“If London is a watercolor, New York is an oil painting.”

— Peter Shaffer

The New York Times, April 13, 1975.

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Peter Shaffer 6

English playwright and screenwriter 1926–2016

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“My sketch [in watercolor, made in 1861] represents the Hunebed in Tinaarlo in Drenthe, which I drew a few years ago; I have still the intention to paint it [oil-painting after, after his watercolor].. (translation from original Dutch: Fons Heijnsbroek)”

Willem Roelofs (1822–1897) Dutch painter and entomologist (1822-1897)

(original Dutch: citaat van Willem Roelofs, in het Nederlands:) Mijn schets [aquarel, in 1861 gemaakt] stelt het Hunnebed voor te Tinaarlo in Drenthe, dat ik voor eenige jaren teekende en nog altijd van plan ben te schilderen [naar zijn aquarel]…
In a letter to Carel Vosmaer, 31 August 1869; as cited in Willem Roelofs 1822-1897 De Adem der natuur, ed. Marjan van Heteren & Robert-Jan te Rijdt; Thoth, Bussum - ISBN13 * 978 90 6868 4322, 2006, p. 156
1860's

“I have another painting finished, a view near Rotterdam, and then another in process, and very far along. I made them from nature, that is to say I made watercolors [in open air] after which I made my [oil]-paintings.”

Johan Jongkind (1819–1891) Dutch painter and printmaker regarded as a forerunner of Impressionism

In a letter to his Dutch friend Eugène Smits, 22 Nov. 1856; as quoted in Master Drawings from the Yale University Art Gallery, by Suzanne Boorsch, John Marciari; Yale University. Art Gallery, p. 246 - note 7

“Cities have sexes: London is a man, Paris a woman, and New York a well-adjusted transsexual.”

Angela Carter (1940–1992) English novelist

Expletives Deleted: Selected Writings (1992).

“and if I have any advice to give to anybody it’s this: take up watercolor painting.”

Charles Bukowski book Notes of a Dirty Old Man

Source: Notes of a Dirty Old Man

“I hope to compensate this year [in 1866 Roelofs was seriously ill] the damage of so little studies [watercolors and drawings] once and for all because most of the old ones I already used [for his oil-paintings]. (translation from original Dutch: Fons Heijnsbroek)”

Willem Roelofs (1822–1897) Dutch painter and entomologist (1822-1897)

(original Dutch: citaat van Willem Roelofs, in het Nederlands:) Ik hoop dit jaar [in 1866 is Roelofs ernstig ziek geweest] de schade van weinig studies [tekeningen en aquarellen] eens voor goed in te halen want de ouden raken zoowat op [gebruikt voor zijn olie-schilderijen].
In a letter to P. Verloren van Themaat, 10 May 1867; as cited in Willem Roelofs 1822-1897 De Adem der natuur, ed. Marjan van Heteren & Robert-Jan te Rijdt; Thoth, Bussum, 2006, p. 13 - ISBN13 * 978 90 6868 432 2
1860's

“After working with oil, pastel, and watercolors, I have intentionally returned to working with graphite. It is the most challenging mode of expression to master”

Wahbi Al-Hariri (1914–1994) Artist, architect, author

Wahbi al-Hariri-Rifai (1992), The Spiritual Edifices of Islam: Drawings by Wahbi Al-Hariri-Rifai http://books.google.com/books/about/The_Spiritual_Edifices_of_Islam.html?id=J9sJtwAACAAJ - National Museum (Saudi Arabia) Exhibit Booklet - 2002, Washington, D.C.: GDG Exhibits Trust & National Museum (Saudi Arabia), OCLC:56990773, retrieved on 25 June 2013. Quoted from inside cover.

“Goss and Bennett…trained him to make Europe yawn; and he took advantage of their training to make London and New York laugh and whistle.”

Arthur Sullivan (1842–1900) English composer of the Gilbert & Sullivan duo

George Bernard Shaw, in The Scots Observer, September 6, 1890; cited from Dan H. Laurence (ed.) Shaw's Music (London: The Bodley Head, 1989) vol. 2, p. 174.
Criticism

“London is satisfied, Paris is resigned, but New York is always hopeful. Always it believes that something good is about to come off, and it must hurry to meet it.”

Dorothy Parker (1893–1967) American poet, short story writer, critic and satirist

“[David Sylvester asked Gottlieb, he is aware of the impact of the city New York on his painting:] Definitely I am. When I was in Paris last spring, my original plan was to go for four months and to paint there, and a number of people urged me to stay. That wanted to see what would happen, how my painting would change. But I felt strongly after being there less than a month that it was necessary for me to come back to New York, because I feel a certain rhythm in New York I don't feel in Paris.... there is a tempo in the life of New York which is exhilarating and I feel that this gets into one's painting. It's the pulse, not the look. I'am not involved with the external appearance of the city; it’s the vibrations. ]”

Adolph Gottlieb (1903–1974) American artist

In an interview (March 1960) with David Sylvester, edited for broadcasting by the BBC first published in ‘Living Arts, June 1963; as quoted in Interviews with American Artists, by David Sylvester; Chatto & Windus, London 2001, p. 33
1960s

“I'm able to paint so nice and thick with those big splodges that stay upright because I mix my own paint. I use the formula that the seventeenth-century painters used and I've added one or two things myself. A very important element is stand oil. I once got hold of a whole barrel full and I'm still using it. There are pots of it in all my studios, in New York, in Connecticut, in Monaco, and in Tuscany. [the oil had been found when an old paint shop closed down, in a] stock that had been there since the seventeenth century... I mix my oil paint with it, and I throw in a lot of eggs and some concentrated turpentine. It's as thick as homemade mayonnaise. When it dries it is as tough and hard as rubber.”

Karel Appel (1921–2006) Dutch painter, sculptor, and poet

Quote from an interview in 'Elsevier', 22 December, 1990; translated and quoted by Frank van der Ploeg, in 'The Low Countries'. Jaargang 12 (2004) http://www.dbnl.org/tekst/_low001200401_01/_low001200401_01_0027.php

“If London is a watercolor, New York is an oil painting.”

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Peter Shaffer 6

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