Cervantes’ humorous story of Don Quixote follows a country
gentleman in his fifties as he sets off on an imaginary quest. The initial exploits are met with amused
tolerance by the townsfolk, supporting the aging Quixote’s belief that he's a
knight-errant on grand chivalrous quests.
Despite farcical setbacks, each “success” magnifies the validity of
Quixote’s reality. But toward the end of Part Two, attitudes change.
Quixote becomes the butt of mean-spirited jokes. Well-meaning friends convince Quixote
that his quest is delusion, the product of age and insanity. The story ends with the loss of Quixote’s faith.
He accepts reality imposed by others, but is
gripped with a deep and persistent melancholy.
When Alsono Quixano dies, he's sane in the eyes of the world but
inwardly a broken man.
It's a story that has entertained generations and is deep
in our collective psyche. There’s
something both humorous and pathetic in the idea of the last “hurrah,” the
aging character setting out on a grand adventure after a lost dream. We laugh at his interpretations of reality,
we pity his disillusionment, and secretly fear we might be Quixote and
not know it.
For me, the idea creeps in when I least expect it. I can feel successful within my own studio,
caught up in the pleasure of creation. But I also exist in an interdependent
relationship with the people and events surrounding me, which can affect me
deeply. Success is just as stressful as rejection: both could be signs of my own delusion, succeeding out of pity, rejection from reality.
"Self Portrait at Age 61" @ Sue Favinger Smith, 2009
may our spirits never be broken! thank you for the interesting and thought provoking posts.
Posted by: Ujwala Prabhu | July 20, 2009 at 06:43 PM
Well written; well rendered. Beautiful stuff, Sue.
My co-agist, Michael Jackson ( we were a week apart) may be an extreme example of all of this. Nah. Too extreme.
Posted by: Casey | July 09, 2009 at 08:35 AM
I've been reading your blog for the past few months and always enjoy your posts. I, too, am a "post-50 developing artist." I am so hard on myself that I would likely benefit from a bit of "delusion" on the up side. Thank you for your thoughtful posts.
Posted by: Clara | July 06, 2009 at 06:46 PM
Spot on! What you express on your blog is so universally felt. Thank you!
Posted by: suzemyst@nycap.rr.com | June 30, 2009 at 09:10 AM
Oh, Sue, your posts always hit so directly. As artists, we tilt at windmills with dragons breathing down our necks. Love the self portrait and all it says!
Posted by: Jo-Ann Sanborn | June 30, 2009 at 05:44 AM
Thank you for your post, Sue! You are so right: success and failure can be equally distracting. They can take an artist away from her focus on her own development and expression and give the locus of control to "others" who accept or reject work into shows.
Your response to go to the studio and paint is PERFECT!
If you ever decide to write that manifesto, I hope you'll post it for us to read! I'll be checking back, for sure.
Posted by: Katherine van Schoonhoven | June 29, 2009 at 08:49 PM
Great perspective and comments
Posted by: Bruce Meyer | June 29, 2009 at 03:47 PM