not indifferent to my painting - the deadliest of all attitudes in regard to a show. They either liked it whole-heartedly or not at all, I have been informed. To my mind it isn't so important what is said, just so something is said. Just so there is some provocative discussion and many different views are expressed. Miss Drooge of the Argent Galleries wrote "every one likes the paintings. Your things certainly stir people to speak up! We have had shows where there has been almost no comment at all," a nice tribute, I thought.
Rapturous ecstasy is all very well if we were only able to retain it, if only the reaction which follows so closely in its wake might be escaped. To be able to rebound is not even so bad when we have gained the peaks, but again we must meet the depressions between the bounces, and they are not to be sought out too eagerly.

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counsil, keep his own stride and abide by his own ideas and faith. He must furthermore maintain his independence of thought and expression and, I fear, his aloneness. No one can travel with him the road of struggle and torment. If he is not able to maintain his own independence, he may be caught in a whirlpool, spun with its convultions, and finally be engulfed in a mass of driftwood that was unable to keep attached to its moorings. There were those too, who dislike my paintings. At least I hope there were. Otherwise I am on a one way street; a dead-end alley. This group, however, is not so articulate - not to me at any rate - as the others who admire my painting. Undoubtedly thee are novices whispering. I hope so, with my whole heart. At my New York premiere, those in charge of the galleries said they had never had a show that had received so much comment. It seems that people were not indifferent to my painting - the deadliest of all attitudes in regard to a show. They either liked it whole-heartedly or not at all, I have been informed. To my mind it isn't so important what is said, just so something is said. Just so there is some provocative discussion and many different views are expressed. Miss Drooge of the Argent Galleries wrote "every one likes the paintings. Your things certainly stir people to speak up! We have had shows where there has been almost no comment at all," a nice tribute, I thought. Rapturous ecstasy is all very well if we were only able to retain it, if only the reaction which follows so closely in its wake might be escaped. To be able to rebound is not even so bad when we have gained the peaks, but again we must meet the depressions between the bounces, and they are not to be sought out too eagerly.