Ann Brener (Ph.D. Cornell University, 1999) is the curator of rare Hebrew books at the Library of Congress and an avid fan of medieval Hebrew poetry, with two books on the subject (and twelve readers) to her credit. None of which kept her from visiting the National Gallery of Art one day after work or falling in love with the painting of Ceres (Summer) then on display, and even more – with its label.
What is it about lost paintings that so captures the imagination? Why, when we learn that this is the only one of Watteau’s Four Seasons to survive the centuries, does the heart pound even faster? Perhaps it’s our innate love of lost treasure; perhaps the tangle of art and reality that suddenly springs into life. Or perhaps both of these together or, then again, something entirely different? The best part is that a lost painting can have so many stories; The Autumn of Watteau tells mine.
The author (on the left) with her sister
Lisa Brener (1956-2019), in New Orleans