Simply..connecting....

13/9/2018

The spirit of things, the essence of things, the pathos of things, the way you can be moved and touched by inanimate objects...isn't it fascinating?

I was reminded of a bowl I saw years ago in the British Museum which stopped me in my tracks and I searched my (not well-catalogued) photographs to find it.

I felt such an affinity with, and admiration for, the artist who made this exquisite object, I was astonished at the date!

The hand-made has special qualities which we respond to at a deep level.

Much of the British Museum collections can be viewed online. I put in Quyang, Hebei BRitish Museum and 'my' bowl came up and I browsed and found many other pieces from this period, all of which look so incredibly modern. The wonders of the internet that I can look at this from a remote village in Scotland, and the wonder that I can also share it with you....Love it.

Do you have a favourite museum object that stayed in your memory?

There was also that little hippo (which is even older) from the Sainsbury Centre at UEA - that is online too!

15 Comments

Linda

14/9/2018 02:49:34 pm

I can clearly remember spotting a small, quiet Morandi painting in amongst stuffier works and being drawn in. That was over 30 years ago, and I'm still a fan.

Freda

15/9/2018 02:08:45 pm

Morandi is simple, yet not simple. How wonderful Linda.

Gail

15/9/2018 03:38:05 am

Arnolfini And his wife by Van Eyke. Northerner Flemish paintings with their details and symbolism just get to me. I have no articulated reason why, they just do

Freda

15/9/2018 02:09:49 pm

Sometimes there is no reason - it is just a direct and powerful thing.

cath

15/9/2018 08:59:55 am

Thank you Freda for sharing these. The bowl is animated. Connecting me to the sacred. The hippo touches my heart. I couldn't wish for more today.

Freda

15/9/2018 02:11:20 pm

Animated is the word! And it's the back left foot of that hippo, just lifting, that gives it life. I am so glad of this connection with you.

Cathy A

15/9/2018 11:11:49 am

Such a wonderful post. Thank you. My 24th birthday, 1974, walking up the staircase in The Louvre. The Winged Victory. She simply entered my soul. I think I stared at her for a hour. A birthday gift I will never forget.

Freda

15/9/2018 02:12:45 pm

Welcome Cathy A. What a truly wonderful birthday memory.

Judy

15/9/2018 05:54:41 pm

Jephthah's Daughter at the Art Institute of Chicago. The skill of the sculptor, the pathos he wrote in marble. It astonishes me what a lump of stone can become in the hands of a master.

Freda

16/9/2018 01:12:22 am

I enjoyed looking this up Judy. I also find sculpture astonishing - the drapery! And no room for error! Thanks for sharing.

Susan

16/9/2018 04:32:49 am

I am moved by the modest connectedness in the diptych:
'A man and a woman' Robert Campin 1435, at The National Gallery.

Freda

16/9/2018 04:57:27 am

It's so similar to his Christ and The Virgin. I don't know quite how he does this....

Susan

17/9/2018 12:00:10 am

I wasn't aware of that painting. Thank you, Freda. It's wonderful.
Technique ... I know that to paint people who are emotionally close, one can draw them as a single form, then later, define them as separate individuals.
But, maybe, he just held the feeling of their closeness, as he painted.

julia

16/9/2018 08:34:52 am

andy goldsworthy: roof...at the national art gallery in washington, dc. it was a particular thrill because, when i arrived, so excited to see the installation, the gallery was closed for 2 years for renovations. i was shocked and dismayed! the security guard took pity on me, and led me up to see the install. i was the only visitor in the building!

Freda

16/9/2018 01:34:22 pm

Now that was special! I love his work too.

Simply..connecting....

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