[Pastel Painting, Portrait], 25 by 18 in, (64 by 46 cm),
A. Passmoore, 1950

Absence of levity is odd at so young at age. Perhaps it's a case of gifted intellect squandered.

The Philosophy of Despair, by David Starr Jordan: "But if action is impossible, the mood remains. And here arises the despair of the highly educated. The purpose of knowledge is action. But to refuse action is to secure time for the acquisition of more knowledge. It is written in the very structure of the brain that each impression of the senses must bring with it the impulse to act. To resist this impulse is in turn to destroy it and to substitute a dull soul-ache in its place. "Much study is a weariness of the flesh, and the experience of all the ages brings only despair if it cannot be wrought into life. This lack of balance between knowledge and achievement is the main element in a form of ineffectiveness which with various others has been uncritically called Degeneration. As the common pleasures which arise from active life become impossible or distasteful, the desire for more intense and novel joys comes in, and with the goading of the thirst for these comes ever deeper discouragement."

Series Description: -Ranging from major depression to minor melancholy, an exploration of the faces of the unhappy.

A selection of 10 more titles in this series --
Funeral Picture: a Black & White Procession | Cold Blue Social Isolation: a Depressing Picture | Picture of a Sad Face | Terrorized Employee | What does random walk theory mean? | Ominous Tidal Wave Picture | Smoking Tough Guy Image | Mother's Fright & Harbor of Resentment in Daughter | Picture of Mean Girls Embarrassing Someone | Melancholy Personality adopting the guise of Ambivalence |

Summary of titles in the "Sad People Pictures" series --
6 Pastel Paintings | 5 Oil Paintings | 2 Pencil Sketch/Drawings | 2 Linoleum Prints | 2 Watercolor Paintings | 1 Oil on Linen Paintings | 1 Pen & Ink Sketch/Drawings |