Words Too Small For A Life So Large
By Tom Wachunas
You have made
known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with
eternal pleasures at your right hand. –
Psalm 16: 11 -
“…art deepens my
person, indeed it is the color of my emotional exuberance.” – Martin Bertman -
Goodnight, sweet
prince, and flights of angels sing thee to thy rest. – Shakespeare (Hamlet) –
His son, Chaim,
told those gathered at the July 3 funeral service that words were too small a container for his
father’s life. And yet the son’s
profoundly moving words made the father live ever larger in my
consciousness. Hearing them fully
affirmed what I think I had already sensed, but never completely articulated,
about Dr. Martin A. Bertman – Mich’l
(his Hebrew name) - prior to this
bittersweet occasion.
The several long sessions
we spent looking at and discussing many dozens of his paintings in our final
selection process for his Canton Museum show (which ran from December 2011 to
March 2012) will forever remain among my most cherished memories. I was privileged
to have been touched by a deeply human essence. Throughout our discussions he
often spoke of what he had once called the “striving of selfhood” in reference
to his passion for connecting art and philosophy. It occurred to me then that his selfhood was
as much an outward as it was an inward- looking practice. Which is to say that
when you spoke to Martin, you felt him really listening, as well as his genuine
gratitude for the experience. I think he had an uncanny way of making whomever
he was engaging feel significant in the moment. In that, he was eminently
generous - a champion of personhood.
In fielding my
admittedly complicated questions about
the lavish and often mystical inner narrative that colors so many of his
exquisite paintings, Martin was himself
a picture of patience and disarming graciousness. He was neither imperious nor
condescending. It was his humility, not hubris, that imbued his answers –
indeed his life - with real meaning and
relevance, and made our short journey together all the more delicious.
Dr. Martin A.
Bertman, gone too soon. I thank God for blessing my life with Mich’l, a true
mensch.
Link to review of
Martin’s last solo exhibit:
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