Coromo In New York, parts 1659 - 1662

1659. Newsprint left out in natural light will turn yellow in a day, and begin to crack and fall apart in a few months. It takes great effort to find ways to preserve it. But the miracle of it is that it is exactly the cheapness of the materials that qualify it as belonging to the outsider movement.

1660. Coromo was not impressed with this information; on the contrary he was positively startled by it. He felt that Proctor Cronk had suggested that the painter of the “naïve,” pictures on the wall of the restaurant was somehow related in his personality to a psychotic violent, child –molesting monster. No matter what the benefits of the connection, Coromo was loath to be pleased by it.

1661. He ventured a question, “Do you think these pictures in the restaurant, painted by my old Uncle Tomas should be considered as outsider paintings? 

1662. “That is a very good question,” replied Cronk. “In terms of subject-matter and execution they have a lot in common with the naïve movement, but in terms of the color they are more like the Post-Impressionist school. Gauguin comes to mind, but really it is the use of commercial canvas and traditional oil paint that most specifically separates these paintings from the works of people like Wolfli.