I’ve heard an opinion that abstract art appeared because abstract ideas couldn’t be figuratively represented. How do you paint the Absolute Loneliness? Yeah, it takes a depressed Rothko to visualise this horror.
Sometimes. though, an abstract idea can be delivered by a figurative painting.
This is the Eccentrics by Georgy Yakulov (painted before 1922).
What is eccentricity? Yeah, it is abnormal but not insane behaviour. We usually know it when we see it. The kind of behaviour that makes us question not the sanity of the eccentric person, but our own normality. That’s how it is different to insanity. Eccentrics are usually loved because they are not boring and they do things many of us would love to do, but feel uneasy about doing. Like, acting like a clown, feeling like an idiot, and thoroughly enjoying it all.
Do you have an eccentric friend? What is eccentric about him or her?
PS. Yakulov was a friend of the Delaunays (Sonya and Robert) and claimed to be the inventor of Orphism, which the couple appropriated after he had left Paris. But this is a totally different story.
Standing Ovation, Seated 
I thought it was easy to think of someone but it turns out that true eccentricity is a rare virtue. A lot of pretenders out there. I have a few off-ish friends but wouldn’t rank them as eccentrics. Among celebrities Grayson Perry and Lady Gaga, particularly after hearing her sing The Sound of Music – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dSgQqSmZz6k
Hmm… Pretender eccentric. I think you’ve just nailed down a very interesting psychological profile ))
Eccentric as Hercule Poirot?
He was a mild sort, I suppose… Willy Wonka?
Also….
I thought I was eccentric but my friends don’t question their normality because they agree with many of my ideas – so I guess I’m not eccentric. I think the world is a rather eccentric at the moment.
Leslie
Or, alternatively, you happen to be in the epicenter of eccentricity! )
You know, I think you are onto something there.
Leslie
Excentrique…?!!! Comme c’est Bizarre, Étrange même, je dirai plus Extravagant, mieux encore Fantasque, il serait donc vraiment Insolite, cet Original, cela est Singulier, au mieux : ” Non Conforme “…!!!
…yes, and having fun not because it makes others uneasy, but because he is who he is )
I hope I AM the eccentric friend 🙂 lol
Do you make your friends question their own normality at least occasionally? )
I like to think so : )