eek that all ideas were covered by the Greeks long ago, and that society is just rehashing what we've collectively forgotten. It's a fear that may justifiably exist among many artists, especially painters these days because we've run the full range from purely representational to purely abstract art. Eugene Delacroix, a French artist in the first half of the 18th century, is an interesting case. His work, seen through modern eyes, seems very safe, but he was actually a passionate, individualistic man. Delacroix loved color, movement, and vigorous painting, even though in the end, he always tempered his works to make them ready for "public viewing." But he laid the foundation, inspiring artists like Van Gogh to pick up where he left off. Often originality occurs as Sir Iaasic Newton once said by, "standing on the shoulders of giants." Originality is always taking an existing form and adapting it to create something original. Delcroix wrote in his journal in Paris on May 14th 1824 that the artist obsession to add to existing ideas.
             "What moves men of genius, or rather, what inspires their work, is not new ideas, but their obsession with the idea that what has already been said is still not enough."
             One of the reasons why I love this quotes is it points to human hubris in assuming we've done all there is to do. To exapnd on already existing ideas is a risk. To be original is a risk that society will deem it either unoriginal or unworthy of notice. Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot, a French artist twenty years younger than Delacroix, wrote in his notebook in 1856:
             "Be guided by feeling alone. We are only simple mortals, subject to error; so listen to the advice of others, but follow only what you understand and can unite in your own feeling. Be firm, be meek, but follow your own convictions. It is better to be nothing than an echo of other painters. The wise man has said: When one follows another, one is always behind."
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