Impressionists at The Kimbell

I was never much for visual art. I'd look at the paintings in the art books and they never had much of an impact on me. Like many college students I thought Escher was cool, but that was about it.

When I was on a college band trip we spent a day in downtown Chicago and a few of us wandered through the Art Institute. In the middle of my wandering, I stumbled into the halls that held their Impressionist paintings. I may have seen some others first, but the one I remember, the one that completely changed my opinion of visual art, was Renoir's Two Sisters.  In the muted natural light of the hall, it blew me away in a manner I hadn't ever expected. Posters and prints don't come close to the real thing. The vibrancy of the colors - the flowers in the little girl's hat and the woman's corsage, the blueness of the girl's eyes, the way just the softest touch of colors depicted their faces so well....it was just amazing. There are boats at anchor in the Seine behind the models, but I'd never noticed them until seeing it that day.

The Art Institute is apparently remodeling the wing where their Impressionist collection (the best in the world) is housed, and some genius at Fort Worth's Kimbell Art Museum asked the Institute if they couldn't maybe keep an eye on them for a bit - and they agreed! The result is The Impressionists. So if you can get to Fort Worth, a city with an museum and park district that puts cities twice its size to shame, you have a terrific change to see the paintings in the much more spacious and airy digs of the Kimbell's barrel vaults.

My wife and I took the morning off to catch the show before I start a round of more traveling. We had brunch at the cafe in The Modern,  another beautiful museum we've gone far too long without visiting . Not today though - Impressionists to see!

In a word, it was terrific. Plus we managed to get there before it got crowded, so we could really examine the paintings close up - like a couple of feet away. It's definitely a little weird to be leaning in on something so precious...and so massively valuable. Hands in your pockets, hands behind your back, don't sneeze...

My favorites were the Two Sisters, Renoir's Chrysanthemums, one of  Monet's water lilies, and a Van Gogh self-portrait.

Being able to see a Van Gogh like this in person is simply...arresting. The painting has such an intensity to it. He stares straight into you (how DOES someone make eyes like that with oil paint? In person, you can lean close enough to see). The trademark heavy brushstrokes seem to emanate from a point somewhere between his eyes so the hair, mustache, and beard all flow away from it.

It was a great getaway. If you can make it to Forth Worth before November, it should be the first thing you do.

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