Lately when touring art museums I have been inspired as much by the pre-twentieth century artists' creativity as I have been by their creations. This will be a given for some of you, but in younger years, I did not so readily appreciate how these artists were pioneering styles and techniques. In an age before photographic reproduction and art supply stores, they were inventing entirely new ways to depict what they viewed. Our modern eyes unknowingly see the compilation of centuries of work in ads, movies, comics, and even technology. Perhaps Seurat was the grandfather of pixels and Warhol the step-uncle of anime. Next time you use your kids as an excuse to watch a Pixar film, think of Vermeer delicately mixing his own paints in the elusive Dutch light and Van Gogh forlornly cutting sunflowers for a still life after yet another country girl refused to give him her hand...or an ear.
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| Manet's Bar at the Folies Bergere |
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| Klimt's The Kiss |
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| Degas' The Four Dancers |
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| Picasso's Child with a Dove |
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