Today I had the pleasure of driving a highly cultured, and intelligent pediatrician to his office. Unlike some customers the gentleman was very knowledgeable about art and spoke to me about the "Icons of Sinai" exhibit at the Getty and the Annie Liebowitz exhibit at the San Diego Museum of Photographic Art. However, the thing that made me laugh was that I ended up playing the same guessing game with him as I had played with the guy who asked me about "That guy who paints." This time with a little more to go on, but I was still proud of myself for figuring it out.
As we drove down the 5 freeway on this beautiful warm day my passenger, a sophisticated man with a soothing voice, began to tell me of the painting that first sparked his interest in art.
"I can't remember the name of it, but I remember learning about the symbolism of the oranges on the floor, the mirror on the wall, the dog, and the shoes beside the couple standing in the room. Fascinating, truly fascinating."
"The Arnolfini Wedding Portrait? By Jan Van Eyck?"
"Yes! That's the one! Van Eyck."
That's right, correct on the first guess, once again.
