I am returned, back from the land of peach trees with 40% of my bucket list Item 1 goal accomplished. What an impeccably enjoyable experience. The Girl With a Pearl Earring is just as beautiful as everyone says, so much so that I think I may have finally found the woman I would turn lesbian for. Well, nah... I don't think it would work out, seeing as I am flesh and blood and she is a compilation of ground up minerals mixed with linseed oil. Not to mention, that portrait of a young Rembrandt was pretty hot...
Anyway, I digress. I began my journey to Atlanta by dropping into my hotel and dropping off my bags. Now, I have had some experiences with some pretty sleazy hotels before, so I wanted to make sure that for this visit to an unfamiliar city I did not end up in another inhospitable accommodation. So I booked a room at the Four Seasons. Sure it's put a pretty nifty pinch on my wallet and I'm going to spend the rest of August eating Ramen noodles and air, but I rarely pamper myself to such a degree. And, hey, after over a year of unemployment and living with my parents and not going anywhere or doing anything, I felt such a treat was perfectly justifiable.
So I dropped off my bags in my FOUR STAR hotel room and rushed downstairs to the front to figure out the best route to the High Museum of Art. I put this very question to the doorman who directed me to a driver who happily volunteered to give me a ride... in the hotel's complimentary Jag. Why, yes sir. I do believe I shall. So I spent a very giddy five minutes in the back seat of a luxury car and chortled with glee when I noticed the gentleman in the next car staring at me; I assume because a young lady with dark features in her own Jag with a driver automatically means Winona Ryder, or something like that.
When I got to the museum I found my fellow registrar and friend Amanda waiting for me. We both wore our pearl earrings for the occasion, because it seemed most appropriate. We each ordered the audio guide and stepped into the elevator that transported us up into Dutch Renaissance heaven.
The exhibit was composed of some of the loveliest Dutch landscapes, still lifes, and portraits I have ever seen. The audio guide put the High's curators and directors right into our ears, filling us in on all the little details one might have missed otherwise. Such as, an awesomely Italian-inspired landscape with a stereotypically hilarious Dutchman peeing on the side of the road. I found a pair of memento mori still lifes especially interesting, both composed with heavy life-is-fleeting symbolism using a shared pocket watch and wine glass. It was the one time where I felt the interpretation failed a little bit, because while there appeared to be a clear connection between the two paintings and the two different artists that created them, no one told us how. Amanda and I could only assume the two artists were of the same school and trained by painting scenes using the same props. We may never find out. We also saw tulip mania, satirically reprimanding tavern scenes, and portraits of rich people in those gravity defying ruffly collars.
Amanda and I also did that thing that registrars do, which was examine how the paintings were mounted, do some quick condition reports of the paintings and frames, and fawn over the acrylic glazing. I swear, I had to contort my head and neck to Linda-Blair-type-proportions to even see the reflection on this plexi. I am convinced it is TRU VUE, my registrar dream acrylic, and I have already contacted the High Art Museum to try and get this confirmed. Hopefully I'll hear back from them soon. I am telling you I am gaga (and not as in Lady, cause that chick's just WAY far out there) for this plexi. I have this perfect dreamland box-fort composed of Gaylord's acid free blue archival boxes with sheets of TRU VUE for the windows. Okay, so I'm out there, but I'm not WAY far out there.
But seriously, TRU VUE is a fantastic product. It is abrasion resistant, UV filtering, static-free, and glare-free. I have even read somewhere that the acrylic is insulating and creates a micro-environment, which is great for paintings that are traveling. I highly recommend this acrylic, but be prepared to pay out the nose for it. It's incredible greatness equates to incredibly high prices. Even so, it's a solid investment for the longevity of artworks because the TRU VUE you may buy will last several lifetimes. I believe that it will last so long into the future that people in flying cars with Mr. Fusions on the back will be coming to see paintings glazed behind the same sheet of acrylic someone puts on their painting tomorrow.
I spent twice the amount of time I spent admiring the acrylic admiring the Girl With a Pearl Earring. Nick-named the Dutch Mona Lisa, and displayed behind almost the same amount of security barriers as Ms. Mona, was Vermeer's famous tronie. I stared at her for so long the optical effect of the image popping out from its dark background occurred on a nearly hypnotic level. I marveled at the sensation that she was staring right at me. I was also sadly surprised at just how much alligatoring she appeared to have, though it may not have been so bad; perhaps just extensive crackle. It was difficult to do a proper condition report with so many barriers and plexi between us, but I'd say she's very stable and still incredibly beautiful.
My only other critique for this otherwise fantastic exhibit was how empty the gallery directly before the gallery with the Girl With a Pearl Earring was. There were some rather great, large-scale wall decals which explained Vermeer's technique, the camera obscura, the identity of Girl With a Pearl, and some of his other artworks. But the floor was wide open and empty and there were no other paintings on the walls. In fact, one rather large temporary wall was completely blank. Someone must have felt Girl With a Pearl also needed just as much elbow room around her as Ms. Mona has. I personally just feel bad that Girl With a Pearl has to spend the next five weeks staring at a blank wall.
I made Amanda linger for a good ten to fifteen minutes while I admired
this 15 of my 37. Then I bought a magnet, we explored the rest of the
High, and departed for lunch.
I suppose I should mention that I have spent more time describing TRU VUE for you because I can; the Girl With a Pearl Earring you must see for yourself.
Amanda and I had a lovely lunch bemoaning our registrar woes, because lets face it folks, the only people who truly understand are other registrars. Then we took a memorial photograph and parted ways. I walked back to my hotel, deciding not to call my driver seeing as I was half a block away and it would be kind of silly to have him make one right turn to come pick me up. I spent the rest of my trip enjoying my hotel (because I paid for it and I was gonna get my monies worth!), texting friends and family the picture of me with my face sticking through a Girl With a Pearl Earring cut-out, and trying to decide which Vermeer to visit next. I don't expect anymore of them to be in my neck of the woods anytime soon, so I might have to plan a trip to New York soon... or Europe... perhaps Dublin. ^_^
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