David Salle’s Rejection Letter: “Too much self-criticality can be fatal, but not enough is just as dangerous”

It might be helpful to distinguish rejection from failure. I think of rejection as the verdict of others, but failure is something experienced through one’s own eyes, so to speak. Failure is my perception; it’s not always noticeable to others.

When I first started to show my work, around 1980, I was invited to participate in a big institutional group show in Milan – many painters of my generation were in the show. I sent what I thought was a good painting, or at least typical of the work I was then making. When I finally saw the show months later, I was mortified to discover that my painting was the worst thing in the show. Everyone’s work looked better to me, more alive, more truthful, and more real. My painting just collapsed. I vowed never to let that happen again, and I don’t think I ever have.

You try to learn from failure – how did it miss, what is the missing piece? Rejection is something else, but is also part of the landscape; you can’t please everyone, and opinions change.

It’s not always clear what you’ve done when you finish a painting. Sometimes the reaction of others is helpful in sorting out what is actually on the canvas. Not always. If art is involved in cultural issues generally or can be seen as a form of communication, what the audience sees can be instructive. Context plays a large part in that reaction, but the audience, while not always right, is also not always wrong.

To those starting out in their careers, I would say: try not to dismiss criticism out of hand. Just as in life, too much self-criticality can be fatal, but not enough is just as dangerous.