Redtree Times

Nothing is old, nothing is new, save the light of grace underneath which beats a human heart. The way of feeling, of understanding, of loving; the way of seeing the country, the faces that your father saw, that your mother knew. The rest is chimerical.

–Georges Rouault

I’ve always loved this passage from artist Georges Rouault (1871-1958). It says a lot about the purpose of art and the mindset of some artists as they face their empty canvasses.

There is nothing new under this sun. Yet nothing is old so long as it is instilled with human feeling. And that feeling is the beat of the human heart, an individual rhythm formed by all that we have experienced and felt.

Art is not about creating something new that has never been seen. It is about using what and who we are in creating new ways of seeing things that have always been with us.

Well, that’s my take on Rouault’s words this morning. It also gives me a chance to show some of my favorite Rouault paintings. They never fail to inspire me.

And that’s a good way to start any morning.