I was having lunch a couple weeks ago with two business colleagues. I was trying to express to them what it is that a work of art communicates. I tried this Robert Frost poem, but it didn’t “connect.” Then I tried the last line of Gatsy – one of the most famous sentences in the history of the novel: So we beat … Read More
Hamlet is a Huge Personality
I was reading Hamlet recently. You know the story – he comes home from studying at university on the occasion of his father’s funeral, only to find that his mother has already gotten remarried to Claudius, the brother of Hamlet’s father. And as if that isn’t bad enough, the ghost of Hamlet’s father appears and tells Hamlet and two of his … Read More
What a Work of Art Communicates: Example from “Moby Dick”
Here’s the paragraph that introduces Stubb, in Herman Melville’s MOBY DICK. Stubb was the second mate. He was a native of Cape Cod; and hence, according to local usage, was called a Cape-Cod-man. A happy-go-lucky; neither craven nor valiant; taking perils as they came with an indifferent air; and while engaged in the most imminent crisis of the chase, toiling away, … Read More
Amazingly Vivid Characters in “Jane Eyre”
An illustration from the Book Jane Eyre is Reading in Chapter 1, “Bewick’s History of British Birds” Here are the very first paragraphs of “Jane Eyre” by Charlotte Bronte. There was no possibility of taking a walk that day. We had been wandering, indeed, in the leafless shrubbery an hour in the morning; but since dinner (Mrs. Reed, when there … Read More
Cezanne’s Breathtaking Painting, “Lake Annecy”
This one goes out to my Twitter friend @KnitSix, who also likes Cezanne. This Cezanne painting is breathtaking, even as an image on a web page. You feel exactly the beauty of seeing that same scene for yourself. Cezanne painted the view from his hotel room. What’s so fascinating, of course, is that you could take a photo of the same … Read More
“Acquainted with the Night” – Big Emotional Insight from Robert Frost
This one goes out to my Twitter friend @TeresaFederici, who also likes Frost. As regular readers of this site are aware, one thing I do here is to search out big, easy-to-get-with examples of emotional insight in art – examples you can look at briefly and immediately say, “Wow, I get that. It has a huge meaning to me that … Read More
Emotional Insight in an Amazing Painting by Rousseau
This is one of Rousseau’s most famous paintings – “Tiger in a Tropical Storm.” Rousseau’s paintings pack a big emotional wallop. You feel the fear, the desperation of the tiger. The white light on the top of the tiger’s head and on the nearby leaves shows the light of a lighting bolt that is alarming him. You feel sympathy for the … Read More
Da Vinci’s “The Last Supper”
Today we’ll have a look at one of the most famous paintings of all time, Da Vinci’s “The Last Supper.” It depicts the moment when Jesus has just informed the disciples that one of them will betray him. The first thing you notice, as a way of finding your way in to the emotional meaning of the painting, is that … Read More
Emotional Insight in Dialog from Jane Austen’s “Pride and Prejudice”
Here’s a solid example of emotional insight from Jane Austen. After playing some Italian songs, Miss Bingley varied the charm by a lively Scotch air; and soon afterwards Mr. Darcy, drawing near Elizabeth, said to her: “Do not you feel a great inclination, Miss Bennet, to seize such an opportunity of dancing a reel?” She smiled, but made no answer. … Read More