28 Pablo Picasso
The next morning,
we were taking our time which resulted in the fact that we were much later than
planned at the breakfast lounge.
We did not enjoy the beautiful lounge
room like yesterday and we were constantly trying to delay our moment of goodbye At a certain
moment she became self-absorbed and after an unusual minute of silence Flo made
it clear that before our goodbye, we had to pay a short visit to the Museum of
Art. It
was twenty minutes from here and we were already late for our goodbye, but I could
tell from the expression on her face that it meant a lot to her. For that reason
I did not start arguing with her about the fact that it was better to leave directly
after breakfast to avoid stress being on time for her customer in Houston. Instead, I asked her to tell me a little bit
more about, why?
“I was very disappointed that the
museum was closed yesterday. It is very important for me to show you something
at the museum. It will be a short visit because we will go straight to one
specific object. You will find out why, when you are in front
of it.” Because
she understood that she could not lose too much time we were in front of the museum
when it opened its doors at 10:00am10:00. Once inside she told me to wait while she went
to the ticket desk. From a little distance I saw she started a discussion with a
few employees but I did not hear what the discussion was about. After a few minutes she came back to me and I
saw on her face she was very frustrated.
She told me that the last time
she was here the object she wanted to show me was in the room just left from the
entrance, the Grant-Munger Room. But they had moved the object to the vaults of the cellar. She was still processing her disappointment
when a man came in via the entrance. He shortly looked at me and then his eyes stayed
focused on Flo. After a little hesitating, he came to us and
asked her if he could help. In the way he behaved, we understood that
he was not a visitor. I saw a spark of hope in her eyes when she told
him about a sketch she had seen during previous visits of the Grant-Munger Room.
“Sir, this is the last opportunity for me to
show Peter, my boyfriend, the sketch. The sketch means a lot to me, more than you can
imagine.” He looked
at her for so long that it must have been uncomfortable for Flo.
“Sorry to be so impolite, but I know exactly why
the sketch is so important for you.
Let me first introduce myself. I’m
Steve and I will bring you both to the vaults where the lithograph is safely stored.
The object is very light sensitive and that is the reason it can only be exhibited
for a few months at a time. The man knew his way and had keys that opened
all doors. We followed him downstairs to the cellar. Until now I had never really
been involved with art, but the whole situation was very interesting. We followed the man to the vaults and there we passed a seamless,
endless line of numbered cupboards. He resolutely stopped in front of a cupboard,
checked the labels on the cupboard and opened the second drawer from above.
I was nailed to the ground and could
not believe my eyes.
At first sight I thought it was a sketch of Flo that I saw.
Looking a little bit longer I found
out that there was a great likeness, but it was a different person.
When I looked at it a little longer I saw that the artist with all its simplicity
expressed a strong beautiful woman. I didn’t
know why, but I was convinced you could easily recognize the woman the artist had
used as a model.
My conclusion was that the sketch
was majestic in all its simplicity and must be from a great artist. She had an exceptionally long neck and the artist
showed only one side of her face. After five minutes my silence became unbearable
for Flo and unpleasantly she asked for a reaction. I told her my first impression was that it was
a drawing of her. But now I knew it was another woman, but with the same expression
in her face.
The fact that only one side of the
face was showing was intriguing. I told her all the feelings I had during those
minutes of silence and she told me, that was exactly the reason why she always got
emotional when she saw this rather simple work.
Steve told us that the title of this
artwork was “Jacqueline in Black Headscarf” by Pablo Picasso.
From the little knowledge I had
of painters I knew Pablo Picasso was a famous Spanish painter, but I’d never seen
any work of him, until now. My interest in art was born.
We only stayed at the Museum not more than an half hour but it was a lifetime
experience. We left the museum in silence, still impressed
by what we’d just seen, but the sun was our wake-up call, and the time was our next
worry. The drive back to our hotel took about twenty minutes. |