For The Love of Art

I've just had the opportunity of watching an early screening of "The Monuments Men." (Official release February 7.) I had vaguely been aware of the events portrayed in the film:, it is a story that deserves to be told and retold. The movie relates the story of a small handful of artists and architects who took on the mission of saving millions of pieces of art from theft and destruction in Europe in World War II.

These men were all at least middle age or older and could easily have sat out the war in the States, but instead, risked, and in some cases lost, their lives so generations hence could be moved just as they had been by seeing these magnificent pieces as boys and young men.

I was touched by both their courage and their vision. Seeing these beautiful pieces in the movie set me into something of a reverie, thinking about masterpieces that I've been privileged to see when I've travelled and how deeply I've been moved. Art is one of the few ways that one human being has of touching the soul of a perfect stranger, perhaps halfway around the world.

I don't have any Renoirs or Rembrandts. I do love buying art, often from street artists, and filling my home with these deeply personal gifts from someone else's soul. In the days after my business failed, I slowly began selling off anything that would produce cash; my art was the last to go. I count myself fortunate that my favorite pieces didn't sell. Since I've rebuilt my "collection," if one can fairly call mostly-street art "a collection."

I've been known to sit and just stare at a favorite piece for a significant period of time, just because it makes me feel good. And, whenever I move, I never consider the new address home until all the artwork is in place.

I am grateful for the Monuments men for their courage and vision... And for giving me the opportunity to see those special pieces. I am also grateful for my "collection," which is of little financial value, but regularly moves my soul, as if the contributions of my street artists were the Mona Lisa.


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