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Leader of the Flemish
Primitives.
Jan van Eyck
1436 |
Earlier
this week I was due to give a talk to the local Art Appreciation U3A
Group and off I swanned, generously prepared as I had twelve pages
of script and 76 images, all on The Flemish Primitives,
and all well-rehearsed. Slight twinge of surprise to learn that the
regular guy who understands how to convey my USB images into the
projector probably via laptop or I-pad, and thus to the
screen, was on holiday. Obviously this casual attitude to important
duties, should be outlawed but there it was and two lovely male members of the group were on hand to perform the necessary magic. As the male ego is inclined to facilitate self-belief, they both looked confident and capable and my
immediate stab of dismay on the initial news, hovered uncertainly as
they busily thrashed about among the black cables. Twenty minutes
later as the elderly audience waited expectantly and the screen
stayed empty, I decided I would have to go ahead without benefit of
the illustrations. Old age does at least confer a philosophical
approach to disaster and under the banner of Luther’s, “ I
stand here, I can do no other” I waded in. Ten minutes
after the ‘get-go’ as Americans are wont to say, a picture
appeared on a quite large laptop screen on the table nearby which
some of the audience may have been able to see distantly but which I
couldn’t consult as it was at right angles to my view. I did
occasionally ask which picture was on board, the laptop was turned
and I had to stop delivering my talk to be able to see it; it was, of
course, never the image to which I was speaking!
 |
Gerard David.
The Holy Family 1520 |
The
following one and a half hours were a bit of a shambles, pictorially
speaking, though my script was fine. It must have been a mystifying
challenge, shall we say, for the listeners/ viewers, but
several kind, polite people came up to thank me at the end. I stopped
after the first half of my talk, at the end of the narrative
about Jan Van Eyck and three of his masterpieces, leaving three more
artists of the period to be covered at what the Boss man suggested,
might be in next year’s programme. At the moment, it is now booked
for October and I am busily adding one more artist [Gerard David] to
the yet-to-be-delivered talk for it to better stand alone while
trying to banish the Imposter Syndrome feeling I am experiencing. I
am certainly not underqualified to give a talk on Flemish art and nor
was I unprepared but the feeling of exposure last Monday was quite
brutal and embarrassing, even though the mess was clearly not my
fault but I do have a feeling of inadequacy-by-association!
And,
thinking of inadequacy, I propose to banish thoughts of the
politically-inept Sunak’s slightly early departure from the D-Day remembrances and his
 |
| Rishi Sunak |
subsequent exposure to the cruel delight and
mockery of the U.K. population. Although one does wonder what on
earth his political advisers were thinking of! However, I also have a
quote on Trump for which sadly, though I copied it down, I neglected to add
the source! However, it is so perfect I quote it here in all its
witty succinctness! The person who unwittingly provided this quote, acknowledges the unfitness of Trump to govern, and speaks of, “t
he chaos wreaked by an ego unable to grasp its own ineptitude.” I should note that Trump, increasingly and
bewilderingly, emerging as the favourite in the upcoming U.S.
Presidential election, keeps demonstrating in his recent speeches,
that he intends to demolish democracy in the U.S. and use the power
of the state to punish his enemies and critics. Robert Kagan uses the memorable phrase, "
his deep thirst for vengeance." I would say that feelings of inadequacy are unknown to Donald.
 |
| Trump |
.jpg)
Earlier
this week I was due to give a talk to the local Art Appreciation U3A
Group and off I swanned, generously prepared as I had twelve pages
of script and 76 images, all on The Flemish Primitives,
and all well-rehearsed. Slight twinge of surprise to learn that the
regular guy who understands how to convey my USB images into the
projector probably via laptop or I-pad, and thus to the
screen, was on holiday. Obviously this casual attitude to important
duties, should be outlawed but there it was and two lovely male members of the group were on hand to perform the necessary magic. As the male ego is inclined to facilitate self-belief, they both looked confident and capable and my
immediate stab of dismay on the initial news, hovered uncertainly as
they busily thrashed about among the black cables. Twenty minutes
later as the elderly audience waited expectantly and the screen
stayed empty, I decided I would have to go ahead without benefit of
the illustrations. Old age does at least confer a philosophical
approach to disaster and under the banner of Luther’s, “ I
stand here, I can do no other” I waded in. Ten minutes
after the ‘get-go’ as Americans are wont to say, a picture
appeared on a quite large laptop screen on the table nearby which
some of the audience may have been able to see distantly but which I
couldn’t consult as it was at right angles to my view. I did
occasionally ask which picture was on board, the laptop was turned
and I had to stop delivering my talk to be able to see it; it was, of
course, never the image to which I was speaking!
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