Grooming daVinci's Horse...
A number of years back, I remember reading a review in the New York Times. The reporter seemed genuinely puzzled that a replica of daVinci's horse would be on permanent display in the unlikely locale of Grand Rapids, Michigan. The reporter fretted that the statue would be unappreciated in a remote Midwest city whose only major concert venue doubled as a hockey arena.
It was one of those funny-ignorant-naive art reviews that the New York Times is famous for publishing (If you have the link to the original article, please pass it on to me. I'd love to laugh at it again...I believe it was published during the same time frame that Jayson Blair was reporting for The Times. Though Blair did not write the daVinci Horse review, I suspect the reporter was impressed with Blair's research methodologies.)
Years later, it seems that a number of people -- both local and faraway -- appreciate the enormous horse statue at Meijer Gardens. Instead of being lost in a dizzying display of neon spectacle, the horse stands majestically in a beautiful sculpture garden.
From time to time, the old boy gets a good grooming, too. On one sultry afternoon in June, I watched as two groomsmen wiped the stallion down.
During grooming time, you can better appreciate the size and scale of the bronze beast. Mere solitary snapshots never seem to show how mammoth the horse really is.
If you have yet to visit the Gardens, this is an amazing summer to do so. Chihuly: A New Eden is also on display 'til Fall. Enjoy the abundant beauty that lies all around you.
New York is green with jealousy. Everyone knows...
