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A Lifelong Goal from a Single Painting — Fledgling Adult pg87–89
Colorful companion to my memoir The Incompetent Psychic
My month visiting my mother in Savannah, Georgia came to an end. Joan suggested a road trip to see the museums in Washington, DC. I could drive back to New York from there and she could fly back to Savannah.
I was gob-smacked with delight going through the National Gallery. Finally I was getting to see great paintings in glorious real life. In all those art history classes we had only seen projections and prints in books. It was rather stunning to see actual, dimensional brushstrokes up close, and experience the energy great artists infuse into masterpieces. I didn’t know you can only get that from seeing originals.
At the end of a long hallway Whistler’s ‘Symphony in White’ appeared so real, and yet not quite real. She glowed and transformed as light shifted by simply moving toward her. From six inches her dress was an abstract jumble of thick, pale strokes. I was captivated beyond appreciation. This was envy strong enough to form a lifelong goal. — From Chapter 4
Paul Cezanne said, “The Louvre is the book from which we learn to read.” I was semi-literate by 1978; a recent graduate with a shiny degree in art. Sure I had some skill and training, but mastering a subject…
