pondered Art

On my office wall, above my desk, hang three paintings, all in a row. (This is drifting into Madeline, isn't it?)

Center, and largest, is a cheap print, badly, cheaply framed, of Monet's Houses of Parliament which was used as a travel poster for the city of London. Painted at sunset, it appears that the sky and the Thames are on fire, and the Parliament buildings stand strong through the chaos. Even though it was painted decades before WW II, it could have been a symbol of the British stand against the Nazi Blitz. The colors are amazing, and against the dark blue walls of my office, quite striking.
To the right is a small, unframed canvas that I bought from a street artist in Paris while on a high school trip. It's awful in and of itself-a strange spiky castle-like structure, supposed to be Notre Dame, but looking more like an aquarium accessory. two sailboats with vaguely oriental lines, and a smoosh of green and burgundy meant to be the Seine. The colors are all wrong for the room. The best one can say, I suppose, is that it is my memory purchase from a magical time-being 18 and in Paris...even if it was closely chaperoned and at the height of one of the French-American mutual dislikes. We told all French shopkeepers, etc., that we were from Toronto! Alone, I really wouldn't like it-but the emotional connection gives it a grace it didn't earn on merit.
To the left is a small square landscape done by my son at least 10 years ago. I find it charming. It was done as part of a teaching unit introducing Impressionism, and shows low brown and green hills and a gentle blue sky-with sunlight coming in from the left. Some of my children's attempts came under the "only a mother could love" department...but this little landscape is a great success. I think I might have actually purchased it from my son at the time of the Art Show. The different greens create a perspective that draws your eye far into the distance, the sky is a mix of blues (one of which is exactly the color of the walls) and wispy whites that occurs naturally, and the sunlight is perceived, not smacked in the middle as a bright yellow orb with straight rays. I have considered having it professionally framed, but the Art Show mounting-faded construction paper with his name lettered by his Art teacher-adds to its value for me. If I could only choose 1 to take (and when we eventually move, I will have to choose) it will be my son's landscape.