moments of quiet desperation

Actor Bill Murray was recently promoting his latest film The Monuments Men with its art-related theme, and at a press conference at London's National Gallery he noted how at one point things were quite down and dark for him during the earlier years of his career in Chicago.  He was ready to pretty much end it all in Lake Michigan but wandered into the Art Institute instead, and while he was numbly walking around he came across Jules Breton's 1884 The Song of the Lark.  The peasant girl in the painting made him realize how life isn't always at its best, but the sun will rise beyond us and sometimes it's worth going on.  Click here for the whole article -- I think it's interesting how sometimes we can be moved deeply by a painting, whether you're just randomly walking through the halls of a museum or you specifically seek out a certain work when you need to feel centered.  I always head upstairs to see El Greco's Saint Francis Kneeling in Meditation at the Art Institute myself, and I like visiting that part of the museum because it's usually quiet and peaceful.  Other times it's fun to watch the crowds gathering around more popular paintings like the Monet series or Hopper's Nighthawks or Seurat's La Grande Jatte, because it shows the power of still seeing an actual work of art right there in front of you, even though we can look at any of these masterpieces instantly online.

"Well there's a girl who doesn't have a whole lot of prospects, but the sun's coming up anyway and she's got another chance at it...."  (Bill Murray, contemplating Jules Breton's The Song of the Lark)

painting of the month

The Octoroon Girl -- Archibald Motley, Jr. (1925)

the degas bowl

Today's the Super Bowl here in the United States, but for those not inclined toward things football-related, we have the Degas Bowl.  I would venture to guess that even if Edgar Degas were transported to modern times, you would never find him at any major sports event -- though he did go to New Orleans, where the Super Bowl has oft been held, to visit some Creole relatives in 1872.  Degas was a bit of a prickly pear, rather set in his ways with decided opinions and not exactly fond of loud crowd scenes.  Yet anyone who has studied ballet knows that it requires strength and grace, and can be grueling on the body.  And Degas' many depictions of dancers very much show that fact -- their athleticism and flexibility are parallel to the beauty and illusion of their performance.  So tune in to the Degas Bowl, and enjoy the half-time commercial as well!