Pictured is me with a Turner (the clouds), a Snyders (the animals all over the table), Manet’s “Beggar with Oysters,” my friend Michael and I in front of Constable's "Stoke-by-Nayland," and me with my beloved Jawlensky’s “Girl with a Green Face.”
I have come to love Constable. And Manet’s work in the 1860s is something that I have become captivated with. What he was doing in the 60s was such a departure from what he was doing before. Just sublime. One thinks of the chiaroscuro utilized in the late Renaissance. He must have had that in mind.
Jawlensky’s “Girl with a Green Face” is one of my all-time favorite paintings. People are quick to say, “An eight-year-old could have painted that!” There is no eight-year-old on the planet who could have painted that. If you can’t see it, then you’re looking at it like an eight-year-old.
Snyders was a Flemish master and his still life here is stunning. See the cat?
And, of course, we had to go to Jollibee (Filipino fast-food joint) across the street for lunch. Sadly, there’s no vibe in the Michigan Avenue Jollibee. I recommend heading to Sea Food City (5033 N. Elston Ave.) for the proper vibe. But, it was still good. That weird spaghetti with the hot dogs in it? It (like Jollibee) makes no sense, but it's glorious. I can’t get enough.