SWPL

MrsZ is here visiting for the holidays, and we spent a day with her brother and sister-in-law over the weekend doing SWPL.

More specifically, we spent an afternoon at the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art. My hometown has a fairly decent art museum, but nothing on this level.

There is something thoroughly hypnotic - and rather intimidating - about being able to stand inches from a work from one of the masters and examine the individual brush strokes.

Or stand a few feet (with a pane of glass between) from a reliquary containing a finger bone from St. John the Baptist. I am not particularly expressive about my own personal faith, but this item... is holy.

And last but not least, this particular painting grabbed me in ways I can't entirely describe:
Poplars, Sunset at Eragny; Camille Pissarro

Standing close to it, I quickly lost the proverbial forest for the trees. I was letting my eyes wander around the image, looking at the individual strokes, branches, background colors... until I took a few steps back and suddenly the whole picture was there to see. I spent another quarter-hour sitting on a bench in front of this piece, just looking.

I'm now looking for a source for a quality print... if anyone knows one, I'm all ears.

We were nowhere near seeing the whole museum - there were at least three more wings and an entire outside sculpture garden we didn't see - but that's okay. Our total cost for the day? Gas money to get there and five bucks to park. The museum is free.

Magic.