Another Classic - and a Mini-Rant

I was going through my pictures from yesterday and came across another classic work, this one the Kneeling Boy by Michelangelo. For some reason - something about the texture - reminded me of the Pieta that Michelangelo did when he was nearly eighty. There are just so many classic works in the Hermitage that it's possible to just walk right by amazing pieces just because of the sheer number of them - luckily I knew that this particular statue was there so I was on the lookout for it. Having said that, while I was looking at it I had one of those moments of epiphany, although in this case a negative one. It's something I've thought about before, but for some reason it really resonated with me, mainly because of a passage I just read in the art book, written by Gombrich, that we use in our Aesthetics course at Champlain. He makes the point, quite correctly I think, that Americans approach going to a museum, especially a foreign one, in a completely foolish way. That is, they focus on seeing one or two classic works - arrange their entire day to beat the crowds - or stand in line to catch a glimpse of the Mona Lisa - and then get the hell out. In the process they pass by thousands of other works of art, any hundred of which would probably impact them more personally and emotionally than the Mona Lisa. So, they don't enjoy art - they don't live for the experience of the art - it's just something they feel that they can then check off their list. However, I'd take it further than that - they just treat it like another possession that they are accumulating in a possession driven society. They have sucked the soul out of what can be an almost mystic experience. It's like I always think about when I travel through Europe - about how the Europeans just lead a much saner life than we do. They spend their money on experience, and we spend our money on attaining possessions. So, we blow by works of art that could literally change our lives so that we can sit around and tell people that we saw the Mona Lisa or David, but did we actually "see" anything? We certainly didn't feel anything. And, sure, I'll be the first to admit that I've been guilty of that in the past, and that now I really make a concerted effort to take a different approach - to visit the quieter corners of the museum - to explore artists or periods or areas that I don't know a lot about - to truly try and experience the art, and not just collect it.