Giving Titles September 2008
Someone recently asked me how I choose titles for my artwork. I hadn’t given it much thought before, titles just came to me it seemed. Yet, the question is interesting and invites some exploration.
As a matter of principle I prefer not to give a title with a negative connotation. Who in his or her right mind would want to hang on hi or her wall a painting titled “His Compulsion” or “Neurosis III”? No thank you! I do not wish to contribute to the pool of bad news; I’ll leave that to the journalists or to the provocateurs.
Titles can be just plainly and unpretentiously name the subject matter such as “Tomatoes”. I like to add a nuance but without too much interpretation since I hope the viewer will discover an attribute on his or her own. So instead of just “Tomatoes” or “Bouquet” I might prefer “Ripe Tomatoes” and “Birthday Bouquet”. To me, short titles limited to two words are preferable as they are perhaps easier to remember. Evocative titles without too much drama are usually also pleasing such as “First Sail” or “Quiet Embrace” as they may invite to imagine a narrative. I stay away from titles such as “Composition #3”. To me such titles are too clinical; I can’t warm up to them. While I might opt for an occasional foreign noun especially if it is a cognate, I usually stay away from esoteric terminology only a few can understand. Ultimately choosing a title is obviously a question of personal preference.
Are titles important? Different artists will give you different answers. I feel titles are very important. Naming a painting that I have produced and finished is for me a form of acknowledgement. It gives me a sense of accomplishment the way signing a painting does. Furthermore it is a form of reverence for the creative process itself.
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