Day 17: An Art Piece (or Four)

In 2006 I had the amazing opportunity to visit the east coast with several of my friends. While visiting Washington, D.C., we spent a day on the mall each going our separate ways to explore what we most wanted to see in the museum-packed capital park.

While I spent much of my time in the museums I am always drawn to (Natural History, Botanical Gardens, etc.), I visited the National Gallery of Art on what I can only describe as a whim. I have been in a grand total of two art museums that I can think of, and while I appreciate art and have many favorites, I've not really spent a great deal of time exploring my tastes in this particular avenue of passions (tho to my credit, I have been to several art *displays* and always observe the artwork in curated buildings... particularly temples).

Again, I'm not sure what propelled me to the National Gallery of Art, and most of what I saw left me completely and utterly un-transfixed. But I came across a section with early American artwork (1800s-ish), where I found that I generally liked the less abstract Realist and Romantic artwork. Particularly paintings... (I love Monet and Van Gough, amongst others).

I remember walking through and then coming almost to a complete halt when confronted by Thomas Cole's The Voyage of Life allegoric set. I cannot fully explain why, but these four oil paintings held my undivided attention for the better part of two hours.

Childhood

Youth

Manhood

Old Age

I think one of the things that most resonated with me - besides the pure beauty of the paintings - is the presence of the angel, and more specifically the location of the angel in each piece. I love that the are always there, walking beside us or watching over us. It is my belief that we determine which position they take in our lives, but regardless of what else is around, they are there if we look for them.