Find yourself at WAM

Find yourself at WAM Works of art speak to us in different ways; sometimes we find ourselves returning to the same piece over and over. Members of the WAM community tell us about their favorite works in the Collection.

Claude Monet (French, 1840–1926), Waterloo Bridge, 1903, oil on canvas,1910.37

The mysterious allure of Monet’s Waterloo Bridge

Long before I traveled to London or Giverny, I traveled at WAM. As a teenaged student, crossing Salisbury Street from North High School, I headed upstairs to a favorite corner where I experienced the fog, haze, and delicious mystery of Monet’s Waterloo Bridge. Earlier, I had lived in Washington, D.C. and spent many hours in the National Gallery with my parents and siblings. I knew a little about Monet and the great bright haystacks, poplars, and water lilies, but the deep mystery of this 1903 London painting was fascinating and new to my high school eyes. I loved it, and I loved that it lived at WAM, so close to home. Over the past six decades, this picture has held its allure for me. It was a special thrill a few years ago when WAM presented nine of the Waterloo Bridge paintings. We could see WAM’s example in its place among the great works in Monet's series. Apart from Monet, London’s Waterloo Bridge also inspired one of the great noir film classics, the 1940 movie of the same name. Starring the unforgettable Vivien Leigh and Robert Taylor, the film tells a tragic story of wartime romance and sorrow, with important scenes taking place on the bridge. Both actors said those roles were their career favorites. A recent viewing at home showed me why: they were brilliant performances shrouded in the same aura as the bridge itself. It was yet another instance of great art inspiring powerful imagination and creativity beyond its own frame. Thank you, Worcester Art Museum.

Anne-Marie Soullière, of Chestnut Hill, is retired President of the Fidelity Foundations and a member of the Worcester Art Museum Board of Trustees and Salisbury Giving Society.

Painting connects him to a cherished friend

The one work that transports me to a very personal place is Terri Priest’s Static Variations: Blue x 2, a huge diptych from her Op Art period that vibrates with pulsing fields. Created in the early 1970s, a few years before we met, this work epitomizes Terri. To confront it is to visit a cherished friend, who died years ago. Terri was a woman of passions: an iconoclast (literally), political activist in civil rights, entrepreneur, mother of two sons, and, supremely, artist. She had innumerable friends. Why she drew me into her orbit was a mystery—and one of the great privileges of my life. We’d see each other at local events and did some traveling together. She opened doors everywhere, but our friendship really developed when at her house. We’d talk for hours, enjoy Lebanese treats, and listen to music. When I asked what she was working on, she’d lead me downstairs to her studio to show me her latest efforts, discuss the challenges she faced, and reveal her artistry. When she asked my opinion or advice, she listened attentively. Years later, standing before Static Variations, I hear Terri point out how many coats of gesso it took to achieve the perfectly smooth surface of the converging blue arrows; the exacting effort it took to create the laser-straight stripes with their razor-sharp edges; how after 50 years the birchwood stretchers haven’t warped a micron, the canvas still perfectly taut. Yes, she’s boasting about all these things, but then laughs to hear herself brag and draws serious as she explains the political and racial equality symbolism of the work. These are the thoughts and memories that wash over me as I stand before Static Variations: Blue x 2.

Bernard Whitmore of Worcester is a longtime WAM Member, Corporator, Salisbury Giving Society Member, and volunteer. He is retired from Saint-Gobain.