May 16 2023
This past weekend I dragged my mother and my bestie to the Cleveland Museum of Art to see an exhibit called "The Tudors". It would have been AMAZING if only I had realized that I had to have pre-purchased tickets.
oopsie...
The last time I was in the CMA, I was running on no hours of sleep and it was the end of the day. We were rushing and my brain was more longing for a mattress than artistic stimulation. This day though, I was bright eyed and ready to consume beauty.
Bring. It. On.
It hit me in the face from across the way. The orange and red and dark prussian blue and it called to me like it knew my damn name. I skittered diagonally to the adjacent gallery and found myself face to face with an Odilon Redon. "I KNEW IT!" I shouted at myself, not realizing that there was a security guard was right by me. I apologized. He laughed and said "When you know, you know. I can tell a Chagall from a mile away."
Some artists just speak to you. And for me the artist that speaks the loudest and clearest is Odilon Redon. Through both his moody noir drawings and the vibrancy of his later pastels and paintings I find all the emotion and excitement the imagination can provide. He is the balance of mastery and mystery and of dreams and if I could bring anyone back to life to have dinner with - he would be the one.
But it happened again that day - that pull on my heartstrings from across the room. Several more times. 5 in all. 5 works by my favorite artist in my home state. 3 of which I had never seen before including a sketch. I was so overwhelmed I got emotional. An inch away from boohooing in the middle of the CMA lobby.
Then I got home and found out Cleveland owns 31 of his pieces. 31. Someone who started the museum's collection was just as much of a fan as I am, apparently.
And now I am wondering how to petition to see the other work in the collection...will do sketchy things to see art. Call Me. lol
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