Critic On Fulbright Program

The Jewish Echoes In 'The Fulbright Triptych'

Germany was not Simon Dinnerstein’s first choice for a Fulbright grant. But he didn’t have much of a choice. It was 1970, and the Brooklyn-based artist, then 27, was barely making a living. He first applied to work with a noted Spanish painter, only listing Germany, to study the art of engraving in the birthplace of Dürer, as a back up.

“It didn’t come through,” Dinnerstein, now 68, said of his application to Spain. “But my second choice to Germany did.” Yet because of his Jewish background and because the Holocaust resonated so deeply, he explained, “there was some ambivalence about going.”

Dinnerstein and his wife, Renée, a teacher, debated whether to accept the scholarship, and they only tepidly agreed to take it. Now, however, there are few regrets. The monumental work that resulted from the grant, “The Fulbright Triptych,” has become his calling card. As Dinnerstein said: “Out of not getting what I wanted, I ended up getting much more than I wanted.”

“The Fulbright Triptych” — a massive oil portrait of the artist and his family that includes a trompe l’oeil of miniature masterpieces from Holbein to Degas — is getting a fresh look at the German Consulate here as part of a major retrospective of the artist’s career.

The exhibit coincides with the publication of a handsome new book, “The Suspension of Time: Reflections on Simon Dinnerstein and ‘The Fulbright Triptych,’” which includes essays by novelists like Jhumpa Lahiri, the actor John Turturro, and the composer George Crumb.

“I found it so profoundly interesting that we’re here celebrating this painting that began only 30 years after the Holocaust,” said Daniel Slager, editor of “The Suspension of Time” and head of the publishing house that produced it, Milkweed Editions.

In addition to the Jewish back-story, Slager added, the novelty of the book’s form — 44 artists from all different fields commenting on a single work of art — convinced him to publish it. “I can’t tell you how many times I say, ‘This book is like no other,’” he noted. “We’ve never done a book like this before.”

The truth is that Dinnerstein had never done a painting like the triptych before either. He studied drawing at the Brooklyn Museum of Art’s graduate program (a teacher of his was David Levine, the longtime illustrator at The New York Review of Books). And his goal for the Fulbright was to expand his interest in drawing into engraving.

We were completely surrounded by critics « style over substance

Dear Milo,

Raining? Sunny? Doesn’t matter; have no intention of going outside today, or at least, not beyond the courtyard. Today I have nowhere to be and I’m catching up on freelance work, cleaning off a desktop, doing laundry, taking out the trash, having space and time to reconnect the dots. I really needed this. Nothing makes you appreciate a day off like the exhaustion of rehearsal.

But it’s more than that; it’s the exhaustion of moving to a new country, the Polish language intensive, the graduation and the thesis, the final semester, the stress and sadness of leaving friends behind. I was and am well and truly worn out. Succeeding at something can be just as crazy as failing at it, and those two states can seem remarkably similar.

What’s the problem?

“I was trying to explain what the problem was, but what was the problem? I felt tears well in my eyes. We were completely surrounded by critics. The critics had opinions about everything, from the distribution of literary prizes to the advantages of a macrobiotic diet.

At some point we headed back into the rain. Although I had quit smoking six months ago, I paused to bum an American Spirit from a conveniently situated critic. “I thought you quit,” my agent said. “

-That’s Elif Batuman , in the Guardian, on the stresses and crazinesses of having one particular dream come true; “ Life after a Bestseller .” Via Explosion-Proof ‘s site.

Getting what you want can be rough.

These bumps in the road are part of what the experience will contain, I understand, and I am getting used to it. I am grateful to everyone who’s been helping me navigate. You don’t have to look pretty in the ring; you just have to stay standing.

To get myself through said bumps, I have been writing lots. I did silly things, like creating (a year late) a properly designed triple-tracking submissions spreadsheet. I did some work in genres that have been neglected due to the prevailing influence of Planet Poetry. And I even found, under my computer cushions, an old post I’d been meaning to post since May.

So here’s something I wrote when I knew I was coming here but hadn’t gotten here yet. It’s a bit droopy, but perhaps you can understand, given the circumstances.

Monday, May 30

I have decided, in preparation for my impending trip to Poland, to begin writing more expansive entries, and to accustom the three and one-half readers and the 0.75 writers of this blog to longer doses.

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