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The Beach at Trouville, 1870. Wadsworth Atheneum, Hartford

This past Sunday, I went to see the Monet in Normandy exhibit at the Legion of Honor. Monet was one of the first artists I was cognizant of at a young age. The first time I went to an art museum was when I was a teenager. I was amazed at the artwork and walked around gawking at the pieces in ignorant wonder. While I love to frequent museums, I still retain a bit of that aura about me as I walk around and try to contemplate how an artist can transpose a scene viewed in the mind’s eye onto a flat canvas using only color and a variety of brushes. You may see a few of Monet’s works on display below (these images were taken from the Legion of Honor website as mentioned above.

Wheat Field, 1881. The Cleveland Museum of Art

The Cliff Walk, Pourville, 1882. The Art Institute of Chicago

While I loved this exhibit, I also left the museum with the same feeling I get whenever I go to the mall on the day after Christmas. There were so many people in the exhibit that I had to fight to look at each piece for 10 seconds before someone would jostle me out of my position and onto the next painting. There were a motley group of art enthusiasts present - young parents with babies, college students boldly declaring “Happy Birthday”, senior citizens on a day trip to the museum, contemplative bookish types, serious people with audio headsets that made the room sound like you were constantly in a swarm of mosquitos. This is not an experience that I envision Monet would have approved of as he sat in his private garden, perfecting the Water Lilies series.

I have had the privilege to visit one museum that actually required a reservation in order to be admitted to its treasures - Galleria degli Uffizi in Florence, Italy. In this way, you are able to control the number of people inside the museum and make the experience more enjoyable for everyone. I think that this would be an asset to exhibits at the Legion of Honor, the new de Young museum, and museums across the United States catering to art starved Americans. It is like a great meal with a bottle of red wine - no one wants to be hurried when they are enjoying a special treat. I do know that while I have vowed never to step foot in a mall on the day after Christmas, I would love to continue to attend art exhibitions.