Hi, Mark, The Courtauld Collection (or at least a portion of it) went on tour a couple of years ago, and stopped here in Toronto at the Art Gallery of Ontario.
The painting you refer to was part of that exhibit. It was stunning! Bigger than I imagined. As most of us, I'd seen many prints of it, but never really thought it much more than a pretty picture. But seeing the original hanging there in front of me, it absolutely took on a life of it's own! Seeing the brush strokes, the vibrant colours, it's immense size, brought a whole new meaning to it. What I had never noticed before, was the rather melancholy, blank, empty stare on the face of the barmaid. I was transfixed. I must have stood there for 1/2 hour, just staring at her (which is why I prefer to go to art galleries alone <g>). An amazing work. Plus, I liked the bottle of Bass Ale on the bar. "Treasures of the Hermitage" is ending this weekend at the AGO. This reminds me that I'd better get off my ass and go! cheers, frank Mark Roberts wrote: > One of my favorite art experiences was wandering around a gallery in London > (Courtauld?) with some friends and turning around at one point to find > myself face to face, so to speak, with Manet's "Bar at the Folies-Bergeres". > It's such a famous painting that it's become something of an icon; something > that I just never even thought of as actually, well, *existing* in real > life, if you know what I mean. To come across it unexpectedly like that just > left me stunned for quite a while. > > But then, that's what art's *supposed* to do to you, isn't it? > > -- > Mark Roberts > Photography and writing > www.robertstech.com -- "The optimist thinks this is the best of all possible worlds. The pessimist fears it is true." -J. Robert Oppenheimer
