I recently wrote about my trip to Chicago. It was, indeed, very fabulous, but I made it kind of a travelogue rather than talking about what touched my soul.
Here's what made the whole trip worthwhile on a soul level: Renoir's Two Sisters. There is no way I can possibly describe the brilliance of the colors in that painting! They were luminescent! They were alive! They were indescribable in words of any kind. The moment I walked into the room in which this painting hung (with a few Monets and a couple of Van Goughs), it grabbed me by the lapels, dragged me over to it, and held on to me for a very long time. There was a museum employee sitting at at table in that room and when I walked in I know I gasped because she looked up at me and smiled.
When I looked at the red that shone so brightly I suspect I could have seen it in the dark, I felt joy--I felt passion--I felt completely removed from the world. What I didn't feel was any negative physical or emotional feeling. I was moved nearly to tears by the brilliance of that painting.
I smiled for the entire rest of the day just living on the memory of that painting.
I saw hundreds of paintings and sculptures that morning but they pale in comparison. It's pretty sad when Cezanne, Monet, Picasso, and Van Gough just don't quite capture your attention. OK, that's not accurate. I was very moved by those paintings and very impressed with the skill with which they executed those works. I loved seeing how each artist had their own subtle (and not-so-subtle in some cases) choices for colors and feelings. The paintings I had seen only in photographic reproductions in the past were right there, on the walls, just waiting for me to stand and admire them. I was able to get inches away from all of them. It isn't allowed, but I could have reached out and actually touched them.
When I was telling someone about this she said, "Oh, haven't you been to Europe?" No, not only have I not been to Europe, the only museum of any repute I had ever visited before that was the Minneapolis Institute of Art and, while they have a lovely collection, there was simply nothing to compare to the beauty of that one Renoir! I understand that this is my personal feeling about that one painting and other people may have it about something totally different and that's just fine--this is my shining, joyful painting that, had I been alive when it was first painted, would have sold many of my belongings to have owned.
I must find more opportunities to experience this kind of joy and passion in my life if I am to live the life I was intended to live.
Enjoy!
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