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| The Annunciation by Van Eyck |
My girlfriend studied art and originally is from Belgium (now lives in the Netherlands), and we had a conversation about how little we know from each others art or great artists. Apparently while being neighbour countries we hardly get education about the other country. We didn't learn much about Belgium's history and they not much about the Netherlands. And from here it's only one hour by car to the next Belgian city so we are really close. How weird is that.
Anyway, it was wonderful to have her as my personal guide during the exhibition and I was totally impressed by Van Eyck. You can't see from the photo here, not even on the exhibition website mentioned above, how amazingly detailed he painted. I loved to discover all the little details in his work. The Annunciation absolutely was my favourite.
So in this past week I started to think a little more about the concept of neighbours in general. We live in a city so it's quite common that you don't know much about your neighbours. We do know who is who but that's at far as it goes. I'm not saying that this is right or wrong. It's different in every culture, different in villages and cities, and it depends from person to person. And I know quite a few people that actually moved to a city because social control is less overwhelming. I lived in villages as well as in cities and I learned to take things as they come. It's just the way it is here. And that's ok.
My Six Word Saturday for today:
we hardly know our closest neighbours
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I agree!
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely agree. It was a big change for me when I moved here to the hinterlands of northern Vermont (US): my nearest neighbor was not within my line of sight. Here, though, it's precisely that physical separation that binds neighbors together more closely.
ReplyDeleteHi Cessie ~~ We go too far to fast now-a-days and miss out on our closeby neighbors. We should have visited your museum while we were visiting in Brugge. We had a car.
ReplyDeleteI did talk to a fellow from Rotterdam about a month ago. He was in Wellington, New Zealand, with a little Rotterdam ship that was going to Anartica to help Save the Whales.
Jim's Six Words for the 16th
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That's so true!
ReplyDeleteHow true however to get to know your neighbours you have to put yourself out there as well.
ReplyDeleteGreat post. It is so true.
ReplyDeleteThis is a sad fact, Cessie. We were shocked on our estate recently to find that a very lovely young woman of 53 had died after four weeks in hospital. Few of us knew that she was even ill.
ReplyDeleteSometimes that is a good thing. Just sayin' . . .
ReplyDeleteI wave at a few of our closest neighbors...if they are out in the yard as I drive by...but most of them hardly look up to notice! UGH! I wish life was like the old days when we knew everyone on the block...but it is just different now-a-days!
ReplyDeleteI think I would like to go to an art museum someday. Most of my friends never seem to like the idea when I mention it. Maybe my hubby will take me! (:>) I know art is meant to be viewed and enjoyed! One of my granddaughters is an artist...but she is not pursuing it very vigorously...because she is also gifted in other areas. I wish I could draw or paint...but alas it is not my gift!
Have a good Saturday!
Linda
It took me quite a long time to know our neighbours and most of them I only know to say a quick hi to.Things are different these days aren't they!
ReplyDeleteLove the photo it is beautiful. I live in a neighborhood where the same neighbors have been for awhile, but I don't know most of them. So, sad.
ReplyDeleteI agree - it is so hard to know your neighbors in a city or even in a small town - it really takes effort
ReplyDeleteI think you're so right! It's a little wild how little we know about each other when we are so close. Lots of education tends to focus on our own country's history and interactions with others than on others' history.
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