Tuesday, January 1, 2008

What? Why? How?

I visited the National Gallery of Art last week with E., and as we were passing by The Lovers on our way to view the Matisse cutouts, she stopped and said "Wow." Now I've walked by this same painting several times, glanced at it, thought "Hmm, Picasso. I didn't know he painted anything like this" and gone on my way, uninterested. Goes to show you how little I know about art. E. had studied this painting in college, so we stood in front of it for several minutes and talked about it.

Later, in the giftshop, I bought a glossy reproduction, and basically, I've been thinking about it ever since. And since I work within walking distance of the museum, I often chide myself for not visiting it more often. So for reasons I'm not quite sure I understand -- something to do with wanting more passion in my life and more of an emotional connection to DC -- and in an attempt to cultivate more gratefulness for what I have (instead of my frequent inner whining about the fact that my status as a reference librarian in DC, single & with student loan debt, means I can't afford to buy a house, or eat at Citronelle, or fill-in-the-blank), I've decided to view The Lovers each workday during 2008 and blog about it.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Ok, I so admire your undertaking of viewing this painting for a year. I would imagine that if you were a chef, specifically a pastry chef, you would make the same cake, with wonderful creamy fillings every day until you had perfected it! The question really being, is there such a thing as a perfect cake? Or in this case, will you ever understand Picasso? Good luck, I'll read every day with interest.