http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090116/ap_on_en_ot/obit_andrew_wyeth
This story reminded me of one of my most embarassing moments. When I was a teenager, I went on a class trip to the National Gallery of Art. Not sure what the class was. But I remember the assignment was to find 3 pieces of art that spoke to you, and write a paragraph about each.
The thing about the National Gallery (which is one of my favorite places on this planet) is that it isn't so much about finding 3 pieces of art that speak to you, it's about narrowing it down to 3 pieces. We had the run of both wings so there was art from the Middle Ages to contemporary pieces. From The White Girl http://www.nga.gov/fcgi-bin/timage_f?object=12198&image=4427&c= to Calder mobiles http://www.nga.gov/fcgi-bin/timage_f?object=92738&image=21156&c=.
A friend and I both were attracted to one painting. A field dusted with snow. The only real features were two fence posts. Anything to do with ice or snow usually sends me running. But there was something about the simplicity of the painting that drew me in. The friend and I were standing of the picture. I looked down at the brass nameplate on the frame. All the sudden, I put the name Wyeth together with the Christina's World painting, and the Helga paintings that had just come out. Nudes. Oh, my.
Well, it was all a little too much for my teenage brain. I got excited and poked the frame next to the nameplate with the eraser end of my pencil. Instantly, one of the many navy-blazered guards came over and calmly took the pencil out of my hand. He must have been watching the chattery teenagers for just this sort of foolishness. He was an older gentleman. He gave me one of those little "no, no, no" shakes of his head. I felt about this big. And, of course, teenagers don't deal with embarassment well. So I got all indignant and huffed off, "It's not like I was going to hurt the painting. I only touched the frame." It was a teachable moment. I just wasn't very teachable at that particular moment.
I'm actually more embarassed now for the huffiness than for being flighty enough to jab at a master work with a pencil (though really, that too). He was doing his job. I made a mistake. And I should have been gracious about being corrected. Ya live. Ya learn. And I keep that little incident in my head. I may be older. But I'm still me. I'm bound to do something foolish in public again. Next time I hope I'm a bigger person when I get the pencil taken from my hand.
http://www.nga.gov/fcgi-bin/timage_f?object=56385&image=14015&c=
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3 comments:
I'm picturing those guards on break - laughing and rollng their eyes about those teens coming to visit. If you ever talk to any of them - you'll be amazed, they get lots of training on the paintings in their exhibits and know more than many art profs.
That might have been our senior English class trip. I remember laughing at the blank canvas painted white and the other canvas painted all black. I though the artist had played a joke on everyone by painting his canvases all one color (especially the white one - huh?). The next day, our teacher (long curly hair, don't remember her name) raved on and on about those canvases, "How magnificient" "Did you see the brushstokes?" I still don't undersand what she saw in them!
I hope they're laughing. You'd have to have a sense of humor to put up with teenagers and tourists on a daily basis.
Was it Mrs. Harding? She was kind of the croissant type. Flakey, but kinda sweet. I know on those big all one color paintings. The modern art museum here in Dallas still puts up exhibits of those things. You'd think the arty types would have caught on by now.
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