Saturday, April 2, 2011

The Umbrellas


Dylan's Mam has really bad depression, so he wants to show her some nice picture to cheer her up. But the picture they happened to see is rainy Umbrellas by Renoir. But, surprisingly for Dylan, his Mam likes it...

"It's lovely," said Mam.
"The play of light and shade across the umbrellas? Yes, I think we can say he-"
"The people," said Mam. "They're out in the rain, but they're all smiling or getting on with things. Why are they so happy?"
The man who'd been helping with the box said: "Maybe they're somewhere where it hardly ever rains. Maybe that's why he painted it? Because rain was a special occasion."
"Interesting," said Lester, "but incorrect. He painted this picture over a long period. He began it in 1881 and didn't finish until 1886. I'm not saying it poured down continuously for five years, but I do think that we can assume a certain familiarity with rain over that period."
"Rain is OK," I said, "If you've got an umbrella."
"Exactly," said Mam. "It's umbrellas. You hardly see umbrellas any more, do you? Don't they look lovely? Like big flowers. And every one of them's got two people under it. Whispering, chatting, laughing. The umbrellas are like parties on sticks."

Frank Cottrell Boyce - Framed