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Ever had Stendhal syndrome?

johnastovall

Deceased, but remembered fondly here...
Stendhal syndrome or Stendhal's syndrome is a psychosomatic
illness that causes rapid heartbeat, dizziness, confusion
and even hallucinations when an individual is exposed to art,
usually when the art is particularly 'beautiful' or a
large amount of art is in a single place. The term can also be
used to describe a similar reaction to a surfeit of choice
in otherr circumstances, e.g. when confronted
with immense beauty in the natural world.

Interesting thing, I have had it a few times.
There was a room full of Monet's at the National Gallery in Washington
that upon entering I had to just sit down as I felt physically
overwhelmed by their beauty.

It's different than Maslow's 'Oceanic' as it is more physical.

Any other's out there who have had Stendhal's syndrome?
 

Guy Mancuso

Administrator, Instructor
Ah i am just going to get in trouble here.


is this like late night on Cinemax. Okay that was bad, sorry. better go plant flowers before i ban myself.
 

johnastovall

Deceased, but remembered fondly here...
Ah i am just going to get in trouble here.


is this like late night on Cinemax. Okay that was bad, sorry. better go plant flowers before i ban myself.
LOL.... :ROTFL:

There was that film by Dario Argento with that for the title and used it as a plot hook. So it could be late night Cinemax.
 

cam

Active member
Any other's out there who have had Stendhal's syndrome?
so it actually has a name....

raises hand. Monet as well. and once with Van Gogh. outdoors, though, more than any thing. i am still constantly breathless with the beauty of nature and hope i never lose that awe. it's been fairly inconvenient, at times, with a 40 pound pack on my back. dangerous, even, when i used to rock climb -- i learned to stop looking...
 

helenhill

Senior Member
Well for sure i did suffer pangs of it during my teens & twenties when going to such exhibits at the Guggenheim & Whitney of: German Expressionism, Milton Avery, De Kooning, Dubuffet, Schnabel & Basquiat.... They blew my mind

Nowadays 'paintings don't seem to move me as much .....
Its NATURE, LIGHT & PHOTOGRAHY that takes my breath away,my head spinning in a swoon, consciousness obliterated

Bergdorf Goodman windows has the most incredible Full Huge window photography backdrops / unreal the magick, mystique & impact these photos portray at such a GRAND scale / be it landscape or portrait
;) helen
 

LJL

New member
Used to get the feeling when I went to the Chicago Art Museum on weekends as a teenager. I was never an artist, but I reveled in the stuff others did. Repeated those feeling when I used to jump on the "T" in Cambridge between classes in grad school to rush to the Gardner Museum in Boston.....being in a small (20x20 or so) room and seeing several Monets, Manets, and three Reubens on the walls in a single room used to blow me away. Since living in Houston, I have not had as much occasion, except when traveling someplace else. (Not putting down the Houston MFA and others in town, but things have never been quite as intense there as other places for some reason.)

LJ
 
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