Visual Art Mar 2, 2016 at 4:00 am

Wagner's Operas Saved My Uncle's Life and Reordered the Tectonics of His Psyche

He was a Painter Who Showed Me the Beauty and Dangers of Being an Other

Trisha Ready
As my uncle Cal’s mind and body started to deteriorate, he couldn’t have sex anymore, so he made increasingly sensual paintings. This is his 1988 painting Venusberg, a depiction of the subterranean sex grotto ruled by Venus in Wagner’s opera Tannhäuser. Cal Pedranti/Photo by Joan Lam/Courtesy of Wagner Society of Northern California
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Comments

1
Sweet. Thanks
cracked on March 8, 2016 at 12:04 PM Report this
2
This moved me to tears. Thank you so much for sharing, all of it.
smiller555 on March 8, 2016 at 4:28 PM Report this
3
ps, the image link for Love Potion seems to be broken
smiller555 on March 8, 2016 at 7:06 PM Report this
4
so thoughtful and innovative! He must love this article so! great work!
TinaK on March 9, 2016 at 8:51 PM Report this
5
Excellent piece, and beautifully written. Thanks for sharing. The ending especially resonated with me. I have struggled to find balance between all the things I want or aspire to achieve. But I've learned that you can't have it all. Coming to terms with that has helped me tremendously and allowed me to find a sort of inner peace.
GabriellaTGZ on March 10, 2016 at 8:52 AM Report this
6
What a beautiful story of continually finding art and meaning in what the world has rejected..
sistermmm on March 10, 2016 at 9:54 AM Report this
7
"Surging music cutting through centuries and across ocean floors" -- wow, this whole piece is symphonic!
Azartny on March 10, 2016 at 4:54 PM Report this

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