edelrost in new york . . .

“edel sei der mensch, hilfreich und gut;denn das allein unterscheidet ihn
von allen wesen, die wir kennen . . .”

johann wolfgang von goethe’s das göttliche

edelmut (gallantry) is a lot different than edelrost (patina), but maybe not as much as we think. goethe also wrote (paraphrased here in english), “the hardest thing to see is that which is in front of your eyes.” the american transcendentalist, henry david thoreau wrote, “it’s not what you look at that matters, it’s what you see.” walking around new york city you can sometimes find rather amazing paintings not in museums, but possibly in the door of a 1948 chevrolet panel truck on de kalb avenue in brooklyn or in another context in an i-beam in one of the many stairwells at grand central station’s subway . . .