Some Americans CMI…
Friday, July 27th, 2007The Musee d Orsay, one of the most famous museums in Paris. Comparable to the Lourve, it is home to a whole range of fine arts between 1848 and 1914, including the works of renowned artists Monet, Sisley, Van Gogh, Manet, and Whistler…
What I am about to illustrate, may be too shocking for some art enthusiasts to handle…
So prepare yourself….
I saw this black portrait painting which i could not remember exactly its name and artist, but it looked very different in a way, compared to the others…
The painting had three long lines of identical parallel oil stains right in the centre, and also at the bottom right hand corner. Obviously, someone thought it amusing to slide their filthy fingers across a one hundred year old masterpiece….
Nearing the closing time of the museum, we gathered together and shared our experiences. Worse still, my sister’s boyfriend, Franck, told us that he saw this American standing in front of another painting for quite a while. Apparently, the American was about to reach out and touch the painting, but abandoned that foolish idea, when he saw Franck staring down at him with feral bloodshot eyes….
If you think the worst is over, think again….
My sister was appreciating a very famous painting (Mademoiselle Gachet dans son jardin à Auvers-sur-Oise) by Van Gogh, when she noticed an American woman in her twenties. The American was singing some rap along with her music player plugged in her ears. Grooving and dancing along with the rythmn, she moved closer and closer to the Van Gogh painting…
Guess what the American did…
She stood in front of the painting, looked at it for a while, lifted her index finger, and pressed it into one of the orange brush strokes of the painting….
My sister’s jaw dropped like a 15 pound bowling ball…
The American woman then danced off and disappeared to some corner like nothing ever happened….
It will truly be a shame if she did not get caught by the motion sensors and silent alarms behind the paintings, the hundreds of security cameras, and the numerous guards patrolling around…. =p
It seemed like the Americans like to touch many things and leave a very great impression behind. Just days before, I saw an American family while at the Arc de Triomphe. Sad to say, they were vastly overweight, loud, and they threw litter on the ground. Kind of reminded me of the Simpsons and Family Guy….
Very stereotypical and biased.. Yes, i know….
But, at that moment, standing in the shoes of the French, and watching these American tourists commit such unbelievable and unacceptable actions in this lovely country, I can’t help but mumble the famous phrase. The exact same words which more than half of the world’s population are always saying…
"Stupid Americans"….
