“The Art Lesson”
I enjoy
days like today, walking through an art museum with my lovely
daughter Ariel. Ariel's mother and I split a few months ago and now I
try to find things that interest both of us and today was a great day
to visit the art museum, it was a brisk winter day and well outdoor
activities in the winter aren't really something either of us find
fun. This isn't our first trip to the museum and we both like
looking at the paintings and sculptures and just walking casually
hand in hand. I joke about her boyfriends and she teases me about my
age or retreating hairline, but the smiles on both our faces betrays
that this is all part of the fun. Yes, I truly love spending days
like this with my daughter.
Today
though I found there was a lesson in art that I had not ever thought
of before, something I had never seen. There is always the “is it
really art” lesson, that one never fully ends, because when you
point to a Piet Mondrian and discuss how lines can be art, you end up
looking at “Piss Jesus” and wondering where the line really is.
Today though, the lesson came to me from the question of an innocent
10 year old girl.
The
last time we were at the museum they were doing an exhibit on the
Renaissance period, which happens to be my favorite artistic period.
However this month was they were doing an exhibit on the art of the
Early 20th Century. With works by Picasso, Matisse and
Duchamp being the focal points. I was standing in front of Matisse's
“The Dessert Harmony in Red” which was on loan from St
Petersburg and I was describing how beautiful I thought the work was.
Well, I must have impressed how much I loved the Renaissance upon
Ariel because she interrupted me.
“Daddy,
this doesn't seem your style” she said questioningly
“What
do you mean sweetie?” I asked completely befuddled by her statement
“Well,
you seemed to love Giorgone's 'The Tempest'” she paused considering
her words “and this is nothing like that.”
Well
the child had me alright, those two pieces were nothing alike, plus
the fact she could remember our conversation from last time blew me
out of the water. I had to think of how to respond, because I didn't
want to give the typical “all art is beautiful” lecture because
she'd know I was lying. We had discussed that before, all art isn't
beautiful, some art is intentionally ugly, some art is
unintentionally ugly to me and to her. How could I possibly then lie
to her and say all art had intrinsic beauty? Then I kind of just
decided to go with my gut and just let out what I was thinking
instead of thinking about what I should say.
“Well
Ariel, I do find this painting to be beautiful as well as I do 'The
Tempest'” I began slowly considering only whether I was being
clear “I can love the Renaissance period and particular artists
from that period, but I can also appreciate the greatness of Modern
Art or something even as old as a cave painting.”
I
paused for a moment “Art is like loving a woman or in your case a
boy” I teased “I can find blonde women to be the most attractive,
but still appreciate the way a brunette or redhead looks” I didn't
want to leave her thinking that it was about looks though, so I knew
I had to go deeper.
“However,
the paint isn't always what you're looking at, when you look at art,
sometimes you're looking at the brush stroke, sometimes the meaning
behind it, what was the artist feeling as he created it, or what type
of paint was used.” I took a breath “you see what I find
beautiful in art isn't what someone else finds beautiful.” I looked
into my daughter's eyes and spoke once again “Ariel, art is like
love, because every piece of art has someone that finds it fits them
personally, some day a boy will see your outer beauty and want to
know every brush stroke that created you” she giggled “he'll want
to know the type of paint and the emotions of your creator, but most
of all he'll want to know you”. Today because a young girl asked a
good question, we both learned what art truly is.
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