Have you ever cried in a museum? What was the art museum? Was it a van Gogh?

[CTyankee]

I ask about van Gogh because I cried in the van Gogh Museum's "Wheat Fields with Crows." Several years later I was reading a NYT article about a working artist who said the first time she cried in a museum was in the same museum, but a different painting. Now, two years after reading that, I read another NYT art section piece by a NYT art critic who cried at a van Gogh exhibit in Paris at the Musee d'Orsay.

I'm just wondering if this is phenomenon of van Gogh's effect on us because we know how tortured by his thoughts van Gogh was. And because it drove him to suicide.

Whatever it is, it is truly felt.

[Dr. Strange]

1. Even Vincent cried...

[Hong Kong Cavalier]

9. I love that scene.

Bill Nighy's speech there about Van Gogh was excellent. His delivery, the writing itself, the performance by the actor who played Van Gogh.

Gets me every time.

[Withywindle]

10. I thought of that right away too

One of the best episodes of TV ever, IMO.

[Kali]

2. I had a strange breakdown in a historical "museum"

the Mevlana Museum in Konya, Turkey. I'm not spiritual, but that place seemed to be! there were people in there praying and a bunch of tourists invaded with no respect. it was gross and made me cry.

[CTyankee]

42. Yes, I remember being in Rome in a church where Caravaggio had painted several works for the

little chapel. There were people in the main part of the church, sitting quietly. I felt out of place there and hoped I wasn't ignoring their feelings.

[I_UndergroundPanther]

3. I cry every time I see a Sekhmet statue

From Egypt.

When I was in 6th grade I went to the Metropolitan Museum in New York. With my sister's art class. My mom was one of the chaperones.

I had went to see the King Tutankamon exhibit.

I already loved Egyptian art.
The whole thing blew my socks off. I was totally into Egypt after that. Still am.

However as I went from room to room there was a row of black stone Sekhmets against the wall that seemed to suck the oxygen out of the room for me. I stood marveling at each one..

I had a very profound spiritual experience with those statues that has been my path ever since.

Looking at Sekhmet beautiful leonine face,her tenderly carved features,her beautiful eyes, she moves me to tears every time.

[CTyankee]

23. On a trip to Boston's Museum of Fine Arts, I asked an attendant if he has seen this phenomenon.

"All the time" he said.

[bucolic_frolic]

4. No, but I knew a wacko who met her first husband in a museum

and kept trying to drag me to a museum.

I never went, purely by accident. I do have the feeling I was going to be abandoned there with no way of getting home.

Trust me, I made the right choice.

[PoliticAverse]

5. "The sadness will last forever."

According to Theo, Vincent's last words were: "The sadness will last forever".

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vincent_van_Gogh#section_2

[panader0]

6. Yes

Metropolitan M of A in NYC.
About 22 years ago. I was always a big fan, but to stand directly in front, and close enough to see the
brush work, suddenly hit me.
I believe it was Wheat field with Cypresses. To tell the truth, I wept a coupla times that day.
I would love to go again some day. Ain't shit for museums around here.

[Polly Hennessey]

7. I have not cried but the first time

I saw a van Gogh I was overcome by the intensity of the painting, by the vibrancy of the colors. As I stood there I think my mouth was open as if I was seeing something astounding. To this day his art still affects me just as it did that first day.

[3catwoman3]

25. I went to the Van Gogh museum in Amsterdam in 1974.

You speak of the vibrancy of the colors. So true - it looked as if the paint would still feel wet if you were allowed to touch the paintings. And I was fascinated to be able to see the marks of the individual hairs in the paintbrushes, as if Van Godh had just made the brushstrokes moments ago.

[CTyankee]

43. that was where I broke down, in front of "Wheat Fields with Crows."

I had traveled on a barge that went down the little waterways, stopping at little towns where the artists of the northern Renaissance had painted. I think I was on overload, so when we docked in Amsterdam and I walked over to the museum. The tears just ran down my face. I think it was because of the intensity of the trip.

[ProfessorGAC]

8. Not Me, Personally

But, I saw others react like that.
At the Musee d'Orsay, I saw a couple crying while they stared at the paintings.
Also, I saw a woman crying at the Mona Lisa (different trip) and a bunch of people reacting like that to The Piata in Rome.
I like to view the artistry, but it doesn't move me in that way.

[ariadne0614]

19. I was raised to reject Catholicism.

Eventually, I rejected all forms of patriarchal organized religion. Nevertheless, La Pieta almost brought me to my knees. I think it was the power of the mother-child thing, which transcends everything.
http://www.italianrenaissance.org/michelangelos-pieta/

[Champp]

33. I saw the Pieta at the NY World's Fair in the 60s

And then went out and gobbled down some Belgian Waffles, which was a totally new thing for me at the time.

I give both the Pieta and the waffles 5 stars.

[ProfessorGAC]

34. Similar

I was a high officer of the altar boys at the cathedral school in a diocese of around a million.
Big deal!
After 8th grade, I told my parents I was done with church, even though I went to a catholic HS.
The Pieta got me on a technical level. The details in that sculpture are mind-boggling.
But, still no truly emotional response. Awe? Yes. At the incredible skill involved.

[Beatlelvr]

27. You beat me to it

La pieta definitely! Also Sistine Chapel and Trevi fountain. Not a museum, but the giant redwoods affect me like nothing else.

[ariadne0614]

37. How could I have failed to include the ancient redwoods?!!?

I lived among them for a year. Every morning, no matter the weather, I showered on the outdoor porch overlooking the giant ferns and towering tree-beings. My favorite showers happened during stormy weather.

[Nikossitti]

11. Unexpectedly

Several years ago, we visited my daughter in DC for the first time 45 was elected. We visited the Portrait Gallery—first time seeing the Obama portrait. I’m not a big crier, but out of nowhere, I started crying. Just a release of all the anxiety and realization of how things had changed.

[Docreed2003]

12. Yes, with this self portrait at the Art Institute of Chicago

I stood there much longer than I should have mesmerized by the emotion and turmoil in his face

[NightWatcher]

13. Did not cry but the Rijksmuseum blew me away

Esp the Night Watch



Its me fave

[Ocelot II]

14. I never cry in public, in museums or anywhere else, but

the closest I've come to it was when looking at Rembrandt's "Lucretia." It's so terribly sad.

[CTyankee]

24. Rembrandt just knocks the hell out of me. Look at Lucretia's tears in her eyes. Rembrandt knew how

to paint eyes that have reddenned with tears.

[Scrivener7]

15. I'm going to the "immersive" Van Gogh exhibit next week.

[CTyankee]

20. Please report back to us on how it made you feel.

[Scrivener7]

30. I will.

[Tommy Carcetti]

16. Yes.

Video is here:

[dumbcat]

17. It wasn't Van Gogh, but Francisco Goya

... and I probably didn't actually cry (men aren't supposed to do that) but I got pretty emotional internally.

It was in The Prado museum in Madrid in 2008, and they were having a special exhibit on Goya. I spent the whole day in there. He was another, like Van Gogh, that had had a particularly difficult life and emotional turmoil, and it really came through in some of his works. The works from the period called "The Black Paintings" particularly got to me.

[link:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Paintings|

[demmiblue]

18. Yes, at the Detroit Institute of Arts' "Ofrendas: Celebrating el Dia de Muertos" exhibit.

Several of the ofrenda altars honored those who lost their lives while trying to find a better/safer place in our country (this was around the time of Trump's terror at the border). It was an incredibly moving exhibit.

A few of the altars:









Photos via: https://goodlifedetroit.com/dia-de-los-muertos-family-activity-ideas/

[CTyankee]

21. that's astonishing. No words...

[jpak]

22. Yes

They had a mirror

[Goonch]

26. I almost choked...

MARCEL DUCHAMP “ÉTANT DONNÉS” AT PHILADELPHIA MUSEUM OF ART

Wooden doors, solid except for two peepholes, block off “Étant Donnés.”

Behind Duchamp's Door

[TheProle]

28. Obligatory

[Another Jackalope]

29. Goya's "The Disasters of War" at the Prado in 1972

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Disasters_of_War

Soul-churning prints.

[dumbcat]

36. Yep, those same ones got to me ...

... and at the same place. It looks like he did those prints just before his "Black Paintings" period I mentioned above.

He really had a thing about war.

That was a really good Wikipedia article. Thanks.

[CTyankee]

45. Yes. Goya was horrified by what he saw in those Disasters. He was a changed man after.

Very sad. Regretful.

[Marthe48]

31. Not a museum but Notre Dame in Paris

The first time I ever saw it, 2005, I stood outside, and wept. I glanced over and my older daughter was also weeping.

I have had time to think about my reaction and I think it is because the visible result of concerted human effort to create something so beautiful. I often feel like weeping when I hear an orchestra play music to perfection. What could we accomplish if only we worked together like that all the time? And all humans were included in the effort and the result?

[ariadne0614]

39. +1

[ansible]

32. I wish California had any art museums worth visiting to begin with

I'd have to travel all the way to the east coast just to see any good museums

[happybird]

35. Not an art exhibit, but yes.

When I was in high school, we’d go to DC on field trips a several times a year to see plays or visit an museum having an exhibit relevant to what we were studying. Back then, after we saw what we went downtown to see, they’d set us loose on the city and tell us where and what time to meet to bus to go back home.

A group of my friends and I happened upon an exhibit of items left at the Vietnam Wall. Park rangers collect the items and store them in a warehouse. There were notes, toys, photos, packs of cigarettes, drawings, favorite snacks, knickknacks, crafts made by children, the list goes on and on. There were so many different items left in remembrance of fallen friends, army buddies, and family members. The letters describing how life was going, about the kids and their interests and how much they had grown were particularly gutting. Updates for the dead. Even as a dumb 16 year old it affected me deeply. I cried like a baby.

The Holocaust Museum was another absolute heartbreaker. I would start crying out of the blue for months after our visit.

[IcyPeas]

38. Yes. I cried when I saw Picasso's Mother and Child in person

It took my breath away. The one and only time that has ever happened.

[CTyankee]

46. He started painting in blue after the shocking death of his friend, Casagemas.

Old Man with Guitar is his most famous of his blue period. He did quite a few in this time period.

[Lars39]

40. There was a Monet exhibit

at the state museum. I would give a lot to know which painting it was that affected me that way. I had a bookmark with the name of it, but I lost it.

[KentuckyWoman]

41. I cried in the Cincinnati Freedom Center.

I was so overwhelmed I had to excuse myself several times. I was not the only one in our group. It is a remarkable place and I cannot recommend it enough.

[Skittles]

44. not cry, but had to step away to compose myself

subject was the holocaust