Menhir 

Curator: The light just explodes off this canvas! It’s all hazy gold and peach. Editor: Indeed. We're looking at Ferdinand du Puigaudeau's oil painting, "Menhir." No exact date is available, but it clearly showcases his plein-air and Impressionistic approaches. That lone megalith really grabs your attention. Curator: Grabs you by the soul! It's such a primal image. You've got the ancient stone, then this serene sea, tiny sailboats flickering on the horizon like scattered thoughts. It makes you feel...small. In a good way, like you're part of something vast. Editor: The menhir itself, of course, is heavy with symbolism. These standing stones, erected by Neolithic peoples, mark sacred spaces, burial grounds, astronomical alignments. Puigaudeau places this red rock monument right at the edge, as if a gateway, contrasting earth and sea, history and… what, hope? Curator: Yes! Like this spot, is in between worlds! And the boats floating by, going from place to place, give the whole scene the feeling of transience... of course, it also makes me think of the sailors wives and mothers waiting back home, praying for safe return! Editor: That tension adds another layer to the image, absolutely. He’s captured a moment laden with history and human emotion using loose brushstrokes and atmospheric light. Those gentle, melting colors. I find it dreamy. It makes time itself feel…softened, less definite. Curator: I agree! I wish I could bottle that color and daub it on the days that are hard! I feel a calmness that is very appealing. Almost holy. Editor: Well said. "Menhir" evokes the profound link between humankind and its past using symbols as points for departure to imagine it and ourselves within the immensity of time and sea. Curator: I feel I can breathe better. I wonder what the artist wanted to transmit to those that would contemplate it centuries from then... or maybe he didn't want to convey a specific meaning and was only compelled to share this singular experience of light... Editor: Or, perhaps he wanted it to be about *both* things simultaneously: personal revelation and historical weight intertwined. Food for thought, indeed.