Bill Murray says an 1884 painting saved his life after he accidentally walked into a Chicago museum
The celebrity comic was asked if he could 'pinpoint' a time in his life where art made a difference to him.
Art is subjective, which is why people have different interpretations or feel different emotions when looking at a piece of art. To this day, people across the world still swarm museums to catch a glimpse of some of the masterpieces that were painted years ago.
CBS News Chicago came across a clip of American actor Bill Murray describing how a painting saved his life during a press conference for his film "The Monuments Men." Murray was asked if he could "pinpoint" a time in his life where art made a difference to him.
Bill took a few seconds before he responded. He shared that at the beginning of his acting career, during his first time on stage, he was so bad that he just walked out. He continued walking for hours and realized that he had been walking in the wrong direction, both literally and metaphorically.
Somehow, he ended up at the Arts Institute in Chicago, where he walked right in without even giving a donation at the door, because he "was ready to die and pretty much dead." That was when he saw the painting.
At the time, Murray did not even know who painted "The Song of the Lark." He described it to the audience, "It's a woman working in a field, and there's a sunrise behind her, and I've always loved this painting. I saw it that day, and I just thought, 'Well, look, there's a girl who doesn't have a whole lot of prospects, but the sun's coming up anyway, and she's got another chance at it.' So, I think that gave me some sort of feeling that I, too, am a person and get another chance every day the sun comes up."
Marie Saavedra from CBS News Chicago went looking for the painting and found it at the Art Institute in Chicago. She met with scholar and author, Gloria Groom, who also works as an executive director at the institute.
Groom told Saavedra, "It's just been here forever, and it's one of our most beloved paintings. The main heroine of this painting is this young peasant girl, and you see her walking down this path with her bare feet, and she's wearing the garb of a day worker... just caught transfixed by the song that is being made by a skylark."
In the era of AI and digital art, a significant number of the US population still go out of their way to spend time at the museum. A survey conducted by the American Alliance of Museums (AAM) and Wilkening Consulting found that parents and guardians of minor children make up the largest group of visitors at 44%. The second largest group is young adults without children at 33%. 27% are people between the ages of 40-59 with no minor children, and 26% of the visitors are the elderly (60 and older).
"The Song of the Lark" was painted by Jules Breton in 1884 in France. 10 years later, it was moved to the Art Institute in Chicago.
Groom explained, "When it was shown in Paris, it was a confirmation that peasants belonged in the fields. When it came to America, it took on a completely different sensibility. It's about aspiration." Gloria said that even to this day, several people are still inspired by Breton's artwork. She concludes, "That's why we have a museum, and that's why we do what we do."
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