Wine, apple tart, and white marble

Frequently, you create a picture in your mind of a place, a food, or an ex boyfriend where all the negative qualities has disappeared, leaving only the gorgeous moment and the pedestal you put it on. I am acutely aware of this innately human tendency and I can’t decide if I think we are better or worse for it. This remaking of an experience provides solace in your memory, but can often lead to disappointment if you have the good fortune to revisit it. I remember my first love as funny, kind, entertaining and engaging. I wonder if he actually was. In some ways, I wish I knew him now because he was so important to me then, but I doubt the reality would live up the fantasy that I have created.

It is with this trepidation that I go to the Rodin museum, and I find myself utterly shocked and delighted to say the my current reality was on par with my past. It was not the same as I had expectations which always color one’s experience of space and art, but my soul rested in this place. I wandered the formal garden, lined with trees and dotted with sculpture. Despite the chill, I sat outside and had a glass of white wine and rustic apple tart from the cafe. Inside, the mansion was warm and embraced its visitors. The sculpture was primarily of nudes in white marble. What I love about Rodin is his concentration on the emotion. The positions and characters come from the piece of marble, but emotion is the guiding principle. Rodin’s expression of emotion is so dynamic that it evokes personal memories of it. When I see the sculpture of Adam and Eve, I am transported to my own experiences of regrettable sex. The Kiss arouses a warm glow of love and passion. It may be trite. My reaction is undeniably so expected that it reveals the bourgeois nature of my existence, but I love it and you must go.

Adam and Eve

The Kiss

The Thinker