Misunderstood Architect in Company With Greats
- Share via
It was disheartening to read the responses of two readers (Saturday Letters, Calendar, June 7) to the article “Gehry’s Guggenheim: An Instant Landmark” (June 2). Both letters expressed horror and disbelief, one describing Gehry’s masterpiece, the Guggenheim Bilbao, as looking like “a building that has been hit by a bomb,” while the other likened it to Universal Studio’s “Waterworld” stage show.
It is truly saddening--but I suppose to be expected--that people still react as they always have to visionary artists working on the cutting edge of their discipline: with scorn and ridicule. I am reminded that people taunted Van Gogh as he walked through the streets of Arles; that Mozart’s early compositions were considered incomprehensible by many of his contemporaries; that Picasso was laughed at by viewers--and even art critics--who claimed his paintings were nothing a child couldn’t do.
I guess misunderstanding is a burden great artists must forever be prepared to endure. I hope Frank Gehry can take comfort that he is in good company!
SEAN COLGIN
Santa Monica
The biggest entertainment stories
Get our big stories about Hollywood, film, television, music, arts, culture and more right in your inbox as soon as they publish.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
