celebrating love & art

On Wednesday, Richard and I celebrated our 20th wedding anniversary! Wow! 20 years!

It’s kind of mind boggling.

I’m so lucky to have gotten to “grow up” with my husband. Being high school sweethearts and marrying after college, neither of us care to imagine what our lives would be like without each other.

And yet, we are still two very different people with a love that brings us together. We compliment each other really well. I’m  the artsy, happy go lucky, “smiley” girl I’ve always been, well on most days. He’s the thoughtful, lover of sports with a sense of humor that draws people to him, just like he did to me when I first met him. I still love that he makes me laugh, even when it’s at myself.

But, if you could have told me, even ten years ago, that on our 20th Anniversary, Richard would drive to St. Louis to take me to an art gallery I think I would have laughed in your face and said, “in my dreams!”

Well, dreams really do come true, because that’s exactly what we did this weekend. 🙂

But let’s back up a little because on Wednesday he came home from work with 2 dozen roses. This coming from a man who rarely buys flowers.  He really is becoming the romantic I knew was hiding in that macho guy.

We then shared a lovely dinner at a local steak and seafood place in town. Shocking I know to think you can get good seafood in Missouri, but if there’s any to be had it would be there. I so enjoyed my lobster and risotto! Yum. 

On Friday, we drove to St. Louis to have dinner at a favorite local Italian restaurant and to see the special exhibition of Claude Monet’s Agapanthus Triptych at the St. Louis Museum of Art. 

The three panels featuring Monet’s water lillies, each 7 by 14 feet, were reunited after 30 years of being at separate museums across the country.

To see a work of this scale is just breathtaking.  I loved hearing that Monet called these works “Grand Decorations” and got an explanation as to why it’s called Agapanthus when clearly the painting features water lilies.  The agapanthus were in the corner of original renditions that Monet painted and as the years went by he painted over them.

I loved taking it in from all angles and locations up close and wasn’t too surprised after coming out of a deep inspection, to find Richard, ever the curious conversationalist, talking to the museum attendant.  The attendant expressed, among other things, how was sad he was to see two of the three panels shipped off to their respective homes soon.  He also pointed out his favorite angle to view the painting, which was from the side. From there you really could get an appreciation of the movement of light and color in the painting and seams seemed to disappear.  So amazingly beautiful!

After that exhibit we took in the other European collection at the museum.  It was so thrilling for me to see great works by Cezanne, Van Gogh, Rodain and Renoir, many of them were works I remembered studying in my art history class in college.

Van Gogh’s Stairway at Auvers

Renoir’s The Dreamer

I was most surprisingly enchanted to see Edgar Degas’ sculpture of Little Dancer Aged Fourteen.  I have seen this as reproductions before and didn’t know or remember that the original sculpture, done in wax, included a tulle and gauze skirt and a flowing silk ribbon in her hair.  It was quite shockingly beautiful. (It was eventually cast in bronze by his heirs in the 1920’s and they chose to keep the skirt and ribbon in the original materials.)

What a lovely night at the museum!  I was so filled with joy and so inspired to see such great works of art.  I was more than just a little crushed when I heard whispered, “You’ll need to leave, the museum will be closing soon.”

We had decided after dinner to have dessert when we left the museum. With little choices around the museum and the hotel, we ended up having sundaes at Steak and Shake.  🙂

It was really the prefect ending to a our cultured evening.  Kind of like us.  A great mix.  I can’t wait to see what the next 20 years has in store for us. I am truly a blessed woman.

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