While scouring for sculptures on the web, I came across this article that offered thoughtful reviews of CAS' carvings on one hand, but misinformed ideas on the other hand.
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www.dissolvesf.org]
Quote:It should be noted that Lovecraft’s legacy (and in turn, the writers who were in conversation with him) have been closely identified with white supremacist histories valorizing European civilization at the expense of all others.
While HPL was certainly a white supremacist, I think it's short-sighted to accuse *everyone* who conversed with him of being strongly affiliated with white supremacy. It's true that much of their fiction is informed by the colonial zeitgeist of their time, but their views on race and politics were diverse, and some of them questioned or disagreed with HPL's ideals. True, CAS was no stranger to orientalism (though I think his fantastic settings are harmless in that regard), and his story "The Venus of Azombeii" confusingly romanticized and patronized African natives; I won't pretend he was "progressive" like an internet white knight. But for much of his fiction he mercilessly mocked and lambasted conservative white society, as well as all forms of national pride and social intolerance. Not to mention his complete acceptance of protagonists having romantic relations with people of other races, species, and mortal states of being.
He was a man of his time, like any of us, but in some ways he was a man beyond his time. I can't imagine him siding with the Ku Klux Klan or the White Man's Burden.
Quote:As a result, the resemblance between Smith’s sculptures and Pacific Islander art should be read in the same vein as Pablo Picasso’s direct appropriation of African artifacts.
I think this suggestion is unfounded. Why should we assume CAS appropriated Pacific Island art? According to his letters, CAS was not consciously influenced by any tribe or civilization. He explained that many of his creations simply came to his mind while carving, and he never intended them to mimic any specific culture. In some of his letters to Derleth CAS wondered if the reason his work resembled that of other civilizations (not just Pacific) was because he tapped into some universal source of human creativity. To suggest that he was vaguely influenced by primitive art is fair, but to accuse him of appropriating from those cultures is baseless. As if staring, stony monsters are the exclusive property of Polynesians.
Quote:The sculptures, as much as the published short stories, are notable for communicating the fears and modern anxiety of a shared set of American writers in the early 20th century.
I can't speak for the stories, but I fail to understand how CAS' sculptures are entirely suggestive of fear and anxiety. Some of them, perhaps, but others suggest a wide range of artistic expressions such as human beauty (the Blue Goddess), sardonic satire (the Puritan), and caricatures of human expression (the Bird of Wisdom).
What else is absurd is the suggestion that CAS' carvings don't merely express his own fears and anxieties, but that of his *entire* social circle. As if he were one limb of a Lovecraftian chimera, instead of an individual whose tastes differed from those of his friends and acquaintances. I also disagree with this article's references to the Cthulhu Mythos or the "shared world" between HPL's friends. CAS hardly mentioned the Necronomicon or Yog-Sothoth in his work. I don't think it's significant enough to project onto his creations, except those rare sculptures that do illustrate HPL's monster-gods.
I'll admit I'm being abrasive; this article is otherwise a fine artistic analysis, and not to mention an appreciative review of The Moon Dweller, one of my favorite carvings. I was simply miffed by the suggestion that CAS was inseparable from his acquaintances, even though his weird and cosmic inspiration preceded his first meeting with HPL.
Edited 4 time(s). Last edit at 7 Oct 22 | 09:25PM by Hespire.