Rene

Happy Birthday, Rene Magritte.

Do his paintings challenge your preconditioned perceptions of reality and force you to become hypersensitive to your surroundings, as was his intended effect?

Starry Night

Starry, starry night.

Flaming flowers that brightly blaze,

Swirling clouds in violet haze,

Reflect in Vincent's eyes of china blue.

Colors changing hue, morning field of amber grain,

Weathered faces lined in pain,

Are soothed beneath the artist's loving hand.

-Don McLean's song "Starry, Starry Night"

As I was searching quiz bowl packets today, I read a question about this painting. Apparently it's the view from Van Gogh's window at the asylum. He had sent this painting-along with a package of other paintings-to his brother and in the included letter he wrote that he didn't care much for this painting. Ironically enough it's considered Van Gogh's magnum opus.

Poor Vincent, victim of mental instability and lack of success in his chosen career.

Hmm...

Certain things make me wonder.

For example. What exactly defines a friend? For me, it's actually quite a bit. Someone I can talk to easily (because we've already established that I'm a horrible conversationalist), someone I know well, someone whom I can predict what their thoughts/reactions will be, someone who doesn't make me feel inferior, someone whose faults I've come to overlook and maybe even love. This then begs the question, "Is Peter my friend?" Well, he meets most of the criteria, oddly/sadly enough. Except the whole "make me feel inferior" part. Just in case you didn't know, Peter is kinda consuming my [somewhat obsessive] thoughts. Followed closely by another person, who will go unnamed because I am NOT obsessed with them, whose question of "friendship" one tends to wonder about. It just confuses me.

Another thing that makes me wonder: How can artists be so subtle? Do they plan out every single, allegoric part of their piece before actually painting it. Or are they like Willem de Kooning who reworks his pieces time after time, trying to get it just right? So much planning, interpretation, and discussion goes into one painting. Did Leonardo da Vinci realize the impact he would have on the world when he simply painted Mona Lisa, the peasant wife of a friend? Did Piet Mondrien realize that in painting rectangles of different sizes in primary colors would become so famous? Did Rembrandt see how psychological his The Night Watch is or has become? Art is a form of protest and self-expression. I think it would be true for artists to incorporate symbols but I don't think that artists recognized the impact their paintings would have on the world and on the generations to come. It's the same thing with authors. Did Poe see how his "The Raven" and the mystery of his repetitive "Nevermore" be interpreted? Did Fitzgerald realize that The Great Gatsby would be read and begrudgingly analyzed by high school students across the world?

I think: yes. Authors and painters mean to include symbols and underlying messages to convey warnings, chastisement, or to simply share with the world a beautiful talent. I don't think that they realized the unmeasurable impact their works would have; I believe they only hoped that people would catch on. But the meanings they intended are open to interpretation; there is seldom a wrong answer.

So, after deviating off course from my first paragraph, I will try to answer my own question. Is Peter my friend? Well...yeah. Is that sad? Well...not really.

One down, one more to go.