"My life is also loud—but this week is for me. I am going to Sotheby’s to buy a painting. A pastoral scene with many maple trees. When I was growing up, my mother told me the maple was a symbol of love and new beginnings. Then when I was a young man I learned that it also represents practicality and balance, which are almost the opposite of love. A tree of contradictions, or duality, turning to reveal one face or another to the world. I understand the quality of the brushwork is unparalleled."