Rockefeller meets Brancusi at his studio. Rockefeller, whose extensive wealth is widely known, asks Brancusi what he can do for him. Referring to Diogenes, Brancusi offers Rockefeller a broom and asks him to clean his studio. Alexander the Great made Diogenes a similar offer: You, the great philosopher who lives in a barrel, I have heard much about you. What can I do for you? Diogenes asks Alexander the Great to move away from the sunlight. The mythology of the artist and the studio leaves two remnants: whatever enters the agreed category of Art remains in the artist’s studio; this remnant has a remnant of its own: the artist’s home is a sometimes hidden remnant of his studio. I did not write all this out of pretention to tell rich people to go hell while living in a barrel, on the contrary. I was relating to the drama eating us from within while we are not in that place filled and fulfilled by painting in itself alone. Dear spectator, I would rather you come block my sunlight. I’ll handle the broom.
