Art

I'm all excited because:
a) it's a long weekend here in Canada, and
b) I got my Art Gallery membership card in the mail.
<-- That's a picture of it, there.
Now I can go to all the special exhibits without paying the entrance fee over and over, and there are many other perks, too -- not the least of which is a 15% discount in the Gallery Bookstore!
Some of you may recall a former picture I once posted of the giant spider in front of the National Gallery. The place is just down the street from me, less than ten minutes to walk there.
Right now I am reading a terrific book about art.
It's actually about the life of Leonardo da Vinci.
And recently I read a novel, the main focus of which, was art. This was Jose Saramago's Manual of Painting and Calligraphy, a book I nearly slobbered over when I first saw it at a bookstore in Toronto! It is Saramago's first novel, [1976] but only now released to the English reading world.
In it, the main character says:
A man advances through spaces, through rooms crowded with faces and forms, and clearly does not emerge as he went in, otherwise he might as well have kept away. I said this in praise of museums. I say this every time I enter a museum so that no one may wonder at each new quest for the secret or message I know remains intact inside, even when brought to light.
This is exactly how I feel after a visit to a major art gallery.
I leave a little bit different than I was when I walked in.
In a positive way!
*****