Saturday, October 24, 2015

Those paintings creep me out. They are disturbing. I worry about Bush. I'm no art connoisseur but I've looked at a lot of paintings in my life. Can't ever remember seeing self-portraits done in the shower and bath tub. No shrink either. Don't think you have to be one to see in the shower painting a man who doesn't want to see himself, doesn't want to see himself naked of all protection, stripped bare, every wart and fault exposed, but one who cannot help but look, indirectly through the mirror. He is looking at himself figuratively and literally. He's cleansing himself in both.

Mark Rothko committed suicide by slashing his wrists in a bathtub. A friend of mine committed suicide by taking sleeping pills while immersed in water in a bathtub. Bathtub seems to be a not uncommon venue for suicide. Seems to me an uncommon venue for self-portrait painting. I don't have any, even amateur's, read on the feet, any symbolism or meaning except the obvious, he didn't have a mirror. I like a nice long bath some times. Don't know how long it took him to paint that but it seems it would take longer than I'm used to spending in the bath tub anyway. Maybe he painted quickly, I don't know. Maybe, but I don't think so. Looks like he was in the bathtub a good while.