Art and synchronicity

Many years ago, a friend was visiting our home for the first time. She was immediately struck by a large print displayed in our front hallway in an elaborate golden frame.

“How strange” she remarked. “We had this same work of art similarly displayed in my childhood home in England. I have always loved this,” We were both struck by the coincidence, as it is not a painting one would find displayed so prominently in most homes, at least in my experience. It had fallen into my hands after the passing of a distant cousin, whom we referred to as a great aunt.

I loved this piece of art from the moment I saw it, and it seemed like destiny when it fell into my hands. All the more so, when through a strange coincidence it was also a meaningful piece for my good friend.

Although I had always loved the Impressionist painters, I had never really thought about whether I favoured one over the other. However, in researching the artist, and thinking of this painting in particular, I made up my mind. It is Pierre-Auguste Renoir, who for me stands above all the rest,

The painting? “Woman with Parasol and a Small Child on a Sunlit Hillside.”

I always wonder if anyone is watching the child? Will he or she be safe? Is the woman the child’s mother? Somehow the context suggests a family picnic, with the sense that yes, someone has their eye on the child. The woman with the parasol may or may not be the child’s mother, but at the moment she wants you to look into her eyes, and she is looking at you. There are shadows, but not too dark and deep. Somehow Renoir’s paintings seem to suggest that all is well. There is the happiness of family, extended family and friends. The child will be safe, but now it is his or her time to test his/her wings… just a little.

As I think of the synchronicity in my friend having had the same painting in her home and of my inheriting a painting that felt as if it was already part of me, a few other incidents of strange correspondences or coincidences in my life are running through my mind. Have you had similar strange coincidences, or inherited or received something from out of the blue that felt like destiny?

And what do you think of the woman with the parasol? Is she vain and thoughtless? Or enchanted and enchanting?