Interview | sanford-ross

Interview with Sanford Ross

reproduced in The Art Digest, May 15, 1932 under the title, “The Young Idea.”

Sanford Ross, young New Jersey artist, at whose first one-man show at the Macbeth Gallery in New York 51 works were sold, recently delivered a "radio interview" over station WOR of Newark on the subject, "What the Younger Generation Think of Art." The questions and answers are printed below in full:

Question 1. What in your opinion are the qualities that make up a real artist?

Sanford Ross: That to be sure is a very hard question to answer and I don't feel qualified to make hard and fast rules for artists but I believe that the first requisite in art just as in any field is integrity. It is safe to assume that anyone who really wants to be an artist has a certain amount of talent, so we shall leave that out. Among the qualities that should and must be cultivated honesty -- that is a freedom from imitation and an expression that is fundamentally personal or intimate. The success of any work of art depends on honesty with which the artist has set down his feelings about his subject. It does not matter whether his emotions agree with yours. There is no compromise and it is of the utmost importance that the artist put down what he what he himself sees and not what he thinks the public wants. This quality is naturally based on a clarity of view point and execution. All the talent and honesty in the world are worth nothing if the artist is unable to interpret and set down the equivalent of nature without hesitation. He must therefore know his craft and in order to be explicit, know what to eliminate in nature.

Question 2: Do you think it is true that true genius is seldom recognized, that most real artists started in garretts and so forth?

Sanford Ross: In some cases it has been true that geniuses have started but the history of art shows us that the majority were well patronized. We can't tell what genius is around today but we do know that more interest is being shown by more classes of people than ever before.

Question 3: Do you believe that what the critics termed “the American School of Art” is already well-established?

Sanford Ross: It can hardly be termed a school. You can name representative Americans who are undoubtedly important figures. We can of course mention the Hudson River school of landscape painting as being purely American. About the turn-of-the-century, a group including such men as John Sloan, Robert Henri, George Luks and George Bellows we're painting the American scene in an individual fashion but neither of these groups has lent a traditional influence that is being followed by young artists today. There are and have been, however, significant figures in American painting.

Question 4: Then will you tell us some of the American artists who you consider significant figures?

Sanford Ross: The artists I shall speak of are those who have derived their inspiration from national subject matter. There are doubtless many fine painters who have worked in Europe and elsewhere but it seems to me that the continent has been well taken care of by its own talent. I have mentioned the Hudson River school and along with them I stress the importance of the lithographs of Currier and Ives. Everyone knows these pure American subjects just as everyone is familiar with the game bird prints of Audubon and the revival of interest in these two great collections is indicative of a further interest in contemporary pictures. There is at least one American master, Albert P. Ryder. Winslow Homer and Thomas Eakins were close seconds. But these men headed no schools and had no great followers. The men who made this country picture-conscious camee later, starting with George Bellows. America's most spectacular and perhaps it's most popular painter, he was the first to point out the beauty of the prize ring and of the ballparks and riverfront, all national fixtures. Certainly his spirit made itself felt.

Question 5: Who among the living American artists you consider the most influential?

Sanford Ross: In naming a few, I would like to impress the point that facility or aesthetic ability or manual dexterity do not make these men important Americans. Many many paint better. Iit is their point of view and their understanding of their land that gives them essence. With this in mind I shall attempt to enumerate a few whose pictures are largely dependent on their native soil for the liveliness. The first is Thomas Benton, whose driving force is manifested in his teaching as well as the work he has already accomplished. Many, it may be true, may find his work ugly and annoying but the greatness in Benton lies in his respect for the practical making of pictures. He, above anyone else, has developed a sense of order about his work. There is no hesitation or blundering. He sees clearly through his own eyes and he has gone further into the science of painting in all its forms than anyone in America. Bordman Robinson is another pioneer spirit and a great teacher. Eugene Speicher is our veteran portrait painter perhaps the only specialist who has retained his artistic standard in commission work Edward Hopper and Charles Burchfield are notable examples of painters who have not only utilize the soil of their land for their pictures but also the buildings and railroads and streets that have sprung from it Reginald Marsh and Peter Blume are two energetic younger men whose names are swiftly gaining importance whereever art is discussed. All of these happen to represent my own personal tastes. Naturally, I may have left out the names of those whom others would consider just as important or even more so.

Question 6: Have you any particular favorites among European painters?

Sanford Ross: When it comes to the so-called School of Paris, I think everyone agrees on the leaders: Picasso, Matisse, Derain and Braque. To anyone who likes an emotional touch in the painting, Derain would be most favored. The color and design of Matisse are certainly not to be equaled. Picasso possesses a bolod inventiveness that surpasses anyone of his age and the purity of his drawings is probably second to none in the history of art. Braque’s abstract canvases painted in colors that he practically invented have become a textbook for the world of art. Besides these vital, musty punch of Segonzac, the small burning genius of Rouault, the gaiety of Duffy, and the bombastically beautiful moods of Vlaminck are forces that make up the most powerful school of painting in the world today. I should like to mention Utrillo, a somber individualist whose paintings of serenely empty streets and quiet French towns seem actually impregnated with the air that is peculiarly French. In Germany there are Paul Klee and George Grosz. Klee is admired for the consistent intellect which his work displays. Grosz, on the other hand, srts down with a ruthless brush the chaos of milling humanity that surrounds him. By many critics he is regarded as the world's greatest satirist. To return to our own content, we face a new and powerful school in Mexico which is represented by two dominant personalities, Orozco and Rivera. Both are students of humanity, both are crusaders, both are tremendously patriotic. Although they are superb technicians, the actual execution of their murals is secondary to their monumental conceptions. Of course, their viewpoints are vastly different, the only possible comparison being the intensity with which they see life.

Question 7: And now if you don't mind I'd like to ask you a few questions about your own work. From what point of view do you select the subject matter for your pictures?

Sanford Ross: I would rather laugh this question off than answer it. However, whether my pictures show it or not, I confess to see things realistically. As a matter of fact, the things that I select to pait are the things that are familiar to me and have been familiar to me for years. That probably explains why I lately chose Victorian houses. I was unfortunate enough to have lived in several and I suppose the effect needed some relief.

Question 8: Are you conscious of any influence in your painting?

Sanford Ross: I can't say that I have been actually conscious of any active influence although the men I have mentioned I suppose exerted some just as anyone you admire exerts an influence. Without an influence of some sort, there would be no starting place in painting for anyone. To be sure, an influence doesn't mean something to be imitated. So far as I can tell, Thomas Benton has been the strongest influence in my own work but I doubt if anyone would suspect that I was one of his students.

Question 9: If you were just now beginning to study art, how would you go about it? Would you join the class of a single teacher or attend the school where there are various courses?

Sanford Ross: First of all, I would not go to Europe to study. America supplies the most up-to-date schools in the world and a year or two of learning mechanics of drawing and painting is certainly the first necessity. One should try his hand at every medium whether he likes it or not. I believe that travel is a valuable thing. At the end of the year or so of studying with a variety of teachers, anyone who is worth his salt should know what master is congenial to him after working for a certain period under a definite influence, I think he should cut himself off from every stronger personality and do his best to work out his own salvation.