I loved this museum. I spent literally all my time in one area, and I want very badly to go back and explore the rest, but I’m so happy I got to see what I did. Surrealism and expressionism are two of my favorite areas of art, and after seeing a lot of classics and flemish masters, it was really good to get back to those. As much as I love and appreciate the beauty of realism, I love visual representation of feeling. Among masters like Kirchner, I even discovered a new favorite artist while exploring this area; I found myself going up to paintings, thinking “Oh! I like this one!” and the majority of them ended up being by Gustave Van de Woestyne. The eyes were huge and expressive, and I could really feel the intention behind the paint.

One piece in particular really caught my attention. It was dynamic and blunt and I loved it. Christ Showing his Wounds. Christ is depicted with raised hands, displaying his cuts from the crucifixion. Whenever his arms were in my periphery, they looked like they were in the process of moving up, and his eyes were just enrapturing. While I don’t consider myself a profoundly religious person, I was connected to this painting. I can admire the beauty of a classic all day long, but I’m a sucker for paintings that show me emotion. There’s something about his expression, full of calmness and serenity, that puts me at peace. I probably spent a good five minutes just examining all the details I could find. I hadn’t even realized how much time I had spent in that section alone until I happened to look down at my watch and saw I had 20 minutes left. I searched forever among the postcards for a smaller version of the painting, but sadly, could not find one. Even so, I’m really glad we got to visit this museum. As a whole, the trip to the Fine Arts museum was one of my favorites. To me, art museums are a place for quiet and reflection, and I got exactly that while we were here.