DIMINISHING RETURNS

DIMINISHING RETURNS

Rebirth of Reason

DIMINISHING RETURNS

DIMINISHING RETURNS
Frank O'Connor

A painting by Frank O'Connor. When I saw this painting in the companion book to AYN RAND: A SENSE OF LIFE, I fell in love with it immediately. It is playful, and seems to me like an attempt at a benevolent answer to Salvidor Dali.
With all the talk about the new book THE PASSION OF AYN RAND'S CRITICS, and how Rand would have felt about it, it struck me that we will never know the Frank O'Conner story. Which brings me to this painting. The first time I saw it, I wondered about the significance of the title. The first thing that came to mind was that DIMINISHING RETURNS possibly referred to Frank's take on the affair, or even with his relationship with Rand itself.For all it's playfulness and sunny appearance, the image of the glass ornaments crashing down suggests to me someone trapped in a world of appearances, beautiful, yet fragile, shiny but hollow.I wonder if that would still be apparent to the casual observer, who might not know the context of the artist.

(Added by Joe Maurone on 2/12, 6:28pm)

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