Postcards From My Cell Phone

The Return of the Mysterious Stranger

National Gallery of Art

June 2010

There is a story that is passed down from one generation of guards to the next generation of guards at the National Gallery of Art in Washington DC.  The tale talks of a stranger that paid a visit on a cold winter's night in February of 1976 at the beginning of the nations 200th celebration.  It was a quiet Sunday night and a light snow was falling.  A string quartet was playing festive, but mellow music in the rotunda, a feature of the bicentennial.  Normally the museum is closed at this time of night.  But not tonight.  And because of the snow, most people stayed home to stay warm by the fires in the comfort of their homes rather than brave the cold to spend the evening in an old stone rotunda to enjoy the arts of the masters and the sounds of the orchestra.  It was going to be a long night.

But then the stranger came.  A dapper young man decked out in all the fineries of the land.  Long coat tails, top hat, white gloves and a cane.  And he was accompanied by no less than a dozen people that followed him everywhere and did his bidding.  The guards were used to seeing strange things, but as the stranger went from gallery to gallery reverencing the masters, the guards felt this was a scene right out of a rogues gallery.  Especially on a night like tonight.  And it proved to be to much...

Laughter began to ring out through the stone halls.  Belly laughs, and raucous laughs.  Soon the laughter drowned out the orchestra.  No-one could believe that this stranger had come tonight of all nights.  Finally, a guard approached one of the followers wanting to meet this stranger.  They met.  It was the highlight of the evening.  Soon, every guard wanted to meet the stranger.  The orchestra gave up and packed their instruments to go home.  The museum was closed. The next hour was spent with each guard getting his or her picture next to the stranger.  The guards reported it was the highlight not only of the evening, but for their now storied careers.

Some 34 years later the stranger returned.  It was in the heat of the day on a June afternoon.  But the stranger appeared as just another arts patron.  The guards never knew.  But if you ask about the stranger...It's amazing what 34 years can do to a story!