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Grunewald's Crucifixion- National Gallery, Washington.

Notable that when Grunewald had to represent the heavens he didn't paint them- he looked at them . I.e. he acted.

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Washington D.C. Yesterday.

The gap between special and typical, even outstanding, work is striking. This painting is a case in point. Its quasi alive in ways that few other works are. Yes its curved. But its difficult to convey the subtlety and understanding with which Grunewald plays off it. Interesting the way also that 'great' painters will tolerate doing things they're not good at to get to those they are. Kind of like the mentality one has in High School.

I live in N.Y.C. and I'm working on something related (see comment below). Its worth it to take the 5 hours each way to go and see what the situation is rather than pretend.

Tags:   Grunewald

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Washington D.C. Yesterday.

I went to D.C. to re-check the painting below and visit Arlington above. I stopped in at the Freer for the first time and was struck by this Chola dynasty bronze (around 10th c. I think). I had seen this in reproduction- its well known- but the firmly compressed eyes were what drew me to it in real life. Supposedly sculptors of that time studied dancing themselves in order to render that cosmic balance these works possess. This face had a rhythm of its own too, with one eye stressed at a rotated angle from the other as if the movements of Shiva's closed eyes were the agents of his intent.

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Washington D.C. Yesterday.

I think last weeks temperatures were what killed the grass. All the grass in D.C. is brownish and dry.

Got to admit I was disappointed in Arlington. Last time I walked it from the Capitol across to Arlington's gates (far) and caught the unavoidable symbolism of democracy and sacrifice. But I had then seen the place as a place of war dead- men killed in action. Its not- its for service people- and their immediate families. There are war dead there too. Still, the experience wasn't pure. The grave marker above, for example (though washed out by the sun's glare) is for the Korean born wife of a veteran of that war.

Yet the place as a whole was still a reminder that people give their lives for this world we inhabit.

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