My husband’s favorite artist is Salvador Dali. Years ago he purchased a lithograph made from a wooden block which is numbered, signed and proudly displayed on the most prominent wall of our home. I like it just fine, but he is over-the-moon thrilled by owning a little piece of Dali. Every so often he dreams aloud of taking me to St. Petersburg so we can visit their Dali Museum. In fact, we were just entertaining that idea again when we heard that a collector was showing his personal collection at an exhibit in Miami. After a shameless call to a friend and painful pleas for a babysitter, we attended the opening night VIP reception.
That is where I fell a little deeper in love with the man I share my life with.
I am not well-educated about art. I dropped my art history class in college in favor of taking photography instead. I assumed there would be another opportunity for me to take that class, but my schedule never lined up that way. Still, I have visited some of the best art museums in the world and firmly believe that although knowledge can certainly enhance a person’s appreciation of art, it is by no means a neccessary component. Dali never really peaked my interest, so until last night I always just gave him passing notice, even though I knew how much my husband adored his work.
Last night as we peered at Dali’s work I decided to try to see it from my husband’s perpective. I realized that understanding his appreciation of art was a way to appreciate his heart a little better. I asked him to explain exactly what moves him so deeply about Dali’s work. At first it was hard for him to articulate his admiration, but I pressed him to make the effort. Finally, he said:
He gets the image as it is. He’s not concerned so much about the materials he uses or showing off with them. He draws exactly what he see, and it’s wild! Sure, it’s wild stuff, crazy stuff, but it’s not about making it be something else.
And then I saw it. I saw Dali’s drawings and watercolors in a new light using my husband’s eyes. They are viseral and unpretentious. They capture a moment of imagination as it was, not a complicated interpretation of imagination, but the real image itself.
I saw something else too.
My husband is better at drawing than me. It’s always been a talent of his. Looking closer at Dali’s drawings, I saw a similarity in Andres’ sketches. (Oh yes, I did just compare my husband to Salvador Dali.) There is something in the lines Andres uses which echos back to his favorite artist. There is a similarity in their effort to capture an image. If I knew more, maybe I could explain it better.
But I saw it.
I saw the world through the eyes of my husband last night, and it was breathtaking.
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