Artist Jim Dine is a painter, sculptor, printmaker and poet—one who exemplifies what it takes to master a craft. He works seven days a week, 365 days a year, except when he’s traveling between studios and exhibitions, which he refers to as a “holiday.” Dine’s work day begins at 9 a.m. At 3 p.m., he takes a one-hour break, then resumes working until 6 p.m. From there, he—still keeping to a schedule—spends an hour working out, cooks and eats dinner and reads until bed. It would be a challenging schedule for anyone to maintain, but Dine is 88 years old with no intention of letting up or slowing down.
I was fortunate to speak with Dine at his studio in the St. Gallen Foundry in Switzerland where he is in the process of building twenty-four bronze sculptures for the 60th Venice Biennale. His show will be a collateral event at the Palazzo Rocca.
Dine is a no-nonsense man, answering my questions simply, openly and honestly. When I asked if he felt driven, he said, “I wouldn’t call it driven. I act upon what is given to me, that’s all. And I don’t waste time. It’s not being driven. It’s a responsible act. If you have something to say, you say it. You don’t sit on your ass. I’m lucky. I wake up in the morning and I have something to say.”
For the past 80 years, Jim Dine has said a lot. He has had solo exhibitions of his paintings, prints and sculptures all over the U.S. and Europe, but at the center of all his practices is drawing. Dine is a master draftsman, and you can see his skill in drawings of tools, skulls and classical figures like Venus, and in his portraits. Currently on view at the Bowdoin College Museum of Art are 74 portraits created over the last 65 years: “Jim Dine: Last Year’s Forgotten........