04/09/2019
I recently happened upon the last email Jim Hall sent to me before he endured surgery and complications that would take his life so unexpectedly and tragically. He sent it two months before he passed:
As any artist knows, art is in the eye of the beholder. No two people see art the
same way. It's just not possble, regardless of any scientific "analysis." It's art,
not science.
Seurat's dots blend with each other to creat a vibration. A blue dot next to a yellow
dot will look green from a particular distance. The same with all the primary
color dots - red, yellow, blue.
Seurat was groundbreaking. So,too, is Lineillism.
My Lineillism is a variation on pointillism, done in all vertical lines, not dots. It's
possible only with acrylic paint, not oils, because of the fast drying time of acrylics.
Acrylic art paint did not become available until 1950.
Lineillism paintings vibrate with more intensity simply because each line covers more canvas space than a dot. Lineillism has the feel of movement because the eye is temporarily
fooled by the direction of of the vertical lines and the shape of the form. An example
is "The Outer Banks," where the lines are all vertical but the rocking chair has curves.
It gives the sense that the chairs are rocking. And it beomes a different painting
at 5 feet, 10feet, 15 feet.
Jim Hall
