Many worlds
Carl von Bergen takes us to the Piazza Barberini, Rome, 1830
Public domain work, via Wikimedia Commons
“Thanks to art, instead of seeing one world only, our own, we see that world multiply itself and we have at our disposal as many worlds as there are original artists…”
— Marcel Proust
How are you feeling today? I hope it’s a happy day for you, with agreeable weather and time to enjoy a few small pleasures. But you might be feeling a bit sad, or overwhelmed, or fed up with the world. Maybe this is one of those days that is so busy, you wonder how you will fit everything into your tight schedule.
In any case, I invite you add a spark of color to your day. Step out of your immediate surroundings for a moment or two, and enjoy visiting another world entirely — maybe several other worlds — through the vast riches of online art that are available with just a click or two. Whether you like pastoral landscapes or lively city scenes, portraits or still life studies, there is something for everyone in the many worlds made available to us by the lovingly crafted work of artists we have never met.
If you have a favorite painter, sculptor or photographer, or if you know the name of a work you admire, try a quick internet search for it. In most cases you’ll quickly find at least one digital reproduction of it to enjoy. If you can’t find it, let me know what you’re looking for, and I’ll try to help you. Or just take a virtual stroll through the Louvre, or the Hermitage, or the National Gallery of Art, or any of the countless museums and galleries available to explore online.
We are surrounded by so many pleasures, joys, obligations and responsibilities that it’s easy for art to get lost in the sea of urgent or obvious distractions. But even a few minutes of appreciative contemplation can provide a refreshing break. If you have a busy day today, set a timer and limit yourself to just five minutes. Feel free to share a link or two in the comments below, if you’d like to share your experiences with us. And if you happen to be an artist yourself, here’s your chance to introduce us to your work.
I wish you delightful discoveries!
This post was first published seven years ago today. The original post, comments and photo are linked, along with two other related posts, below. These links to related posts, and their thumbnail photos, do not appear in the blog feed; they are only visible when viewing the individual posts by clicking on each one. I have no idea why, nor do I know how they choose the related posts. That’s just the way WordPress does things.
- Posted in: Uncategorized
- Tagged: appreciation, art, artists, contemplation, creativity, enjoyment, experiences, galleries, inspiration, museums, other worlds, refreshment, virtual travels
Defeat Despair 
I loved the painting you shared. By clicking on it and enlarging it a few times, all sorts of details emerged! I was transported back in time to see the moment that the artist wanted to share about life there. He had an amazing eye for detail and perspective! Thanks Julia for sharing this art with us and for the several links you gave. I copied them all down to explore at a later time.
(I started another note to you but it vanished before I could finish it, so there might be 2 of them for this post!)
Hi Judy! In this case, only the one comment came through…though I and many others have experienced that same “vanishing comment” syndrome…did it get sent, or did it disappear? Only the moderator knows for sure! 🙂 During Covid I got absolutely addicted to online art galleries. It’s stunning how much beautiful, little known art is in the public domain. I have no temptation to get sucked into Facebook or other so-called “social media,” but I could fall down into the rabbit hole of online art galleries and wander for hours (especially since there are no rules against copying and printing and sharing!) but I try to limit myself to a few minutes at a time.
I have to chuckle at how things just vanish from my comments sometimes. Since this post, I’ve written on 2 more of your posts — long comments where I also tried to put links in for YouTube videos. Of course I don’t know what I’m doing and when I tried to paste them in, I discovered that I’d lost the whole comment. From now on I have to remember to write the comment, open a separate window to YouTube and then go back to the comment. I’m a slow learner!
Never did get time to write those comments a second time and now I can’t even remember what it was I wanted to say 🙂
Oh no! Now I’ll never know what I missed! One thing I used to try, to keep from losing everything, is to write out the comment (links and all) in Microsoft Word (or a similar program) and then try just copying and pasting the whole thing. I think the links would come through. And if it didn’t work, you would still have the comment and wouldn’t lose it. I don’t want to miss anything you say!! 😀 ❤
Great idea! I’ll start doing that 🙂
Good morning, Julia! I recently picked up a membership to the Minneapolis Institute of Art. I had hoped to see the exhibit they had on Japanese art, but it has moved on, and I still have not visited the museum!
That the trouble with the short summers in Minnesota – if it’s nice outside, we stay outside whenever possible.
Yes, it’s much nicer to have long springtimes, long autumns, and even with the heat, lots of sunshine and summer.