Kwo Da-Wei's letters

As an art teacher, I have scanned the Letter to Art Lovers column by Mr. Kwo Da-Wei with more irritation than amusement. I would describe these as half digested regurgitations of an antiquated art manual.

However, in his letter on Aug. 4, Mr. Kwo Da-Wei adds a new element: Ignorance.

In his paragraph on the Use of Black, Mr. Kwo Da-Wei mentions that the Impressionists were fascinated by some Japanese prints. How are these colorful Japanese prints related to the significant influence of Chinese Art?

He goes on to say: "They (the Impressionists) adopted black as a color too."

Now dear friend, anybody interested in Impressionism, even superficially, will know that the Impressionist's main concern was to paint from nature. Their observation showed them that black does not exist in nature and therefore they banned it from their palettes.

It was indeed Matisse that introduced black as a color per se. The anecdote has been reported that the young Matisse showed his work to the old Renoir, who was startled and said: "Young man, I don't understand your work and I have always been against the use of black. However, when I see the way you use black, it makes me think that you are indeed an artist.

RASHID CARRE

Jakarta International School