BARBARALEE DIAMONSTEIN
91
Lichtenstein:
Well , one I can think o f is " Girl Befo re a Mirror," the
Picasso whi ch the Museum o f Modern Art has.
Castelli:
I
like some scul p ture, and
I
would say, the minu te somebody
as ks me whi ch my favo rite scul p tu re is, it's Brancusi's "Bi rd in
Fli ght. "
Diamonsteill:
And pa inting?
Caste ll i:
Th a t's mo re d iffic ult to answer.
Diamonstein:
Wha t is your mos t pri zed possessio n ?
Castelli:
My mos t pri zed possess ion . There are several. To speak about
peop le present, namely Roy here,
I
think tha t his portrait o f
Washin gton is one o f my very favo rite paintings.
I
have j asper
j ohns's flag, whi ch
I
like ve ry much . j asper j ohns's target, with
p laster of pa ri s. And, o f cou rse, some of Rauschenberg's work. Bu t
I
like o ther things just as much .
Diamonstein:
Roy, d id you ever expect your life
to
unfold the way it
did?
Lichtenstein:
No. 1 can 't elabora te on tha t. I just didn 't.
Castelli:
It 's rea ll y quite incredibl e. Well , it depends very much on the
character o f the pain ter, wha t he does with hi s work, how he handl es
it. Roy has been go ing on from one thing to the o ther, working
constantl y. j as per j ohns produces a group of work s, and then for
years sometimes he doesn 't do much except for his prims and
draw ings. So he's very spotty. He has adopted the a ttitude tha t unless
he feels tha t he can do something tha t's new, he just prefers no t to do
anyt hing. T ha t's a very Duchampi an a ttitude too. Rauschenberg has
in vented an infinite va ri ety of themes. Some a re almost impossible to
place in a pr iva te coll ecti on , especiall y beca use they are either huge
or flimsy . So there a re many, man y problems. But Rauschenberg has
been, like Roy, immensely p roducti ve. T he difference is tha t in the
case of Roy, h is producti on has a lways been very much in demand ,
very, very easy-
to
se ll.
From the audience:
I was wonderin g if you could tell us, Mr. Cas telli ,
LO
what ex ten t your own es theti c judgments have influenced the
arti sts tha t you have shown .
Castelli:
Hard ly a t all , I woul d say, except-well, in the cho ice tha t I
make of a group o f pa intings. I reall y p refer, say, three or four, and
say to Roy, for in stance, tha t I like thi s one or tha t one particul arl y.
That might influence him . By the nex t ser ies he can sort of figure out
what elements in the work I do prefer. T hen I have to say something
that may interes t you . In the beginning, Li chtenstein did two types
of pa inti ngs. Some in whi ch fo rm was an impo rtant element, and
some whi ch were more rel a ted to the comi c strips, tha t were funn y.
Now, I liked til e pa intings jus t fo r their form and di dn ' t pa rti cul arl y
