Would you call an artist who paints a painter, or does painter only apply to a technician, like one who paints houses? This is part of a complete episode.
Transcript of “Painting Artist”
Hello, you have A Way with Words.
Hi, Martha. This is Noam, and I’m calling you from Champaign, Illinois.
I’m a graduate student at the University of Illinois.
Very good.
Welcome to the show. How can we help?
Thank you. Well, my question is as follows.
My sister-in-law, who lives in Israel, is an artist.
And I say she’s an artist because she studied art,
And she has put some of her work in exhibitions,
And she has her own studio.
So by definition, she’s an artist.
The thing is, most of her art is painting.
She paints.
And yet, if you were to call her or one of her colleagues a painter,
They would probably find that somewhat offensive.
And, you know, part of the reason is that, at least in English,
A painter may be an artist who paints,
And they paint maybe other things, like a person who paints houses.
And this was really interesting to me because even though English seems to be such a rich language,
You have a subcategory of an artist, and there’s no unique words to describe them,
Like maybe a sculptor or a photographer.
And so I wondered, you know, is this negative connotation something that really exists outside of my own mind?
And why did it happen that there seems to be one word that describes more than one profession?
It’s not so finely cut in English. It’s true.
You can talk about a portraitist, somebody who paints portraits, and you can talk about a landscape painter,
Which is an artist who specializes in painting pictures of landscapes.
Or you could talk about a fine art painter, maybe rarely.
Or a watercolorist.
A watercolorist as well.
But those are all very specific kinds of artists who paint.
And I have seen people who got into this philosophical question of whether or not the term painter is sufficient to cover all the depth required to be an artist who paints.
And I don’t feel qualified to answer that because I’m not an artist.
I’m barely a painter.
I could do your house.
I do masking tape and trim quite well.
Well, and it’s also a problem for people who draw.
You know, what do you call somebody who’s special?
A drawer or a draftsman, but that sounds like you’re doing blueprints or something.
Indeed.
It is a little bit tricky.
Yeah, it’s a pencilist.
Yeah, it’s interesting what you said, because it seems like you can differentiate yourself by the techniques you use, perhaps, as a painter.
So just like you said, if you use mainly watercolor or whatnot, then maybe that can differentiate you.
I mean, I think it’s funny, you know, artists, they want to differentiate themselves very much, I think, you know, find their niche or niche, as we say in America.
And yet, again, even though English is such a rich language, it doesn’t seem like there are many descriptions for people who paint and want to differentiate themselves in that sense.
Well, they’re there, but they’re not nicely tied up in single words or perhaps a two-word compound.
And there’s no reason to say that English is somehow deficient because it doesn’t have that one simple word for this.
A phrase will do.
A phrase actually communicates it, perhaps not briefly, but it does do the job.
This is a really good question.
I think Martha and I are kind of in agreement.
I see Martha nodding.
We’re going to have to put this out to the listeners and find out if you are an artist who paints, do you call yourself a painter?
Is there something pejorative or dismissive about that?
Is a painter strictly a technician, just somebody who has the tools and the paint and kind of slathers it on?
Or does painter actually cover the conception and ideas and the innovation and the emotion and the passion that goes into making something that could be hung in a museum or put in a home to bring life and vitality to it?
Email words@waywordradio.org.
Noam, thank you very much for your call.
This is a great philosophical language question.
Todah rabah.
Thank you, too.
Todah rabah.
I’m a very big fan.
All right.
Great.
Take care now.
Bye-bye.
By for now thanks.
