Thought-provoking piece and it was the writer H. Davenport Adams who wrote of the poet Alfred Tennyson, "when he adopts an image or a suggestion from a predecessor, and works it up into his own glittering fabric, I shall give a few instances, offering as the result ... a modest canon: 'That great poets imitate and improve, whereas small ones steal and spoil.'
I agree with you that the same is true of art although Picasso reversed the principal in the quote allegedly made by him.
Yes, most people know the Picasso 'quote' though there is little evidence he uttered the words. Adams essay is a defence of Tennyson who some thought 'copied' the work of others. Pretty much a parallel to your piece.
How very interesting that ‘copying’ has been such a hotly debated subject for such a long time, when it’s a very valid way of learning & growing your craft.
Thanks for sharing, your views are super interesting! I've been thinking about this myself a lot lately.
I always saw "copying" as inspiration, because the person's art is being processed through me, and something new is then created from that inspiration. Most of my stories are inspired by stories/worlds I created while listening to music
Stories/worlds inspired by music sounds wonderful! I wouldn’t call that copying, though....
There is a writing exercise that has you copy out the first few lines from a book you love, until eventually your own words, your own story bursts forth. That’s an aspect of copying turning into something new.
It’s an interesting thing to think about though, isn’t it?
Thought-provoking piece and it was the writer H. Davenport Adams who wrote of the poet Alfred Tennyson, "when he adopts an image or a suggestion from a predecessor, and works it up into his own glittering fabric, I shall give a few instances, offering as the result ... a modest canon: 'That great poets imitate and improve, whereas small ones steal and spoil.'
I agree with you that the same is true of art although Picasso reversed the principal in the quote allegedly made by him.
Thank you, Harry. I didn’t know that the original quote was by Adams. It’s interesting that he says that ‘small ones steal & spoil.’
Yes, most people know the Picasso 'quote' though there is little evidence he uttered the words. Adams essay is a defence of Tennyson who some thought 'copied' the work of others. Pretty much a parallel to your piece.
How very interesting that ‘copying’ has been such a hotly debated subject for such a long time, when it’s a very valid way of learning & growing your craft.
Thanks for sharing, your views are super interesting! I've been thinking about this myself a lot lately.
I always saw "copying" as inspiration, because the person's art is being processed through me, and something new is then created from that inspiration. Most of my stories are inspired by stories/worlds I created while listening to music
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Stories/worlds inspired by music sounds wonderful! I wouldn’t call that copying, though....
There is a writing exercise that has you copy out the first few lines from a book you love, until eventually your own words, your own story bursts forth. That’s an aspect of copying turning into something new.
It’s an interesting thing to think about though, isn’t it?