Awe: All the Beauty in the World by Patrick Bringley

In his book, All the Beauty in the World: The Metropolitan Museum of Art and Me, Patrick Bringley vividly describes an introvert’s awe in the presence of great art.

Some people visit famous art museums to be able to say afterwards, “Been there, done that.” Others go to gape at the paintings, awestruck. Patrick Bringley clearly belongs in the second camp. An art lover since boyhood, he not only cherished visits to Chicago’s Art Institute and New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art, he worked at The Met as a guard for a decade, communing with art from around the world and from every historical period. We’re fortunate that he shared his soul-deep appreciation of it in his 2023 book, All the Beauty in the World: The Metropolitan Museum of Art and Me.