Final Offer— Coming to West End Gallery
How can one bargain for anything that is worth while? And what else is worth bargaining for?
–Charles Williams, War in Heaven (1930)
The Bargaining
The painting at the top is a new piece that I call Final Offer. It is a semi-companion piece to another recent painting, The Bargaining, which is in the current Little Gems show at the West End Gallery. I see both pieces as being about the futility of bargaining, pleading, or praying for that which is non-negotiable.
One can’t negotiate away the inevitabilities of this life. In matters of life and death, there are no better deals to be cut when that which you see as your trading partner is nothing more than a cool and timeless eye that sees all and acknowledges none.
The only settlement that comes in this negotiation is in the compromise one comes to with oneself. And that compromise is that while what will be will be, you are imbued with the strength to come to an understanding and acceptance of it.
That strength is the final offer.
On its face it doesn’t seem like a great deal, does it? One doesn’t get all they desire, isn’t given immunity from suffering, grief, and loss.
But it is the only deal on the table. And it is fair in that it offers no favoritism, no back door deals with anyone no matter how rich or connected they might be. The guy on the garbage truck gets the same deal as the guy in the State House. And the strength we are given is a grand concession by that distant eye.
Nothing to sneeze at, my friends.
That seems like a lot of intent for two small, simple paintings in bits of black and white and red. You might see them as being just some crazy person yelling at the sky. And maybe that is what it all is.
Who knows? Not me, that’s for damn sure.
A little extra info on the short quote at the top from British author Charles Williams, who dies in 1945 at the age of 58. He was an Oxford professor who was part of the Inklings, the informal literary group of Oxford profs led by C.S. Lewis that also included J.R.R. Tolkien. The first incarnations of Lord of the Rings were read by Tolkien at the group’s get-togethers, as were many other works-in-progress from other authors. I really don’t know much about Williams or his published work, some of which appear to be in the same realm of fantasy based on theology and myth as the well-known works of Tolkien and Lewis.
However, one interesting tidbit about Williams that jumped out at me was about his book which was the first major English-language edition of the works of philosopher Søren Kierkegaard. That in itself doesn’t seem too interesting. However, this work was part of the literature event in the art competition at the 1924 Summer Olympics.
Art competition at the Olympics? What? I have been a big Olympics fan for all my life–how had I missed that?
It seems that from 1912 until 1948 here were Olympic medals awarded for artistic achievement in Literature, Architecture, Music, Painting, and Sculpture. It was coined the Pentathlon of the Muses. One competitor, American Walter Winans, won gold in sculpture in 1912 after having won a gold medal for shooting in 1908.
It came to an end in 1948 when it became obvious that the subjective nature of art and the rules requiring amateur status made the competition untenable. It’s an interesting chapter in Olympic history of which I was totally unaware. Have to do some more research on this one.
In the meantime, here’s a song that deals with a type of bargaining. This is Devil’s Backbone from The Civil Wars. Might not take a medal at the Olympics, but it’s good stuff, nonetheless.
This seems like a lot this morning, doesn’t it? Probably more than you bargained for, right?
As I said above, some things are non-negotiable.
Take it or leave it. Final offer…
Redtree Times 