Went to Met with Bruce to see Casper David Friedrich
So this whole conversation started maybe years ago, during the pandemic early days when Tom and I took an art appreciation class from Great Courses. We loved this class. I learned all about the Romantics and that might be when Casper David Friedrich first came up in one of my conversations with Bruce. He loves this one painting:
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| the main favorite painting Bruce loves by Casper David Friedrich - a Romantic. It is pretty great, yeah. |
I have been texted this painting a minimum of eight times by Bruce because it is surprisingly relevant in a wide variety of text strings. So natch, as soon as the Met catalog came in the mail, I was on it like white on rice. I texted Bruce immediately.
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| WHAT?! CASPER DAVID FRIEDRICH is at the MET! |
Bruce was like OMG absolutely not. Because:
opening day was on a Saturday and last time Bruce and I went to the Met on a Saturday, there was a line snaking down 5th Avenue past the entrance to the parking garage. It was unfuckingbelievable. I, of course, dragging Bruce behind me, marched right up to the door and tried some "i am a member!" imperious bullshit but the guard was like, yeah good try but no.
So Bruce, obviously traumatized, did not want to go on Saturday afternoon. I countered that the Saturday in question was right around Christmas, and so may be an outlier. But Bruce could not be swayed. We cross referenced calendars and would up choosing to go on a Friday afternoon instead.
Bruce's main favorite painting (otherwise known as the Abbey in the Oakwood) was sadly not there, but for the first time ever, the Monk by the Sea made an appearance in the United States.
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| a close up. I was trying to capture the painting gradations that Rothko was all into. |
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| The monk! |
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| It's a big painting, don't be fooled by all my close ups. |
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| If Friedrich had kept the boats, this painting would be totally nothing special. it was a stroke of genius to paint over them. |
Bruce and I both agreed upon departing the exhibit that some of the Casper David Friedrichs... wow we love them. But a lot of the others... mmm meh. We decided they are a little too.... romantic.
I went back later on with Tom and my opinion did not change.
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