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18 November 1944

Tendency in American painting is going from one direction to another. Certain schools are popular for a time, and then very soon they fade away. I wonder what American painting, so to speak, will eventually be. It is healthy to have foreign influence, to nourish what we have, but we must somehow and somewhere reach some point. There have been a few strong movements, but nothing that I could feel very deeply. After all, I think we must have an expression that will grow from the soil of this country. That, of course, may take quite some time.

My experience travelling all over the continent has made me feel very deeply about the Southwest, more than any other place in America. Many people think New England and the Middle West are America, both for the landscape and the inhabitants, but the Southwest, or rather a little north of there (states like Nevada, Colorado, Utah and Wyoming) goes farther back. It is much more primitive, and somehow I feel that if ever a real American painting is produced it must come from these sources.

It will be very difficult to do. First of all, reproducing just the physical aspect of the place is not enough. Deep feelings in connection with this America, some way combined with particular places, as I mentions, might lead to the beginning of a typical painting we can call the American school.

I hope someday to live in a place like that for a while and see what I get out of it. But then, maybe I am all wrong, maybe I shall learn that it is not possible. It may be beyond my power, but I intend to try some day.