Tuesday, January 11, 2005

Mr.Kane, His Life and His Incidentals, Part The 2nd; Or, the nebulous story of the John Kane Tribute painting



The preceding is a monochromatic reproduction of an image, painted by the author upon stretched, mass-produced canvas utilising equally mass-produced linseed-oil-pigment medium.

The image proper is and was inspired by the combination of the myth and the man.

If one were to read Mr. Kane's biography (mentioned previously), one could perhaps put together clues that bind the portrait with some realities, as well as some artistic (as it were), as well as historic, liberties. Most noteworthy in this example is that John Kane The Real did not "Take up The Arts" after boxing, but after succumbing to a crippling accident. See the biography link below for specific (all true) details.

However, dear Reader-Spectateur, I must in all candor admit that the misinformed author-artist was simply inspired by the fringe romanticism and mysterty of a man who could have been a limner-itinerant portrait artist , a circus roustabout, an eccentric pseudo-scientist/mad prophet (also known in classical times as a "Philosopher"), a revolutionary museum founder, or a boxer. That he was, in all truth and reality, only some of these things makes it all the more fascinating. This combination of the real and the imagined is surely one that could survive in several subsequent artistic depictions. Accurate or not.

Fully Titled: Grandeloquent Fisticuffed Splendor; Or, The Last Fight of One Mr. John Kane before taking up the Arts.

~Dain Quentin Gore

Wednesday, January 05, 2005

"The best thing in the world for a young artist to do would be to hire himself out to a good painting contractor" ~John Kane, 1860-1934



After many years of wondering who the above quoted individual was; and if, in fact, Mr. Kane even existed* I have seen a vindication of sorts, a "small victory" if you will, thanks being oblidged to an article-biography regarding the real tangible man now known as John Kane.

*There has been, for quite some time, a misunderstanding with regard to his contribution to the realm of reality, one made famous by a defunct (and later succeeded by others of a similar interest) musical ensemble known for its compositional and lyrical conundrums inspired by such a fantastical philosophy as that which they had ascribed to the selfsame John Kane (replete with photos, even!), in the form of a three-step rubric (incl. a diagram) known as becoming:

a.) Charming.
b.) Bullet-Proof.
c.) Invisible.

Apparently in the prescribed numerical sequence.

However, this same man was also (or at least, rather, in the case of when dealing with the matters-at-hand known as the quotidienne reality that we know to be true) what is called in the popular parlance an "Outsider Artist."

I have therefore stumbled happenstance upon an article of great interest to few people, which means it deserves undivided attention in a forum such as this. Here, then, is the article in question; below, as follows:

Please to click upon subsequent link, so placed here.

As one may then notice from the above link, this man also is a number, according to the museum that holds some of his works and by no coincidence, this very rare biography.

~Dain Quentin Gore.