PCS Blog
Falling in Love With a Canvas
Posted by Natalie Gilmore | 15 February 2012 | Comments (2)
What is it about a painting that draws us out of our world and sucks us right into another place completely? When I was growing up, I didn't know that a picture on a wall could have that kind of power. I went to museums, but I was always more interested in the stories of how art got made and how the artist that made it lived. The piece of art hanging in the museum was just one part of the story in my young, dramatic imagination.
But then I saw this. I will never forget the moment. I was on a field trip with my 11th grade history class (Yes! Art History was taught as part of history class!) at the Museum of Fine Arts in Houston, Texas. I was wandering through the gallery and when I looked up at this large painting, I literally had to sit down. Many people must have this reaction, because there was a bench right in front of the painting. It's moment that's really hard to describe. That painting pulled me right out myself. It made my stomache squeeze and my breathing change. The little girl's gaze was so intense. I could almost feel the heaviness of the sleeping baby in my lap. I just stared, tranfixed by the perfect details of the hands and feet of the children.
It's William Bouguereau's The Elder Sister. You can read all about the artist and the painting here.
It's such an amazing experience to be completely bowled over by a piece of art. It happened to me all the time in the theater, and still does. But my little 15-year-old self didn't expect that kind of emotional pull from something flat hanging on a wall! It was so powerful! It's stuck with me all these years. I had poster of this painting in my college apartment, the only art print in a sea of theater posters.
In our upcoming production of Red, Mark Rothko talks about creating paintings that suck the viewer into an overwhelming experience with his intense planes of color. He sought to create these kinds of enthralling moments between the viewer and the painting.
Have you had a transcendent moment with a painting? Has paint on a canvas moved you more emotionally than you thought possible? Tell us about it here and be entered to win a pair of tickets Red. Winner will be drawn February 28, 2012.
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