Confirmation of Me

Not many things bring tears to my eyes, but they brimmed over as I listened to the genteel Southern drawl of my friend, Starkey. He was the last to read at the Author's Club annual night at the museum.

Each year, paintings in the Morris Museum of Art become the subject of a poem, a short story, an essay, a little play. With a couple of exceptions, the presentations were based on Edith Caywood's exhibition of narrative interiors. Caywood's paintings -- with floral patterns overwhelming the space and the figures -- have been compared to the story-telling of the best Southern writers, so it was a proper fit. Three readings were based on the same painting which was a delight. The interpretations were poignant, humorous, and clever. It was an entertaining evening.

But it was when Starkey Flythe stood to read that the audience waited. He began to speak his own words about art and us and our relationship to art; or aaht, as he would say.

He talked about the closing of Lascaux and the damage from visitors to the cave paintings -- our presence destroying the very things we revere. He said that it was suggested that one breathe as little as possible during the fifteen allotted minutes in the Arena Chapel; that it is easy to do because the Giotto paintings are breathtaking.

And then he began to talk about Art. The words continued as polished and regular as pearls strung on a chord. Each one perfectly chosen and perfectly spoken. Each one confirming art and life. Somehow, each one a confirmation of me.


Photos: Mamma's azaleas two days ago.

BushStrokes (c) AAB

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I Think I Am In Love

I love the twists of words in delicate phrases and strong sentences.

I love reading stuff which makes me think about stuff I think I already know.

I love having to turn to the dictionary because I've just hit a word which might be a made up one for all I know.

I love reading New York Times Arts writer, Michael Kimmelman, for all of the above reasons.

Kimmelman is not afraid to use the very plain "awful timing" in the same sentence with the much more sophisticated "symbolic culmination." He makes no apologies for describing the director of the Metropolitan Museum of Art as being "in hot water" or for putting his museum colleagues in "the same jam" while throwing in such five syllable mind benders as "disputatious," "balkanization," and "hagiographic." And who but Kimmelman can get away with saying, "Any old Monet show. . . ."

Arts writers everywhere have reported about the announced retirement of Philippe de Montebello after 30 years as director of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. By comparison, they are just reporting. Kimmelman gives us a gift; the gift of a man and his Museum. He quotes de Montebello who described the Museum as ". . . the mystery, the wonder, the presence of the real that is our singular distinction and that we should proudly, joyfully proclaim." He compares this director and his Museum with the previous director, Thomas Hoving, a mad genius who left an "insatiable, acquisitive, blockbuster-besotted, mass-entertainment palace." He gives human qualities to de Montebello with word pictures such "bully pulpit," "plummy baritone voice," "(swooning) bookish women" and "basic good sense" which lets us understand the palpable presence in the Museum that we feel. He conjures images and memories as he writes about the legacy of this director and calls the Met "simply one of the nation’s grandest achievements."

The last time I visited the Metropolitan Museum of Art in NYC, I was accompanied by Flat Stanley with an assignment from a second grade class in rural Georgia. I 'saw' things which the children might enjoy. Next time I visit, I will be accompanied by the words of Michael Kimmelman and the spirit of Philippe de Montebello. I think I will see and feel a different space.

Yes, I think I am in love.

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Notes:

Read the whole Kimmelman article here
Read my Flat Stanley story here
(photo: Annette and Flat Stanley at the Met)

AAB

Attitude

My nephew's wedding today will be in the country with no convenient restaurant nearby so we pitched in to help my sister with last night's rehearsal dinner. I used black and wine cloths topped with pumpkins, leaves and tiny chrysanthemums for the tables.

As I laundered the cloths, Lucy loved the way the shiny fabric felt. I loved the way she reminded me of Monet's painting of his wife in a kimono or perhaps a John Singer Sargent painting of . . . almost anyone.

I think it's the Attitude.



AAB

Monday Link: Morphing Rembrandt

Along with others, I was charmed by the morphing of Women in Western Art on YouTube.com this year. So, still fascinated by the images of "The Age of Rembrandt" at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, I was delighted to find Rembrandt's paintings at two different YouTube sites.

(Note: Today's image is from the current show and not a self-portrait! Rembrandt - "The Noble Slav")My previous post here.

In the first, his self-portraits are morphed one to another with the eyes staying pretty steady. Weird but fascinating as he stares out at me. Rembrandt's morphed self portraits --
or here

In the second, his self-portraits are arranged in a slide show accompanied by a delightful arrangement of Vivaldi's "Winter."

or here

Totally different presentations; both good Monday links.

Rembrandt and Friends

An article in the NYTimes this morning by Holland Cotter begins: "The Age of Rembrandt: Dutch Painting in the Metropolitan Museum of Art is a straight- forward title for a complicated show."

Even if you don't get thrilled over 400 year old paintings, the on-line presentation of this show is thrilling. Cotter takes us through 13 of the 228 paintings (all of which are currently in the Met collection) with gentle humor, enlightening observations and a few 'made-up' words -- well, maybe just obscure words, but there is no question of their meaning. He has chosen these few paintings as his own personal tour, writing "My goals were to find something of everything and to balance the familiar with the seldom seen." He suggests reading the 'exceptional' wall labels when visiting the show or studying the two-volume catalog for more serious information.

I poured a fresh cup of coffee and opened the article in one tab and the interactive map in another so that I could easily toggle back and forth to check out each work as I read about it. I noted that each description had a different focus. I thought it a whole art appreciation course in 13 easy steps -- connoisseurship, technique, style, influences, intrinsic value . . . . What a treat for a Friday morning!

1. “Portrait of a Man” Rembrandt van Rijn (1606-1669)
The funky condition of painting and what conservators found.

2. “The Visit to the Nursery” Gabriël Metsu (1629-1667)
All the details are present, but it is a genre painting or a family portrait?

3. “A Country Road” Salomon van Ruysdael (about 1600-1670)
Setting the mood with "the dramaturgy of weather and the theatrics of scale."

4. “A State Yacht and Other Craft in Calm Water” Jan van de Cappelle
(1626-1679)
A marine painting where "light was its yin and yang." (one of my favorites)

5. “Still Life: A Banqueting Scene” Jan de Heem (1606-about 1684)
A "big, sloppy lobster dinner" with a mystery.

6. “Young Herdsmen With Cows" Aelbert Cuyp (1620-1691)
An armchair traveler, this artist would have loved the Internet.

7. “Old Woman Cutting Her Nails” Style of Rembrandt
Checking the name on the label.

8. “Apollo and Aurora” Gerard de Lairesse (1641-1711)
A reminder of the Baroque influences as "Poussinian idealism and Dutch realism meet."

9. “The Dissolute Household” Jan Steen (1626-1679)
"Situation comedy and moral rebuke" depicted with panache.

10. “Interior of the Old Church in Delft” Emanuel de Witte (1616-1692)
An architectural rendering or a personal statement?

11. “The Crucifixion with the Virgin and Saint John” Hendrick ter
Brugghen (about 1588-1629)
Influences on the mystical art of an altarpiece.

12. “Study of a Young Woman” Johannes Vermeer (1632-1675)
The known and the unknown.

13. “A Brazilian Landscape” Frans Post (1612-1680)
Creative documentation.

This week, I finished a paperback book which seemed old in my hands with its yellowed and brittle pages but which seemed new and fresh with its treatment of today's social issues and political climate. I was surprised to see that it was written more than thirty years ago.

After reading Holland Cotter's descriptions, these four hundred year old paintings also seemed new and fresh with artists facing the same issues and kinds of influences as those of today. Thanks, Mr. Cotter!

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View more of the paintings and read related articles at Met Museum.

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