Rafa as an art form ...

Rafa has been nominated in Sports Illustrated for Sportsman of the Year which will be announced at the end of November.

Sports writer - Jon Wertheim - has written a lovely piece on Rafa, and here's the link ...

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2010/magazine/sportsman/11/05/nadal.wertheim/index.html

There's a stand out quote in it for me as it brought into play one of the other passions in my life - art. You don't just get Rafa on this blog, you get kulture too, hehe ...

The period of art that I'm interested in is of the modern variety, from about 1920 - 1960. And that's it. But I was amazed and enthused to read a quote from Jon Wertheim, because it is exactly how I've thought the Rafa-Feds rivalry is in artistic terms (I kid you not) ... with Feds as Claude Monet, and Rafa as Jackson Pollock. This is what Wertheim had to say ...

"For the better of the past decade, tennis fans have been treated to Federer's graceful, stylish tennis. If Federer is Monet, all light and delicacy, Nadal is Jackson Pollock, all force and power, all toil and trouble."

This is Monet ... whilst its beautiful to look at, and its style and technique is unique in artistic terms as the Impressionists brought the art movement into a totally different direction and its paired down technique was the forefather for all that came afterwards ... it leaves me cold. As I've grown older, I've learnt to appreciate it more and instead of eschewing the galleries of Paris where the best works are held, I think next time I may allow myself to stand before it and take it in a bit more.

But what I really, really like, is this ...

Jackson Pollock. You can't possibly compare the two in terms of technique. How is throwing a bunch of paint at a canvas ever considered in the same vein as the gentle brush strokes of Monet? But if you stand in front of one of these huge canvases, and see the power and physicality that brought the paint on there ... its stunning. Stunning in its uniqueness, and its like nothing you have ever seen before.

This is Pollock at work ... differently for him, the canvas is on the floor not an easel, and he moves around it exuding strength and power as he brings the paint down upon it. Its passion, its movement, its force ... its Rafa.

Its not what everyone cares for, its not what everyone appreciates. Its not finesse and grace and elegance ... but it has a rawness and a talent all of its own that's amazing to behold and will forever move me more than lilies resting upon a lake ...