I am hopeless with art. I walk around galleries and I try really hard to appreciate what I'm seeing. I do appreciate the skill of an artist, but I want to be moved. I want to have an emotional response and I seldom do.
One day, when I was eight years old, I visited my Grandmother's house and she had a new painting on her wall. Actually it wasn't a painting at all, but an etching, by Marie Laurencin.
It was called 'Three Dancers' and it depicted two seated women supporting a younger woman who was reclining into their arms. Because it was an etching, there was no colour - just these dull graphite shades which gave the women a smokey appearance, as though they had only just come into exisitence.
Anyway, when I first saw 'Three Dancers', aged eight, I thought that it was the most beautiful thing and I still do. I move around a lot these days and it always accompanies me and gets hung up on strange walls. It's very simple - not a lot of detail but I like to look at it. That is something I really do appreciate.
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Off the top of my head, I'd have to say the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel.
I saw the ceiling of the Sistine chapel and it was beautiful. It's something you can look at for a long time and you keep thinking - 'well just a few more minutes and then I'll go.' but you always want a few more minutes.
The chapel was very crowded and the guides were trying to stop people from taking photos because the flashbulbs can harm the artwork.
There were these complete arseholes that were just ignoring them and taking photos anyway. I thought - you stupid ignorant bastards - not even looking at the ceiling and appreciating it firsthand but just snapping away with your cameras and damaging it for future visitors.
