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I know most people would publish this post ON Thanksgiving,  but I thought of it on Thanksgiving Day and had to let the idea roast a while… So I offer you this bit of gratefulness to distract you on Cyber Monday.

I am thankful for art because:

During times of grief, it has made me feel less alone.

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Michelangelo’s Pieta. St. Peter’s Basilica, Vatican City

It makes me laugh (Hey, Minions are art too!):

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Magritte Minion. Minion Movie, 2015

Art teaches me how to tell a great story.

Titian's Bacchus and Ariadne. National Gallery, London.
Titian’s Bacchus and Ariadne. National Gallery, London.

It pulls me into the mind of someone else…

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Rodin’s Thinker. Musee Rodin, Paris.

AND into their hearts, too.

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Lichtenstein’s Kiss II. Private Collection

It introduces me to new friends…

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Klimt’s Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer. Neue Galerie, New York.

…And reminds me of old ones.

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Leonardo’s Mona Lisa. Louvre, Paris.

It teaches me to play…

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L’ecoute by Henri de Miller outside of St. Eustache Church in Paris

…And learn…

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Raphael’s School of Athens. In Raphael Rooms at the Vatican Museums

…And break the rules.

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Duchamp’s Nude Descending a Staircase (No. 2) at the Philadelphia Museum of Art

It shows me how to stand up for myself and others…

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Delacroix’s Liberty Leading the People. Louvre, Paris

…Be true to my way of seeing the world…

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Van Gogh’s The Starry Night. MOMA, New York

…And aspire to brilliance.

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O’Keeffe’s Series/White and Blue Flower Shapes. Georgia O’Keeffe Museum, Santa Fe, New Mexico

Art reminds me take a break and go for a walk in the woods…

Kindred Spirits. American painting by Asher B. Durand. Courtesy Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Bentonville, AR
Durand’s Kindred Spirits. Crystal Bridges, Bentonville, Arkansas

…Spend time with friends…

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Renoir’s Luncheon of the Boating Party. Phillips Collection, Washington, DC

…And dance.

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Degas’ Blue Dancers. Musee D’Orsay, Paris.

It gives me faith in something larger than myself…

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Raphael’s Transfiguration. Vatican Museums, Vatican City

And proves the impossible is possible

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Michelangelo’s David. Academia Gallery, Florence

I am thankful for art because it changes the way I see the world.

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These are the reasons I am thankful for art. What are yours?