Lost & Found - Saving art by opening your eyes.

The piece below is called “Saved” it was painted in 1893 by Charles Vigor; considered by some to be the most famous work of firefighting art in the world, It is one of two works by Vigor noted as masterpieces of the age. With multiple homages, even sculptures based on it, the original hangs proudly in the national firefighting college.

So you wouldn’t expect a signed artists proof edition of this masterpiece to have been tossed in a skip and nearly lost forever.

Yet that is exactly where my grandfather found it, in the process of clearing out a house in his time as a fireman several decades ago. Signed by Vigor in pencil, it’s noted as being printed in Vienna in 1896, with a seal from the Royal academy.

It would not have been saved if he hadn’t done what he always does, actually look at the world around him, not just assume how things are.

That’s it, there is so much art in our world. So much we miss when we assume, Even a single building can contain far more than any of us could absorb in a day.

We shouldn’t view this as some insurmountable mass to navigate, rather we should celebrate this vastness, knowing all we have to do is open our and look, and we will surely find something of worth.

You need no real prior knowledge, just the ability to pause and look, to appreciate the truth of your feeling and the moment you find yourself in.

By carrying that “looking” with you, you’ll find even more art in your day to day. Stickers on electrical boxes, patinas on electrical poles, the light through the train window, a masterpiece in a skip.

The world becomes more beautiful when you actually look at it.