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A newspaper headline caught my eye. “When the world feels dark, seek joy.”
In an essay, Katherine Price, author of The Power of Fun and the newsletter How to Feel Alive, argues that given the state of our little blue planet, the idea of seeking pleasure, big or small, is laughable. I admitted that it might sound like a joke. right now.
But she encouraged us all to try to notice what gives us joy in our daily lives. And it could be the familiar black-capped chickadee at your backyard feeder, the powder blue blooms on your rosemary pot, the smile you share with a stranger, or the crunch of fresh snow on a winter hike in the mountains. It can be many different things. , or my surprise when I saw about 100 cyclists riding around my neighborhood at night with holiday lights on their clothes and bikes (the latter is a true story).
However, practicing joy can be difficult to follow because it requires attention and can lead to feelings of happiness and contentment.
Price goes on to say that by practicing gratitude and being thankful for the things you can be thankful for: friends, enough food to keep you mentally and physically fit, sobriety after a drug or alcohol addiction, a roof over your head no matter how humble you are. We encourage you to be grateful. . They can lead to improving our health and outlook, but the downside is that repeating them over and over again can seem like a chore.
On the other hand, practicing joy requires being aware of things, and in a sense, “The beginner’s mind has many possibilities, but the expert has few.” “The risk of becoming commonplace.” “You can tap into the deep power of gratitude without compromising yourself,” she pointed out.
Price also suggested practicing sharing, or “savouring,” joy to appreciate positive life experiences. Doing so has been shown to increase our sense of well-being and prevent our natural tendency to focus on the lower angels of our nature, which increases anxiety and fear.
She believes that sharing joy fosters connections with others and promotes physical health. Citing Surgeon General Vivek Murthy’s 2023 recommendations on the loneliness epidemic, lack of social connection increases risk of high blood pressure, heart disease, cognitive impairment, depression, anxiety, type 2 diabetes and susceptibility to infections. It is said that it is related to.
Having taken Mr. Price’s advice to heart and put it into practice, I decided to take the time to view a major exhibition of Pierre Bonnard’s paintings, something I have missed several times over the past few decades. decided.
So this weekend I traveled to Fort Worth, Texas, to see about 70 works by the French artist (1867-1947) at the Kimbell Art Museum in an exhibition entitled “The World of Bonnard.” I plan to soak in it. The exhibition is the first of its kind in Lorne. Star State 40 years later.
According to the museum’s explanation, the purchase in 2018 of “Landscape of Le Cannet,” the home where the artist spent the last decades of his life in the south of France, resulted in the acquisition of about 70 works that some critics say depict his career. It is said to have inspired the exhibition. The legacy of the greatest artist of the 20th century.
The paintings of Bonnard and Edouard Vuillard are known for their particularly intimate domestic interiors, so they are sometimes described by the French term “intimacy” or intimacy.
Bonnard’s style is a blend of modernist, broken brushstrokes, patterns, cropped compositions, and Japonism, as seen in the popular wallpaper of the time, with warm lights such as sparkling blues, oranges, and yellows. It is painted in lush, sensual colors that are full of color. French term describing the influence of Japanese arts and crafts on Western art in the last quarter of the 19th century.
My fascination with Bonnard began when I was 16 years old and a senior at Munich American High School in West Germany.
It was the brightest, bluest spring day of 1967. The air is smooth, the sun is welcoming after a long Germanic winter, the beer gardens are filled with romantic couples, and a sign hangs outside the Haus His der His Kunst, a museum in downtown Munich. Ta. Images of Pierre Bonnard’s paintings greeted visitors, promising a journey into picturesque psychedelia.
My mother, Arlene, encouraged me to go see the first retrospective exhibition of Bonnard’s work since his death in 1947, so I took a tram downtown from North Munich.
There must have been 200 different paintings and drawings in the exhibition, many of which he painted while living in Le Cannet, near Cannes and the Côte d’Azur. There seemed to be dozens of paintings of his wife, Marthe, going in and out of the bathtub, and her naked body was painted one after another on canvas, never getting old. In Bonnard’s world, Marthe is a bright 25-year-old who suffers from eczema.
I was fascinated by Bonnard’s use of warm and cold colors in works such as Nude in the Bathroom (1937) and Nude Against Sunlight (1908). Both are enhanced by shimmering lights and incandescent colors. tone.
There was also a self-portrait painted late in life. Old, wrinkled, his face sad and bruised, slightly unfocused, tanned, his eyes deep-set, with a final look on his face. For example, Days with a tenderness not found in Picasso’s most famous works. Bonnard continues to be a source of joy.
Richard Bammer is a staff writer at Reporter.
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