Life, Like Rain, A Masterpiece

I'm thinking about Masterpiece. How many paintings were there? How many I remember? Why does it seem that so many are slipping my mind?) Of those I remember,which can I name? (Why does the answer seem to be an awkward "none"?) Miriam mentioned one of the materpieces that in her youth was referred to as Green Face. In the comments two posts ago (Who Lives Intimately With Rain) I linked to that painting. In googling I've found images for the same painting that are actually different pictures (not just color but different yet similar scenes or designs). It could be they're fragments.

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I did some research on the board game Masterpiece (which means I googled) (last night the library's computers were down and the place emptied out, and as the librarian said, "goes to show you"), searching for a list of the 24 paintings. (They should still be in my parents (TSLABW) basement, haven't checked.) I didn't find a list, but something better. Ann Wiens wrote a piece about her memories of playing the game and how it affected how she looks at art. Its a great piece, which is to say I wish I'd written it.

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Through her article I was able to get the names of some of the paintings. I love the way she weaves information along with her own recollections and the memories of others, particularly people in the art world. For example: "Leah Stoddard, a curator at the Contemporary Arts Center in Cincinnati, remembers that, among her pals in Bethesda, Maryland, the greatest disdain was reserved for Jackson Pollock's 'Greyed Rainbow.' 'No one would ever bid on it," she recalls. "We all thought it looked like crushed tin foil.'"

k

The Pollack is one of two abstracts. The other one, is one I mentioned in my comment back to Miriam. I guessed wrong as to who it was (guessing the one artist that I can namewho does work that remotely resembles that piece). (Did you ever notice that when people are unfamiliar with a realm, rather than admitting to being clueless, they will use the modicum of knowledge they have to poorly pretend they are "down with" the topic?) That work is by Hans Hoffman and it's called The Golden Wall. The Jackson Pollack is called Greyed Rainbow.

k

Ann Wien's essay, Masterpiece Canvass: A real-life tour through the Parker Bros. art game, can be found here. I am thankful to Ms.Wiens for having written her lovely, evocative piece. I am grateful for the assistance in reliving the memories; the good times of playing Masterpiece with my family, the masterful world of childhood. I am particularly appreciative of her providing some of the names and artists to match the paintings that live in my head.

l

As a child the Hoffman was my favorite and the Pollack was second.