The Sledgehammer and the Paintbrush

The Ready Hammer

“It takes two to make a painting
One to paint
The other
To hit the painter over the head
When it's done.”

This quote was supposed to be
Or so I thought
Attributed to Renoir

William Merrit Chase, the American
Painter is quoted similarily
"It takes two to paint.
One to paint, the other to stand
By with an axe to kill him
Before he spoils it."

I’ve never found the Renoir
Quote in print
It is possibly
A fiction
Concocted by an art dealer
Or curator wishing to claim
A role in the creative process

The gist of the assertion
Is that a painter applies paint
And a second entity
Genie or genius or Fiction
Tells him when to cease
What a curious sweet fantasy

An artist creates something
Out of thin air
There is no one nearby
No critic, no curator
No hammer
No hachet
No axe
No Muse swinging a club

I paint alone in the studio
A brush in one hand
My other fist firmly grasping
A rubber mallet

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