A CANDID INTERVIEW

Long time ago in Rome, I met Mr. De La Croix for the first time, I think. At that time, I believe he was a representative, a professor or a dean of an international legal seminar and study program for international lawyers organized by the University of Salzburg. It was quite strange for me to meet a cubist artist who was at the same time a practicing lawyer. I alaways believed that practicing law as a career and painting abstract art at the same time don’t go well together. I believed that, until I met Mr. De La Croix who was then an abstract artist and an attorney at law. I met him by coincidence at the Hotel Excelsior in Rome, Italy. At the beginning or our meeting, I did not know what to talk about because his fame and accomplishments preceded him. I was overwhelmed by his creativity and the amount of work he put in writing books and painting. It was a nice brief encounter and I enjoyed every minute of it. This is what we talked about, at least a part of it to the best of my recollection. Once, I began to feel more comfortable, I bombarded him with rounds and rounds of questions. Some questions were silly, others more substantial. This is a part of what we talked about in a very candid and friendly setting.

A- If do you mean abstract masters, then my favorites are Picasso, Braques, Malevich and Kandinsky. If you are talking about the Ultimate Masters, then I would list Da Vinci, Michelangelo, Rafael, Titian, Boticelli, among many others, the list is endless. Go to the Louvres or Chapel Sixtinne, the walls and corridors are full of frescoes and masterpieces by unknown artists who in many instances surpassed the well-known masters we know today. Fame is not an indication of artistic quality and superior work. Fame is a product. A commodity. A stock share. Nothing more, nothing less.

A- Emile Zola, Pierre Loti, Robert Louis Stevenson, Charles Dickens, Alphonse Daudet.

From de La Croix’s early work. The black and white compositions were strongly influenced by the Italian Ultra Modern Abstract Movement of the sixties.

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A- Everything. Every whisper I hear in the wind. Every tree branch my eyes see. Every ocean wave I sail in. Every human face I look at. Every cry of an orphan child I hear. Every wild flower blooming in the valley. Each and every friend’s anniversary. What makes me think? Injustice, poverty, hunger, war, cold weather striking the bones of homeless people and the poor living in card-box houses on the streets…almost everything.

A- Goodness of the heart, the brightness of the mind and the beauty of the smile of the woman I love.

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A- More than what you think. Your question reminds me of what once a social worker asked a French drunk about his drinking habit. She asked him “why are you drinking?”. The man replied “To forget”. The lady asked him again “To forget what?” And the man replied “I have already forgotten”. It means, I have a lot of regrets but, I do not regret anything or mourn for any financial losses, because I have already forgotten what brought sorrow to my heart.

A- Wisdom which the is culmination of knowledge and experience. Education which is based upon culture and quest for excellence. Self-confidence which is based on determination and self-respect.

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