The recent showing of “Leonardo Live” at the Orcas Center was an experience;  an experience in disappointment, frustration, and sometimes outright anger at the U.K.’s National Gallery for misrepresenting what most of the viewers thought was going to be an enlightened experience of da Vinci’s genius.
Instead, we got a cocktail reception hosted by two obnoxious talking heads and their  unqualified talking head guests who (with the exception of two, the conservator and the artist Michael Craig) asked the guests questions and then without stopping proceeded to answer their own questions, contributed no credible comments, and took up valuable time that could have focused on da Vinci’s work (especially his rarely seen drawings).
Only a practicing artist can give truly qualified information on how a work of art is put together.  Art historians and museum curators are those that discuss the historical relevance of artwork but don’t actually know what it takes to execute a visual illusion.  I won’t pretend to lecture anyone on creative writing, or music, because I am not a practitioner of those mediums.  So what were the two hosts, Timothy Marlow and Ms. Marbles-in-her-mouth, trying to pass on to us?  Something about the “hip” London art event scene perhaps? Beats me, and I’ve been a practicing artist, and eventually a full professor, for most of my adult life.
No comments were made on da Vinci’s use of weighted line and tonality in his drawings to connote light direction, and his work is all about light…whether it be on the human form or an ermine.  His work is a classic example of how shape (two dimensional) becomes form (three dimensional) via the use of light. No mention of his technical illusion of space between the foregrounds and backgrounds.  These are all formal elements that the uninitiated viewers would have benefited and learned.  Also, no mention of his unbelievable perseverance at analyzing the human anatomy via his illegal use of cadavers from grave sites and monastery morgues.  Instead, we got to see a frame maker whittling on a faux frame (could have been seeing a da Vinci drawing with that wasted film footage), and we got to see the assistants moving artwork, and we got to see both egotistical hosts with their faces in the camera (when we could have been seeing da Vinci’s paintings close up).
The Orcas Center is to be commended for bringing us this much heralded event and to enrigh us with the wonders of this remarkable genius.  Too bad the U.K.’s National Gallery didn’t deliver.
Terry Johnson
(Terry Johnson is an Orcas resident/teacher and retired Professor of Art from Cornish College of Art.)

**If you are reading theOrcasonian for free, thank your fellow islanders. If you would like to support theOrcasonian CLICK HERE to set your modestly-priced, voluntary subscription. Otherwise, no worries; we’re happy to share with you.**