Checking in with the Met on a Friday night without a special exhibition to see, we had a delightful wander through the wonderfully empty European paintings galleries. They've been rearranged since last I rambled (actually dramatically compressed as the skylights are being changed), so even familiar works felt like new discoveries. This gorgeous altar by Joachim Patinir, one of the pioneers of western landscape painting, is now positioned on the last wall you see of the room with Brueghel's famous harvesters - the wall one you enter through - so you experience it first as waves of green and blue flowing into the edge of your visual field. Even before I stepped into it's open-armed embrace - there's no barrier - it took my breath away. It looks like it was painted yesterday, not 500 years ago. Go see it, and on a Friday! (If the Met's too far out of your way, you can inspect it in detail here.)Friday, August 24, 2018
Vista
Checking in with the Met on a Friday night without a special exhibition to see, we had a delightful wander through the wonderfully empty European paintings galleries. They've been rearranged since last I rambled (actually dramatically compressed as the skylights are being changed), so even familiar works felt like new discoveries. This gorgeous altar by Joachim Patinir, one of the pioneers of western landscape painting, is now positioned on the last wall you see of the room with Brueghel's famous harvesters - the wall one you enter through - so you experience it first as waves of green and blue flowing into the edge of your visual field. Even before I stepped into it's open-armed embrace - there's no barrier - it took my breath away. It looks like it was painted yesterday, not 500 years ago. Go see it, and on a Friday! (If the Met's too far out of your way, you can inspect it in detail here.)