Artists in general seem to me tohave pretty naïve political ideas. know that’s a sweeping statement, but hear me out. After the 1992 general election some of my contemporaries from the RA Schools were bemoaning Labour’s defeat at the hands of the Conservative Party. I ironically put forward the view that this was a good thing, because the rich would be more willing to part with their money for my work.
How they shouted! One of them, who was not even a British citizen and had voted fraudulently, was particularly vehement. Ok, I said. What Labour policies can you name that would alleviate the difficulties that we artists face? When the furore calmed down, it was explained to me how, in the USA in the 1930s, President Roosevelt’s New Deal provided a structure that supported thousands of artists. She wasn’t able to give an example of how a Kinnock government might have looked after us. I didn’t point out that I was being asked to support the Labour Party on the basis of policies put into practice by a different party, in a different country at a different time.
The Russian Protester, gouache, acrylic and collage on paper, 81⁄2╳6in (22╳15cm).