Dear to me.

The whole country seemed to be talking about a Vincent van Gogh exhibit in Basel. So I decided that I would go see it. You had to buy your ticket in advance so I was a little worried that they would be booked till closing but, I got a ticket, and a train ticket, and made my little way to Basel, where I met up with Veronique to see the exhibit.

I don't know about you guys, but Van Gogh makes me weepy. To think of his life, the desperation in his work, and the pain he felt from his depression, his dependency on his brother... just so many things. And as an artist, to never be validated by having your work purchased, or appreciated, seems deadly unto itself. Especially when it is something that he so obviously had to do. When he was at the mental institute in St. Remey, he produced 75 paintings in 70 days, and we are talking some of his most famous works...

it's hard for me to see his work everywhere. Hundreds of thousands of people will see this exhibit. Millions of people have seen Starry Night. You can buy Van Gogh paint by numbers, and get one of his paintings on a Visa Card or a shopping bag. Any mug, any magnet, any mousepad, has a good chance at having a Van Gogh painting on it.

I don't know him, obviously. It might be too idealistic, I tend to be too idealistic, but I would like to think that I would have been there for him, that I could have seen his work, helped him... or at least bought something. Or better yet, help someone today in a similar situation. I wonder how many people care. I would like to think that we all do, but would his life have gone the same if we all had cared about him... How many of the people who have Van Gogh Visa cards, think of him... really think of him. I hope that he has peace in knowing how well loved he is.

that's me on a soapbox.

The KuntsMuseum was incredible! What an amazing permanent collection! New favorite museum for sure. BUT! Each of the pieces have sensors on them, so if you get too close, an alarm goes off. Well, I am always up in a paintings business, so they must have tagged Veronique and me, because it seemed like we were always being followed, because we were always setting off alarms.... what are you going to do?

Basel is an incredibly beautiful city. It was a wonderful day filled with Lackerli, and delicious tapas. We stopped by the Paper Museum before closing, and walked along the river. Then ran to catch our train.

Basel is certainly a city that I could spend some time in. 

I highly recommend it.