Labor Omnia Vincit

For those whose Latin is rusty, that means “Work conquers all” and is certainly what guided —and continues to guide at 88-years old—the artist David Hockney. We stood in line for an hour to get into his massive show at the Fondation Louis Vuitton and perhaps odd to be in Paris to see a British-born artist who lived for many years in L.A. (but also London, Paris, York, Normandy) instead of going to the Louvre. 

 

But it was well-worth it. From charcoal sketches to watercolors to oil paintings to mixed media to i-Pad art to Opera sets, the man is prolific, if nothing else. If you didn’t like one style, there’s a good chance you would like another. While indisputably himself in style, like just about every good artist, he paid his dues studying assiduously the work of the Masters before him, from Medieval times to modern. He also is well-read, paying homage to authors from Blake to Whitman and beyond. 

 

Three quotes jumped out at me to add to my collection to get through these dark times. Or any times. 

 

The first was the “Work conquers all,” the feeling I had today waiting in line and coming up with a body percussion piece to accompany an old canon for my summer teaching ahead. When I am at work—be it planning a class, teaching a class, arranging a jazz tune, writing a poem, article or book — there is no space for the devils of distraction or the devils of despair to enter. The work becomes an active antidote to whatever poisons are in the air and is part of the collective strategy to diminish their power. Of course, I’m talking about “good” work— creative work, compassionate work, spiritual work. 

 

Another notable quote that he borrowed from some unnamed Chinese source: 

 

“You need three things for painting: the hand, the eye and the heart. Two won’t do.”

 

With a slight shift, you have exactly the sentiment of one of my chapters in my Teach Like It’s Music book expressed so refreshingly here: 

 

“You need three things for music: the hand, the eye and the heart. Two won’t do.”

 

I also add the head, but maybe more succinct with just three. I like that ending little phrase: "Two won't do."

 

I can personally attest that though my heart is always willing, my hand could use another 10,000 hours of practice and my hearing would have been better with a different childhood that locked in the synapses in Nature’s proper window. But nevertheless, I persist.

 

Finally, one that is oh-so-timely in these days of the neo-fascists shutting down any institution, funding, law, idea designed to help others. Every day another one that defies belief. In light of it all, we would all do well to remember this last little quote that David Hockney connected with a series of paintings celebrating the end of Winter in Normandy:

 

“Remember. They can’t cancel the Spring.”

 

Dinner awaits and tomorrow we bid farewell to France on the way to London. It has been a marvelous two weeks indeed.