A Day at the Morgan Library (28)

July 12th
Yesterday was a day of inspiration perfect for any artist. My trip to the city was lonely but it was something I could do just for myself. If an exhibit looks promising, the weather fair and no other pressing needs are keeping me at home, why wouldn't I make the $6.80 senior fare bus trip into Manhattan? I tried reaching out to Daddy, Katie and even to Pam Shipley to meet me at the Morgan Library. I ended up on my own, having just as much fun talking to strangers in each of the galleries of the Library and Museum.

There were a few exhibits that tickled my fancy and drew me there, even without the companionship of a friend. The sketches of Thomas Gainsborough were enjoyable and so lovely. His sketches look just like his paint strokes. I discovered the same startling comparison years ago in an exhibit of Vincent's drawings. Vincent's small marks of pen and ink were a perfect match to the small directional strokes of his brush. I remember thinking this was obviously how Vincent van Gogh saw the world and recorded it on his page. It was just as startling to remark on the same fluidity of work with Thomas Gainsborough. Do my drawings look like my paintings? I'll have to think about that.

The next room I visited was the drawings of Wayne Thiebaud, an artist famous for painting cake. I meant to teach this artist to my art classes and never got around to introducing him to the kids. How much fun would it have been for them to paint a picture of cake? Without creating a lesson on the artist, I never researched or learned much about him. Turns out he was a draftsman and a cartoonist before he ever painted cake, and the exhibit was clearly not about his paintings. His early cartoons started off the display and his wit brought a smile to my face. He was also asked by Wimbledon to attend their tennis matches and visually record the tennis players. Here I thought Norman would not appreciate being dragged through another museum, yet we would have both enjoyed this particular exhibit for our own separate reasons. I was most taken by the quick sketches he made of people as they could have been drawn by the hand of my dad. It must have been the drawing style of mid-20th-century art, and they were both wonderful artists of that era. I felt a close bond with Daddy, even if he was not able to make it to the museum. Seeing the quick pencil and ink sketches of Gainsborough and Thiebaud was almost like having a glimpse into the personal lives of these artists. Just like one's handwriting reflects their personality, so does their art.

A final exhibit, "The Magic of Handwriting," connected all the rooms of the museum in a well-curated theme. Upstairs in the Morgan was a room filled with the handwriting samples of many people in history, world leaders, artists, scientists, and celebrities. A glorious and oh, so fascinating room to wander through. I examined each torn slip of paper that someone before me had written on as the most precious of all finds in any museum. Sigmund Freud wrote out a note to his 94-year-old mom, giving her six dollars on her birthday. That was very typical of the little, innocent letters I took a long time to read and enjoy. I witnessed the signature of the Grand Duchess Anastasia along with her imperial family days before their death, I looked at the shaky hand of an older Winston Churchill, the bold script of Andy Warhol, and the feminine scrawl of Marilyn Monroe. Hands down, the most beautiful writing in the room belonged to Benjamin Franklin.

I was ready to record all these treasures with the camera on my phone, but what got my notice with the most glee was a letter written and signed by Vincent van Gogh. Shana Lindsey at Ranney once questioned my use of the lower case "v" for van and wanted it changed to a capital letter before report card comments were sent out. I was pretty sure my usage was correct, but I could never be positive that I was not following some other incorrect information on the internet. And as Vincent usually signed his work with just his first name, it was hard to prove my case. But here was a letter signed in full. Sure enough, it was written as Monsieur V. van Gogh! It was a joyful feeling to be validated by the artist himself. Best exhibit ever. I was inspired by the hands of many brilliant people and I was even given credit as an art teacher who knew her stuff. Not a bad day.

Even better, we closed out our day giving Maggie to Andrea. She loved my work. Another good feeling moment. And our dinner with Jacki and Harold left me feeling even more optimistic that I could be successful some day. Maybe Harold could be my agent? Instagram notifications lit up my phone all night with likes and comments on my Instagram worthy day.