I went to see the Broadway play titled “Art,” starring Bobby Cannavale, Neil Patrick Harris, and James Corden, and was thoroughly entertained. When I heard the basic premise of the play: that one guy buys an all-white painting and enthusiastically shares his new addition to his art collection with his friends, who are less than enthusiastic – I could tell this was something I would really enjoy.
If you have an awareness or enjoyment of art history, you’re probably aware that the artist most famous for all white paintings is Robert Ryman. He made white paintings for decades, and it’s easy enough to say “what are you talking about? How many white paintings can someone make?” But if one were to look at Ryman’s work over the years, there’s always plenty of nuances, as far as paint application or leaving edges unpainted, feint inclusions of non-white colors, etc. I saw a quote somewhere that he explained that his work was not about “what” he painted, but “how” he painted it. In a way, I’m defending the idea of “white paintings,” but that doesn’t mean I like everything that Robert Ryman painted. Below is a view of the white painting on the Broadway show set, alongside an actual Robert Ryman painting seen at Dia Beacon last year.
However, despite my initial association for this white painting in the Broadway production to be something by Robert Ryman, I see another reference that suggests the playwright, Yasmina Reza, might have had a Robert Rauschenberg painting in mind, as he also did a series of white paintings in the 1950s. However, no matter who the inspiration was, the painting in the “Art” production was a fictional French artist by the name of “Antrios.” Neil Patrick Harris’ character, Serge, is very proud of the fact that he now owns an “Antrios.”
I don’t need this blog post to be a synopsis of the play (if you want one, read this), and while there is plenty of debate in the play about the merits (or lack thereof) of a white painting, the real story is how Serge’s acquisition of this painting and his friends’ reaction to it evolves into a deeper assessment of their long-term friendship and how they have often perceived each other in unspoken ways – unspoken until now, when the white painting brings all these messy feelings out into the open.
This fact of the three men assessing their friendship is what makes the play more universal and less an art world insider story. There’s plenty of funny parts to go along with the intense parts, and all three actors were fantastic in their roles, especially James Corden, who I thought stole the show.
It kind of put me in the mood to make my own white painting … although I haven’t done it yet.