For the LOVE of Art

Okay...so yesterday John and I went to Barnes & Nobles to look for books that I could get some information on the trip of the places and things we've seen to help me with filling in some information once I start scrapbooking the trip tomorrow. (I had tried the Library - but the only book they had on the Louvre was copyrighted from 1972 and it wasn't very helpful - especially since the pasted in pictures of the paintings had come unglued and were falling out!)

While I was looking in the bookstore; which had a deplorably sad amount of selection on the Louvre [and nothing on the Orsay] to choose from, I came across this book - 1001 Paintings You Must See Before You Die - and I thought, "okay, I'll look through it to see how many of them I've seen now." After all, we did go to two of the biggest museums in Paris and even though we didn't see everything, we saw a lot. So I peruse the book and count only 12 paintings that I've seen in my lifetime. I felt this overwhelming sense of incompleteness. It was so sad.

Then I started to think more about it and I have to disagree with some of their choices. Now, I know there is TONS of artwork out there and whittling it down to 1001 had to be hard but there is so many others that they didn't include.
And then I started to get a little confused. I was noticing where they were saying that the artwork was located and I thought that I needed to make a few trips to the different museums in the world...but here's where I had to say they were a little crazy...some of the paintings are listed as "private collection" well what the heck??
How am I supposed to see the painting before I die if its in someones private collection and I have no access to it?

Am I crazy for thinking this?

Do I find out who owns it and call them to make an appointment? Wait, I can't do that because it doesn't say who owns it or where in the world it is...nope - not at the Uffizi, not at the Metropolitan...not at the National Art Museum in Washington, DC...well then what do I do?

So I'm beginning to not feel so disappointed and incomplete. After all, how can they not include Van Gogh's Lillies or even one of Picasso's blue period works... I am just happy to have seen 12 of their 1001.

Although it would be nice to make a trip to the Met, or Uffizi, hhhmmmm....maybe we should think about a trip to Italy someday...did someone say Sistine Chapel??

So after having found my happy place and starting to head out of the bookstore to go home I pass the section with television and movie books and what did I see... 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die... I walked away and didn't even pay it any attention. If their taste in movies was anything like their taste in art...I decided to ignore it.

-Karen