John Singer Sargent at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts is worth the 45 minute C&J bus ride.
As is true of Van Gogh, Sargent cannot be appreciated in prints. The painting shown above is not really close to the original, in which the hats are nearly white and the facial expression on the wife is priceless.
As the sound of the winged chariot drawing near becomes more audible, the Phantom has decided one must make time for things which really astonish. For some, that is travel. For some, that is jumping out of an airplane, for some, it is simply learning to knit.
For the Phantom, it includes standing in front of people who have lived before him, now gone, who left behind evidence of the exuberance of mastery--Van Gogh, Picasso, and now, newly discovered, John Singer Sargent. The Currier Museum in Manchester is wonderful, and a manageable size, but this exhibition of JSS is stunning.
The final episode of Band of Brothers is called "Points" and it follows the soldiers of Company E after Victory in Europe. They realize they have got past the ever present dangers of combat and they have survived. They start thinking about what is next in life. They are young, so what they look forward to is meeting women, having a family, starting a career, all of which are so much more attractive now that they've experienced combat. They really do know every day is a gift not to be squandered. The Phantom got a little of this lesson on the wards of Memorial Sloan Kettering Hospital for Cancer and Allied Disease during his internship and residency, where the mortality rate among the patients exceeded the mortality rate of E Company.
As we pass through the decades, especially when you get into the 6th decade, you acquire the same sense of joy and wonder and you know if you don't get on with it now, you may not get another chance.
It's Marvell's winged chariot hurrying near--it's coming for all of us.
Phantom,
ReplyDeleteI've been wanting to go see the Singer Sargent exhibit-glad to hear it's good-guess I better get down there before it leaves. You've been very lucky to have had so many varied experiences in your career-I'm sure there were a lot of lessons to learn at Sloan-Kettering-in such an intense setting and where apparently death wasn't uncommon or reserved for just the old. I have a lot of respect for doctors and the nursing staff who are able to go there everyday and do a job that has to be both rewarding and heartbreaking.
As for the winged chariot gaining ground-there's something freeing about that-knowing if you want to do something you better just do it. When you're younger you often don't make time for what you want because of other commitments, kids, work etc.. But that's not the only reason-it's also because you're sure there will be ample opportunities later. At some point you realize later is now-there was never an infinite number of years-but now you're conscious of it. Dylan said it better--"Time is an ocean, but it ends at the shore"......
Maud
Maud,
ReplyDeleteNow there is a Dylan bit I did not know. Where does it come from?
Sloan Kettering, in those days, was the Eastern Front for interns from the New York Hospital, a nightmare rotation in a nightmare setting. They opened the new building, with art on the walls, and that helped enormously, but people were still dying daily, young and old. The nurses who could go back day after day were a different breed. You can understand what war does to people--better live now because death is everywhere and the grave's a fine and private place, but none there do i think embrace and all that.
In a way, everyone who worked there as young people feel they are on an Odyssey--we all know we are headed back home someday.
Phantom
Phantom,
ReplyDeleteIt's from the song "Oh Sister" on his Desire album, in my humble opinion, as far as albums go, one of his best...
Maud
Maud,
ReplyDeleteOkay, now I can say it's worth writing a blog. I bought Oh Sister and listened and ...Well, let's just say, you are right. It is one of Dylan's most beautiful songs. (Who is that singing with him?) And, most importantly, I would never have: A/ Noticed that line B/ Understood what he meant by that line. This is one of those times in life when you are amazed by other people.You and I both listen to that song and I miss what was so clear to you. Can it be I do not see what another sees in a Monet? Do I not hear what my son hears in Mingus? Almost certainly. I cannot see electromagnetic waves which guide migrating birds. I'm not sure--maybe you can.
Phantom