Canaletto and Gauguin

I went to DC this past weekend to see both shows at the National Gallery. I did this despite the fact that I do not like Gauguin and because I thought that I like Canaletto more than it turns out that I do.

I do not like Gauguin's colors, subject, stories–anything. Because I feel this way, I thought it was important to look at a large collection of his paintings and really consider this dislike. Unfortunately, my dislike is such that I do not particularly want to look at his paintings. In this situation, I wander through each gallery letting anything that catches my eye be a reason to approach that work. Each time I then found that I liked it no more up close, or even that I actively disliked it having examined it more closely. earlier that week someone had told me how much she enjoyed Gauguin, she thought because it reminded her of her childhood in Hawaii. This appreciation, and my fondness for her, I brought with me to the viewing but alas could find no grip on which to attach my own appreciation.

The Canaletto show was a mixed bag for me as I absolutely adored the early works. I could stare at them for so long and some of them I did, letting my mind wander through the painting, up stairs to doorways inside of which led to room where there were windows out of which to look back out, down the canal to a curve at the end, or through the piazza to see the groups gathered here, and there. They were filled with stories that my brain likes to tell myself when I sit alone in museums. The whole middle period is very cold in comparison. As my companion pointed out, it is all business for them. Indeed it shows. Fortunately, he pointed me towards the Guardi's at the end of the show and sweet, small piece by Canaletto at the end of his life that is framed by the shadows of the archway under which he looks out at the bright piazza beyond.

Visiting shows is not merely to see what you like but learn more about what you do and don't like and this visit was a great success because I know myself better by watching my own responses to art that is there for the viewing.