The Project
The ‘Four Quartets’ are four poems, each with five movements. Eliot sought to reflect the variety of form and texture found in a string quartet such as Beethoven’s No 15 Op 132 in A major. The four poems are: Burnt Norton, East Coker, The Dry Salvages and Little Gidding; all these places have a personal connection to TS Eliot. Throughout these poems he discusses the nature of time and man’s relationship to it. My plan has been to read and absorb the poems and to refer to analysis, principally of Helen Gardener. I also listened many, many times, and continue to do so, to T.S. Eliot himself reading his poem and to other brilliant readers like Alex Guinness and Ted Hughes. Gradually the meaning became clearer but there is something new to be learnt every time I read or listen to it. This is true of all great art; that it continues to ‘give’. Eliot said that a poem should be read aloud for the full effect. I now wonder why I did not attempt this project much earlier but my own development was not up to it. Now, the meaning evokes depths that I had not previously been aware of. When we have lived through the years we begin to understand this, even if our comprehension is limited. As Eliot says in East Coker: ‘Old men ought to be explorers’.
My
plan
has
been
to
approach
certain
lines
in
each
poem
which
are
of
significance
to
me
and
paint
a
series
of
small
studies
that
reflect
them.
Each
of
the
four
large
paintings
will
be
surrounded
by
the
studies
to
which
it
is
connected. The four large paintings represent:
Burnt Norton - in spirit is a poem of ‘Air’
East Coker - is likewise a poem of ‘Earth’
The Dry Salvages - is a poem of ‘Water’
Little Gidding - a poem of ‘Fire’
Each
large
painting
40”
x
40”
will
be
of
contrasting
technique.
The
32
small
paintings
average
12”
x
9”
Eight
of
these
will
surround
each
of
the
four
main
canvases. All are oil on canvas and framed.
It
is
both
exhilarating
and
liberating
to
have
embarked
on
this
project.
It
is
profoundly
scary
not
being
at
all
sure
that
I
have
succeeded
in
any
meaningful
way.
Naturally,
I
wish
I
had
more
time.
‘Playing
safe’
has
its
merits,
though
not
in
art.
Looking
back
on
a
long
career
of
right
and
wrong
pathways
taken
I’m
reminded
of
my
friend
the
painter
Piers
Otty
who
frequently
says:
“
It’s
all
grist
to
the
mill”.
People
have
often
asked
me
what
I
paint,
whether
I’m
a
landscape
or
portrait
painter.
I
answer:
“I
try
always
to
paint
ideas
and
to
invent
the
technique
that will express them”.
The Dry Salvages: a poem of Water
Little Gidding: a poem of Fire
The Project
The ‘Four Quartets’ are four poems, each with five movements. Eliot sought to reflect the variety of form and texture found in a string quartet such as Beethoven’s No 15 Op 132 in A major. The four poems are: Burnt Norton, East Coker, The Dry Salvages and Little Gidding; all these places have a personal connection to TS Eliot. Throughout these poems he discusses the nature of time and man’s relationship to it. My plan has been to read and absorb the poems and to refer to analysis, principally of Helen Gardener. I also listened many, many times, and continue to do so, to T.S. Eliot himself reading his poem and to other brilliant readers like Alex Guinness and Ted Hughes. Gradually the meaning became clearer but there is something new to be learnt every time I read or listen to it. This is true of all great art; that it continues to ‘give’. Eliot said that a poem should be read aloud for the full effect. I now wonder why I did not attempt this project much earlier but my own development was not up to it. Now, the meaning evokes depths that I had not previously been aware of. When we have lived through the years we begin to understand this, even if our comprehension is limited. As Eliot says in East Coker: ‘Old men ought to be explorers’.
My
plan
has
been
to
approach
certain
lines
in
each
poem
which
are
of
significance
to
me
and
paint
a
series
of
small
studies
that
reflect
them.
Each
of
the
four
large
paintings
will
be
surrounded
by
the
studies
to
which
it
is
connected.
The
four
large
paintings
represent:
Burnt Norton - in spirit is a poem of ‘Air’
East Coker - is likewise a poem of ‘Earth’
The Dry Salvages - is a poem of ‘Water’
Little Gidding - a poem of ‘Fire’
Each
large
painting
40”
x
40”
will
be
of
contrasting
technique.
The
32
small
paintings
average
12”
x
9”
Eight
of
these
will
surround
each of the four main canvases. All are oil on canvas and framed.
It
is
both
exhilarating
and
liberating
to
have
embarked
on
this
project.
It
is
profoundly
scary
not
being
at
all
sure
that
I
have
succeeded
in
any
meaningful
way.
Naturally,
I
wish
I
had
more
time.
‘Playing
safe’
has
its
merits,
though
not
in
art.
Looking
back
on
a
long
career
of
right
and
wrong
pathways
taken
I’m
reminded
of
my
friend
the
painter
Piers
Otty
who
frequently
says:
“
It’s
all
grist
to
the
mill”.
People
have
often
asked
me
what
I
paint,
whether
I’m
a
landscape
or
portrait
painter.
I
answer:
“I
try
always
to
paint
ideas
and
to
invent
the
technique
that
will
express them”.
The Dry Salvages: a poem of Water
Little Gidding: a poem of Fire
