Experiencing Art

Grant Snider of Incidental Comics walks us down a path of encountering, exploring and even making art.

I vividly remember, many years ago, turning a corner at the Birmingham Museum of Art and seeing the enormous, majestic Dawn by William-Adolphe Bouguereau. It was stunning. I spent quite a bit of time later chasing down Bouguereaus when I heard that they were on public display.

I will not discount the aesthetic priorities of others, but to me, the Western tradition of art reached its zenith in the works of Bouguereau.

Which encounters with art have left a lasting impression on you?

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For me, it was seeing a "Luminist Movement" exhibit at the Smithsonian in the 1970s. It introduced me to the Luminist and Hudson River School painters. I went through the gallery several times with my jaw out of place. Since then, I've sought out the works of Church, Bierstadt, Moran, Cole, and others, and I've been to Church's "Olana" estate in New York. I especially love those who employed that romantic style to the great western landscapes of the U.S.

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Thinking of the WHO concert in Cincinnati reminded me of an almost disastrous situation at an Emerson,Lake, and Palmer concert I attended. It was around 1973 at the Binghamton NY Arena. I was with a few friends that were in a large crowd on an entrance ramp waiting for the doors to open. all tickets were general admission. When they opened a few doors and the crowd began to move, there was a brief moment when I sensed fear as the crowd surged forward in unison. I could feel that it was impossible for me to stop as I was pressed from behind and forced to press in front of me. Fortunately there was no panic and the crowd eventually thinned out enough that me trepidation was relieved.

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