Issue link: http://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/772281
WdG: And he passed that on to you. PW: Yes, this sort of interest. Yes, absolutely. WdG: So the fact that it was American history is just because you were in the U.S.? PW: Yes, I think so. The moment I came here, I found that I was intoxicated by the U.S. There was always magic about American things in New Zealand. I mean, American cars were rare; it was like Havana. Because of import substitution, new cars were just not brought in. . . . [And] my mother got American magazines. She got McCall's and The Ladies Home Journal and then later on a California one, Sunset. And these magazines were a revelation to me as a little boy. I read any- thing. I just read things. So, you know, there were people with jugs full of orange juice and four door convertibles playing record players in the country. It was just an amazing place, the United States. WdG: I think I recorded accurately something you said during your recent talk at the Society: you said that you're especially interested in "great things of history happening while ordi- nary people are going about their lives." Does that sound like something you would say? This is your chance to elaborate: is there a takeaway message that you hope to impart by this kind of approach? I mean, is there something unique and advanta- geous about this approach to capturing the past? PW: I mean, the key there is that ordinary people are witness to history and that history is going about us all the time. We are in the midst of it. We are in the midst of what happened before, and we're also in the midst of what's happening now. There is something about the lives of ordinary people that I THE GRAND ILLUMINATION (1891), 54" x 74" oil on canvas This painting of the entry hall of the White House in 1891 shows the great Tiffany glass screen installed by Chester Arthur. I had to recre- ate this legendary object, which was destroyed and lost from written accounts, by examining other windows created by Tiffany about the same time. The great difficulty was making it appear illuminated from the behind. The moment I have painted was during the installation of electric light in the White House. 33 THE CAPITOL DOME