I was recently at the MOMA. Before entering this building I always ask myself…why bother? Do I really have twenty dollars to spend on a place I’ve already been so many times? And then I find myself in the room with all the Matisse’s and I’m looking at this:

For whatever reason, this painting really gets me. Every single time.

So, my theory is, View of Notre Dame fits into my personal art archetype. We all have these, unique to us and hardwired, taking shape in varying mediums – literature, music, photography, nature, whatever. While one piece of art may seem wildly different from the next, there is a common thread between them (say between a painting and a poem or a song), the reason why we are attracted. It’s a feeling. An emotion. And it’s personal. Of course, there are those works that fit into everyone’s archetype because they are that good, like Michelangelo’s David or Schubert’s “Ave Maria.” But, I’m willing to bet my MOMA price of admission that View of Notre Dame does not evoke the same feeling in the person standing next to me at the T stop as it does me.

I will attempt to explain what happens when I come across something that fits my art archetype – and insinuate that everyone in the world gets the same feeling. I should quit while I’m ahead, but let’s use the painting above as an example.

It’s physical. An actual welling in my chest that seems to release tension throughout the rest of the body. And then an emotion stems from that physical release – and the emotion allows me to fully look at the painting, to internalize, to think – it leads to a thoughtful state. When I look at something like View of Notre Dame (the original, NOT a reproduction), I feel like crying. This is harder to explain but it is the most important thing to explain. The crying comes from joy, from relief. Contentment. As if everything is going to be okay; that there is balance in the world and that there is meaning.

This release reminds me how our well-being and emotional awareness is connected to our bodies. Talk to a massage therapist and they can tell you about people crying on the table. The physical release lets a wall go. Yogis use the physical practice as a door to meditation – not for toned arms or a flat stomach. Our bodies affect our emotional state and our ability to think.

What falls under your archetype? Once you start recognizing them, they are hard to avoid. Personally, my chest constricts whenever I read something by Michael Ondaatje or Jack Gilbert or James Salter or I sit in the Rothko room at the Tate.