I Like What I Know: A
Visual Autobiography (1959) is a memoir by American actor, Vincent Leonard
Price (1911-1993), noted for his horror films and distinctive voice. But this
is not about his roles in movies. Instead, it is about his love of art.
The title is from the saying:
I don’t know anything about art, but I know what I like. To which Price
comments, ‘There comes a time in life when you know what you like and have to
make up your mind to like what you know.’
Price begins with his
mother’s home, and the first time he ‘fell financially in love’ with art. His
first art purchase at the age of 12 was ‘Two Nude Models, One Standing’ by
Rembrandt (1606-1669). It cost $37.50, which took him a year to pay.
At the age of 16 he travelled
alone to Europe for a ‘seven capitals in seven weeks’ tour in which he
visited art galleries. He tells of Yale art school and his studies in London,
before his first acting role in a Broadway show in 1935, as leading man to
Helen Hayes.
Price writes of what
he looks for when purchasing a piece of art, and his impression of art dealers,
his favourite art galleries and museums, his brief period as a gallery owner,
and his penchant for collecting works of art.
He writes about his
love of art: the arts ‘stimulate, encourage, challenge, and most of all,
guarantee a future free from boredom.’
Vincent Price’s memoir
is a fascinating and well-written account of his view of art and how it evokes
opinions, emotions, desire, and love. And in telling his of love of art it informs
readers a lot about the man.
MARTINA NICOLLS is an international
aid and development consultant, and the author of:- The Shortness of
Life: A Mongolian Lament (2015), Liberia’s Deadest Ends (2012), Bardot’s Comet
(2011), Kashmir on a Knife-Edge (2010) and The Sudan Curse (2009).
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