An earful

A small exhibit of Van Gogh letters at the Morgan gave me the opportunity to finally see Renzo Piano’s infill structure there. I like the light-filled space and the way it merges together the old and new, also that some things I’ve never seen before (the librarian’s office, windows in the bookstore) or been in (the dining room) are now opened up. The elevators, wall-free, look very pneumatic. Meanwhile, the letters, in fading brown ink, have Van Gogh’s flame-like hand. One of them had a sketch of Van Gogh’s room, which he later painted as The Bedroom, a touchstone image for me. This is my ideal room. A bed, two chairs, a table. The all-important window. I have a postcard of it on the exterior of my apartment door. A friend once gave me a tiny puzzle version of the painting. To his brother Theo, Vincent wrote, “then I go out at night to paint the stars.” Which reminds, I’ve got to get out of the city, with its heaven-blighting light, to see Comet Holmes, which as you might know is currently blooming, its coma larger than the sun. The game’s afoot, Watson!