Monday, October 20, 2008

The Impressionists

This weekend Holly, Monica and I went to the Kimbell Art Museum in Fort Worth to view a collection of works from the era of the great Impressionists. Some masters of this movement that were on display included Renior, Monet, Van Gogh, Dagas, Seurat, Toulouse-Latrec, Gauguin and several others. This is one of the reasons I was looking forward to moving to this area. It has such an amazing setting for truly remarkable exhibitions.

There were two pieces that moved me in such a way that I became enraptured. The first was Two Sisters (1881) by Renior (below). This piece is so striking. Renior's use of color, light and emotion are superb. I have seen this piece in books and in reproductions and they scarcely do it justice. The flowers on the young sister's hat are so incredibly bright and intense that you're drawn to her immediately. While the face of the older sister pulls you to stare into her eyes. The brush strokes of this piece are truly captivating. Also, a little known fact about this piece is that these two young ladies were, in fact, not related.


I got a little choked up when I was Water Lily Pond (1900) by Monet (below). The emotion evoked from me by this painting is beggaring description. This work inspired me in a way that I cannot portray it in words. I do not wish to breakdown this piece by talking about light and color, it was just simply beautiful. Probably the most beautiful painting I've ever seen.

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