Memorable Artistic Experience

One of my more memorable artistic experiences took place about thirty years ago when my wife, Jeanie, and I were in New York City. Jeanie was there on a business trip touching base with Woman’s Day and Cosmopolitan magazines, so while she was at work I was able to explore the city to my liking.

One of my adventures took me to the Guggenheim Museum. Now I need to mention that when I view some art works, I try not to read who created the pieces, so as not to be influenced by artist’s reputation. I like to make decisions about the works on their merits.

As I was viewing the paintings in the Guggenheim I kept having moments of déjà vu. Finally I just had to learn what artist had created all these exceptional abstract paintings, so I looked at the title on the wall.

Going back about ten more years, around 1973, I was an undergraduate student at Georgia Southern College (now Georgia Southern University). There I wrote a research paper about Yves Klein, discussing all his expressive techniques: How he had created abstract works that are organic in nature; how he used the human body as a paintbrush; and how he developed his own shade of blue, for example.

I guess this knowledge about Yves Klein had been tucked away in some corner of my brain until I experienced these images at the Guggenheim. When I discovered the art works on display were created by Yves Klein, all my knowledge came pouring back into the forefront of my brain, which made viewing his work an exceptional experience. The time I spent exploring Klein’s work in real life is something I will always treasure. I was able to see art works I never thought I would ever get to see in my lifetime.