Spring 2010, The Museum Experience

Going Smithsonian (National Portrait gallery and American Art Museum, Air & Space Museum, National Museum of Natural History) ~'My Experience'~

2010-05-12T20:15:00.016-04:00

~The National Portrait Gallery and the Smithsonian American Art Museum~

These two Museams, are now refereed to as the Donald W. Reynolds Center for American Art and Portraiture.

~The National Portrait Gallery~

The National Portrait Gallery is a must see if any of you are in D.C. There is an "American Presidents" exhibit, kind of self explanatory, which houses portraits of early american presidents, this is located on the second floor. This exhibit, besides the paintings in the White House, is the only other complete collection of presidential portraits in the United States. The painting in this exhibit that I liked the most was "Lansdowne". It is a portrait of our very first president George Washington. The painting was done by Gilbert Stuart in 1796. I did not have a chance to stay in the Portrait Gallery for very long, however i did have a chance to see the "One life: Echos of Elvis" exhibit, which is not a permanent exhibit, like the "American Presidents". Everything was breathtaking.

~The Smithsonian American Art Museum~

The first floor is full of 19th century paintings, pictures as well as some modern sculpture. It is called "American Experience". The Paintings are mostly done by Edward Hopper, who lived from 1882 to 1967. Edward Hopper was a prominent realist painter, and I believe he was also into print making. His most commonly known painting is "Nighthawks" which was done in 1942. One painting that stuck in my mind was "Manhattan" By george O'keeffe, It was absolutly amazing to finally get to see this in person. On the second floor, the exhibit that I enjoyed most was, "American Art Through 1940" some artists in this exhibit were Frederic Auguste Barthold, Thomas Moran, and John Singer Sargent. John Singer Sargents work on display is known as the "Guided Age Portraits" <- I remembered that from Art History. John Singer Sargent lived from 1856 to 1925.

~National Air and Space Museum~

On my adventure in Washington D.C. during the cherry blossoms in april, along with going to the National Gallery of art and the Reynolds Center, I also went to the National Air and Space Museum and the National Museum of Natural History.

First, i will talk about the National Air and Space Museum. The National Air and Space Museum is a fascinating place, not only do you learn about Space and Technology, but the history behind it, as well as learning about techniques used during WWI and WWII, the planes and battleships that our country has used since the early 1900's. When you first walk into this museum, there are planes hanging from the ceiling. They have the wright brothers plane on display as well as Apollo 11's command module. The amount of United States history in this museum is astonishing. They have a number of Grumman planes- including the 'Hell Cat' , 'X-29 Experimental', and the f-14 tomcat. Seeing these planes in person was wonderful for me. my late grandfather was a head engineer for Grumman and specifically worked on these planes.

There are so many things to see in this Museum, the exhibits are broken down like this: On the first floor, they have "milestones of flight" which include the spirit of st. louise, apollo 11 and the x-15. "Golden Age Of flight" with Howard Hughes, H-1 racer, breaking speed records in 1937. "America by Air" with the nose of a 747 passenger jet you can literally walk in and a Douglas DC-3. "Space Race" With huge rockets extending almost to the ceiling. "Explore the Universe" Cosmo-Technology show room, this exhibit has telescopes used to look into space. My favorite exhibit: "How things Fly"

- The second floor has "Sea-Air Operations" Battleships/aircraft carriers, examples and movies of what life is like on an aircraft carrier. You can even stand at the helm of one! "Military Unmanned Aerial Vehicles" including the drones. "World War Two Aviation" , "Legend, Memory of the Great War in the Air" , "Exploring the Planets" , " Apollo and the Moon" , " the Wright Brothers and Invention of the Areal Age" and "Beyond the Limits".

There is so much historical information to absorb at time spent at this museum. Being able to see the first plane that ever took flight, or seeing how astronauts live in space, (what they eat/wear) is amazing to me. By far the most intriguing thing I absorbed was the advancement of technology within 100 years, we went from flying a wooden plane to traveling to the moon. What's Next?

~The National Museum of Natural History~

This is a Museum i'm sure you all know of. Im sure most of you have visited or at least herd of this Museum. This Museum is fascinating. When you first walk in, there is a giant elephant on display. Once again the architecture inside is absolutely amazing. All marble stairs and railings and walls makes it feel like a palace. The vast open space of the main hall, (the first room you walk into) is immense, almost somewhat hard to grasp. they have everything from fossils of dinosaurs to precious gems. My favorite piece was the, Architeuthis (Giant Squid), i have always wanted to see one, and they have one thats 36ft long or something. Its being preserved in formaldehyde behind glass, but it is unbelievable to see in person. Another one of my favorite exhibits was the precious gems. They had the Hope Diamond. which was really hard to see due to how many people were looking at it, but i finally got my turn. The hope diamond is an astonishing 45.52 carrot diamond. Other exhibits they have there are named "Sant Ocean Hall" Which has everything you ever need to know about ocean life. "Kenneth E. Behring Family Hall of Mammals" which has a tremendous amount of stuffed animals. (Probably 200+)

"Discovery Room" has fossils, shells and skulls, as well as a fossil lab set up, so you can see what goes on in the lab. "Paleontology" which is where the dinosaurs are. "life in the Ancient Seas" 540 million years of life? wowzer. "Fossil Plants Hall" self explanatory, but 350 million year old fossils here. " The Ice Age hall" is how humans lived during the ice age. "Western Cultures", "Forensic anthropology" , "Bones and Reptiles" , "the Korea Gallery" , "Insects" <- this was really cool, i enjoyed looking at all the butterflies, with all the different designs on their wings. There is so much to see at the National Museum Of Natural History, its hard to see it all in one day.

The Philadelphia Museum Of Art (My Experience)

2010-05-12T19:19:00.004-04:00

Another Museum i visited was the Philadelphia Museum Of art. Rocky trained on these stairs

(haha). Anyway, the Philadelphia Museum of Art has a fascinating Picasso exhibit, with everything from his Blue Period, to his Black period. They have an outstanding collection of Italian made 'suits of armor', from the 15th Century. They have a reproduction of a 14th Century castle which was amazing. You can see what life was like back then, with out going to England / Scotland and visiting the ruins in person!

The Museum has 3 floors, with a North and South wing. On the ground floor there are some prints, drawings and photographs, but consists mainly of a cafe/restaurant, a museum store, with the south wing being an education student center. The First floor, is broken up with the north wing consisting of American Art, the south wing: Modern and contemporary art. Also there is European Art from 1850-1900, and a special Exhibitions gallery which is where the Picasso exhibit was. The Second Floor Has Asian Art in the north wing, European Art( 1500-1850) in the south. This floor also has the Arms and Armor exhibit, and the castle reproduction.

I was astonished of how many Monet Paintings they had on display, this was like the amount of Rembrandt paintings at the National Gallery. Monet is one of my favorite painters, and some of his works on display at the Philadelphia Museum of Art consisted of: The Shelterd Path, Green Park London, Poplars on the Bank of the Epte River, Poplars, Bent in the Epte River, Under the Pines. Another one of my favorite painters Renoir: Boy With Toy Soldier, Still Life with Flowers and Fruit, Portrait of Alfrid With His Dog, Two Girls, Peaches and Flowers in a Vase. They also had Rain, By Van Gogh! There were also some of paul Cezanne's work on desplay, consisting of: Still Life With Flowers & Olive jar, Bay of L'esaque, Mont Saint Victor, Winter Land Scape and the Large Brothers. Degas was among their collection, with a painting known as After The Bath.

This Museum had awesome marble work as well. The stairs in the main hall when you first walk in are tremendous. The columns at your side reaching 60 plus feet to the ceiling. (Absently Amazing!) Id say, I was impressed with the variety of art collected in this museum, from the oriental rugs to the suits of armor it was overall a great experience.

National Gallery of Art (My Experience)

2010-05-12T18:07:00.008-04:00

The national gallery of Art, is simply the most enchanting museum I have ever been too. It is in Washington D.C. for those who don't know. The main gallery (The West Building) was built in the 1937, the (East Building) and the addition of the sculpture garden went up in 1978. The architecture is absolutely amazing, the marble work inside is extravagant, with gigantic columns 4 foot wide, stretching 40 plus feet too the ceiling. Not only are there marble columns huge, 90% of the floor is made of marble with intricate designs laid out that are jaw dropping. The craftsmanship of the marble is worth the trip alone.

As for the art, the collection that the National Gallery has in my opinion is the best in the entire country, or at least the east coast, for i have never been to the pacific. They have everything from 13th century italian art too 20th century sculpture. To be specific, in the main building they have paintings from 13th-15th century Italian, 16th century Italian and Spanish, 17th century Italian, French and Spanish, 18th century italian, 15th -16th century Neverlandish and German, 17th Century Dutch and Flemish, 18th-19th century Spanish, 18th-19th century French, 19th century French. the Armand Hammer Galleries include prints and drawings. They also have 16th -20th century sculpture. The sculpture included everything from porcelain to solid copper sculptures. I noticed that the national gallery has a lot of private collections, where photography was prohibited. ( I took some pics and the security guard made me erase them off my camera, i should have been more inconspicuous).

My favorite exhibit aside from the countless Rembrandt paintings they had, was the Chester Dale Collection, "From Impressionism to Modernism" The artists and their work consisted of: George Bellows: (Maud Dale, 1919, oil on wood) William Merrit Chase: (A Friendly Call, 1895, oil on canvas) Henri Matisse (The Plumed Hat, 1919, oil on canvas) Mary Casset: (The Boating Party, 1894/94, oil on canvas) Amedeo Modigliani: (Gypsy Woman with baby, 1919, oil on canvas) Edgar Degas: (Edmondo and Therese Morbilli, 1865, oil on canvas) Paul Cezanne: (The Peppermint Bottle, 1893/95, oil on canvas) Claude Monet: (The Houses of Parliament 'Sunset', 1903, oil on canvas).

The Sculpture Garden out side the National Gallery, was outstanding. There were some very unique sculptures there, Look to the top for a few of my personal favorites.

Another thing that amazed me was the amount of Rembrandt paintings they had. This has to be the largest collection in the United States. There were many there that i had studied in art history classes at Albertus. A few of my favorites were: Gentlemen with a Hat, Lucretia, The Circumcision, Joseph Accused by Potiphai's Wife, The Girl with a Broom, A Polish Nobleman, Man in Oriental Costume, Man With a Tall Hat, A self Portrait from 1659, An Old Lady With a Book, The decent from a cross and a young man seated at a table.

Overall this was an experience of a lifetime, and i am most certain i will be visiting the National Gallery again.

Yale Center For British Art Museum Experience

2010-04-28T20:52:00.018-04:00

Amanda and I visited the Yale Center for British Art last week, and I'd have to say it was a great experience in which we enjoyed everything they had to offer. "Yale Center for British Art houses the largest and most comprehensive collection of British art outside the United Kingdom. The collection of paintings‚ sculpture‚ drawings‚ prints‚ rare books‚ and manuscripts reflects the development of British art‚ life‚ and thought from the Elizabethan period onward. The Center’s collection of approximately 1,900 paintings and 100 sculptures vividly narrates the story of British art, life, and culture since the end of the Middle Ages. Particularly strong in the period from the birth of William Hogarth (1697) to the death of J. M. W. Turner (1851), the collection reflects the tastes and interests of its founder, the late Paul Mellon.
Among the artists best represented are William Hogarth, Thomas Gainsborough, Joshua Reynolds, George Stubbs, Joseph Wright of Derby, John Constable, and J. M. W. Turner. The Center’s collection ranges from a late-fifteenth-century Nottingham alabaster to paintings and sculpture by such twentieth-century artists as Stanley Spencer, Barbara Hepworth, Ben Nicholson, and, most recently, Rachel Whiteread and Damien Hirst.
The story of British art is by no means confined to artists born in the British Isles. Major figures from continental Europe and America painted for British patrons or spent periods of their careers in Britain. The Center offers a year-round schedule of exhibitions and educational programs‚ including films‚ concerts‚ lectures‚ tours‚ and special events. It also provides numerous opportunities for scholarly research‚ such as residential fellowships. "(The YCBA Website).
Here are some paintings that were my favorite of the museums collection:

"A Phaeton with a Pair of Cream Ponies in the Charge of a Stable-Lad"- George Stubbs, 1724-1806
Wax and resin on oak panel, ca 1780-85.
"Light, equipped with good wrought-iron suspension, and very fast, the "crane-neck" or "highflyer" phaeton was a stylish type of two-seat carriage popular among ladies, especially. The mythological name was borrowed from Phaeton, son of Zeus, who hurdled across the heavens in his chariot. The introspective mood of the stable-lad is beautifully offset by the playfulness of the dog at his feet." (YCBA). I love the environment portrayed around this scene. The color scheme used is very calming and easy on the eyes.

"The Sense of Hearing"-Philip Mercier, 1689-1760. Oil on Canvas, Ca. 1744-47
"The scores on the harpsichord are marked "Hendel Operas" and "Geminiani's Sonates. In the 1740s, both Georg Friedrich Handel and the Italian violinist and composer Francesco Geminiani were living in London. As a foreign artist striving for success in the British art world, Mercier may well have chosen these musical names t make the point that if other foreigners in Britain could take the lead in music, why should not well-connected foreign painters, such as he, take the lead in art?" (YCBA). The group of ladies are presumably performing a Geminiani trio sonata. I like how each lady is playing a different instrument, a bassist, flutist, violinist, and cellist. Everyone connected together musically. Beautiful scene portrayed.

"Mary Little, Later Lady Carr"- Thomas Gainsborough, 1727-1788. Oil on cava, CA. 1763
"This portrait was probably commissioned to mark the wedding of Mary Little to the successful London mercer of Ludgate Hill Robert Carr, who in 1777 was granted the form of hereditary knighthood known as a "baronetcy." Gainsborough, whose father was a weaver and whose sisters were milliners, revels in the description of his sitter's sacque or robe a la francaise, a fashionable style of cress with sumptuous panels sewn into the shoulders that, descending, formed a kind of train. The feathery rendering of the various fabrics and textures-especially the expensive, glossy, pink silk taffeta, which was known as "lute-string" or lustring- was especially appropriate since the sitters new husband was a fabric merchant, highly dependent in his business dealing upon the deman for new silks, lace, and other profitable trends in Georgian fashion." (YCBA). I just love the beautiful pink dress she is wearing. The way the linen is painted is with extrordinary flowing detail. You can practically know what the rendered cloth feels like just by staring into its composition.

"The Brown Family"- Francis Wheatley, 1747-1801. Oil on canvas, CA. 1778
"Francis Wheatley's distinctive style of painting the human figure, at once doll-like and realistically expressive, is on display in this portrait. He structured the portrait around a moment of suspended action, in which Mary Browne, the matriarch, catches a fish. Her son George leans over and delicately unhooks the prize. One of the younger girls, distracted from her father's drawing, toddles toward the lake. The decorous middle-clas leisure of the Browne family is contrasted with the thatched cottage in the distance. This humble dwelling suggests picturesque rural poverty, a subject that would occupy much of Wheatly's focus later in his career." (YCBA). I love how the sky and lake are beautifully rendered descending off into the background of the scene.

"The Education of Achilles"- James Barry, 1741-1806. Oil on Canvas, CA, 1772
"Beside a veiled herm inscribed in Greek with enigmatic message:"all things:one and in one," the wise and leared centaur Chiron initiates Achilles into the mysterious art ( represented by the lyre). Mathematics (the Euclidean diagram traced on the ground) and war ( the spear and shield). He points to the spear, and the shadow of his hand points to the greek inscription and Achilles, an omen of the young warrior's death in battle."(YCBA). This painting is very mysterious in nature. The setting is in the gloomy woods. You ask a lot of questions when looking at this painting. The centaur is dominating with crucial knowledge.

"Vesuvius from Posillipo"- Joseph Wright Of Derby, 1734-1797. Oil on Panel, CA. 1788
This painting is described in the artist's account book as "A picture of a distance View of Vesuvius from the shore of Posillipo. "Wright first visited Naples years earlier, in 17774-75, and made the bulk of his sketches of Vesuvius then. Eventually he produced in England about twenty-seven paintings in which he captured those remarkable effects of light, color, and atmosphere. The view is taken from the cape of Posillipo, looking west across the Bay of Naples." (YCBA). The city seems to be obscured by the high bluff of pink and blue. This painting immediately caught my eye due to the pastels used to create the atmosphere. Your eye is brought straight into the skyscape. I love the pink sunsetting sky and the bright moon beaming above the gleaming sea.

"Inverary Pier, Loch Shira: Morning" - J. M. W. Turner. Oil on Canvas, CA. 1845
"This is one of the roughed-out beginnings of paintings that Turner kept in his studio and worked up to a higher degree of detail, is and when he decided to exhibit them. Inverary Pier belongs ti a group of nine views that were based on Turner's much earlier set of mezzotint engravings, the Liber Studiorum (1804-19). Inverary stands on the western shore of Loch Shira in the Scottish Highlands. The view is looking east toward the morning sun."(YCBA) I love how the style of this painting is not exactly a clear view, rather a foggy window look into the open environment. The pastel colors used, make this painting soft and airy in nature. There are no line anywhere on the canvas, everything is painted so smoothly blending into one another.

"Sandown Bay, From Near Shanklin Chine, Isle of Wright" - John Glover, 1767-1849. Oil on Canvas, CA. 1827
"John Glover, who was a major figure in the Regency art world, traveled on horseback throughout Britain in search of picturesque views. The Isle of Wright had been explored from the 1790s by , among others, J. M. W. Turner and Glover's friends, the watercolorists George Barrett and Peter de Wint. Portrayed in this painting, the rugged cliff-top, a vntage point for ramblers; the empty drop to the beach; the impressive effects in the lowering sky; and the puny insignificance of the human activity below it- all con-form to the general pattern of sublime- romantic view painting." (YCBA). I am a big fan of the focal point of this painting, being the huge open stormy-cloud sky. I love the texture of the stormy dark clouds, fluffy in composition. They're stretching across the sky covering the setting sun, but the sun still seems to slightly peek through beneath and beyond, causing a beautiful sunset colored sky.

"The Deluge"- John Martin, 1789-1854. Oil on canvas, 1834.
"According to the Book of Genesis, mankind showed some wickedness in the generations after Adam that God repented of the whole of Creation and sent down a huge flood, destroying almost every living thing on earth. Martin attempts to capture the divine violence at its most destructive, when all the fountains of the great deep were broken up, and the windows of the heaven were opened." The only people to be spared were the righteous Noah and his family, whom God instructed to build an ark. Martin makes this symbol of hope and redemption barely visible, resting on one of the highest rocky ledges near the ominous conjunction of sun, moon, and blood-red comet." (YCBA). I love the red glowing sky portrayed in this paining. It really brings highlight to the intensely rendered violent waves of the sea. Everything is swallowed up in a big whirl of crashing waves. The story behind this is very evident in one glance.

"The Sense of Sight"- Philip Mercier, 1689-1760. Oil on Canvas, CA. 1744-47
"Echoing most closely the composition of "The Sense of Hearing", this scene of three young women and a boy sitting with their tutor beside a parapet in the open air, employs optical accessories to stand for the sense of sight. The gentleman examines with his magnifying glass a map of part of the east coast of spain and the islands of Mallorca and Menorca, perhaps explaining to the girl seated beside him their geographical and political significance to Britain. Over his shoulder, the other two girls peer through a telescope (left) and tilt a small mirror (right), while the boy in the foreground bows his head and refrains from looking at anything." (YCBA). This painting symbolizes the importance of the sense of sight. Everyone in the painting contributes to the symbolization by viewing something different in a intriguing way, causing wonder and provoking thought. The composition is cool and easy on the eyes.

"Gulliver Addressing the Houyhnhnms"- Sawrey Gilpin, 1733-1807. Oil on Canvas, 1769
"Sawrey Gilipin took his equestrian subject from the great satire Gulliver's Travels (1726) by Jonathan Swift. In Book IV, Gulliver describes the civilized country of the "Houyhnhnms", who are horses endowed with reason, culture, and institutions of civil government. By its cleanliness, goodness, and gentleness, the land of the Houyhnhnms- their name obviously alludes to the whinnying of horses- provided Swift a convenient contrast with that of the brutish and all too recognizable "beasts in human shape," whom he called "Yahoos." The Houyhnhnms were wary of he Yahoos, treating them as servants, but the Yahoos disgusted Gulliver. This Swift encouraged his readers to form an equally harsh judgement of the morals and behavior of their own species." (YCBA). I like the setting of this painted scene. It's over all painted in a gloomy way with dark colours, but enlightening at the same time. I love how the white horse stands out in the scene, and how he is butting heads with the other brown horse, in a humanistic way.

Here are some other beautiful paintings that grabbed my atention:

Yale Center for British Art

2010-04-26T22:28:00.007-04:00

Alyssa and I visited the Yale Center for British Art. The Museum was different from the other museums that we had viewed, however I still enjoyed the pieces eventhough I was familiar with the artisits. "The Yale Center for British Art houses the largest and most comprehensive collection of British art outside the United Kingdom. The collection of paintings‚ sculpture‚ drawings‚ prints‚ rare books‚ and manuscripts reflects the development of British art‚ life‚ and thought from the Elizabethan period onward." (YCBA)

Stratford Mill
John Constable in 1819-20, oil on canvas. "Mill painted each sketch before each of the large landscapes that he showed the annual Royal Academy exhibitions from 1819 onward. His main goal at this stage was to see how the masses of light and dark would work across the composition. Brilliant and full of life though his sketches are he regarded them as a means to an end, he preferred to be judged by works of detail and finished works." (YCBA) I like this piece to me it is a little dark in some areas but I do like his detail and the action of the characters featured in this piece. His dept of feel looks really good, you are able to see the river disapearing into the horizon.

Sandown Bay, From Near Shanklin Chine, Isle of Wight
John Glover in 1827, oil on canvas. "The rugged cliff top is a vantage point for ramblers the empty drop to the beach and the impressive effects in the lowering sky also the insignificance of human activity below all conforms to the general pattern of sublime." (YCBA) I like how the sun is setting behind the clouds and the ships are in the distance. This is a creative view to paint of the island. I love how this is painted at a birds eye view, I wouldnt think to paint the scene like this but I'm glad Glover did becuase it works well.

Landscape Near Quillebouf, France
Richard Parkes Bonington in 1824-25, oil on canvas.
"Bonington’s shore profiles are often almost completely flat, the horizon line kept daringly low and the composition shorn of extraneous detail. The overall effect is one of calm, a fusion of personal observation of the French coast and Dutch maters of the 17th century." (YCBA) The sky is boring however I like the boat in the foreground and the ships in the distance. I would have liked this piece more if it wasn’t as dull and had more detail in the middle ground and sky. But I do like the two mules just standing by the calmn water looking out into the horizon.

Grand Canal, Venice Italy
Richard Parkes Bonington in 1826, oil on millboard
This is a view of the entrance to the Grand Canal in Venice with the church of S. Maria della Pieta and the long Riva degli Schiavoni stretching away into the distance. "The forground palaces are the Ca’ Barbarigo, two minor 15th century facades. Bonington was here painting in a gondola that was stationary but presumably swaying on the water." (YCBA) Several gondolas are in this piece. What caught my eye was the colors and detail of the shore. I would like to go to Italy and see Venice someday soon. I like how the brush strokes are viewed to be painted very quickly not creating much detail however capturing the basic shapes.

A Grotto in the Gulf of Salerno, Sunset (right image)
Joseph Wright of Derby in 1780-81, oil on canvas. "The deep sea washed grottos that intrigued Wright on his excursion south to Salerno. Wright adapted his grottoes for quasi-genre subjects like for a hide out for thieves and history subjects both conventional and unusual. "(YCBA)I was drawn to this piece because it reminded me of the Disney movie Peter Pan for some reason. I like how the ship was abandoned and the light from the sun was shining through lighting up the walls of the grotto.

Eagle, A Celebrated Stallion
James Ward in 1809, oil on canvas. "Ward is known as the mammoth of animal painters. Although he is remembered as a major force in the British Romantic tradition for his subject pictures and landscapes. The horses he painted are animals who had been carefully bred to achieve maximum speed on the racecourse. Eagle is one the finest of these portraits of thoroughbreds and it exhibits Ward’s remarkable ability to create an accurate physical portrayal of a particular animal. He also evokes a transcendent romantic type suggesting the latent power of the barley tamed creature is full of drive, dash, and tension with swollen veins and flared nostrils."(YCBA) To an extent it this piece does sum up the elemental forces of nature itself. I like this piece because the horse is very bright and realistic the colors of the background are bight and they appeal to the eye. Eventhough there isnt much else going on in this piece I do like how he captures the beauty of the horse.

Winter Landscape
George Morland in 1790, oil on canvas.
"In the third quarter of the 18th century towards the end of the little ice age winter was dangerous and many people died of exposure."(YCBA) This wintry landscape captures the setting with frozen rivers and mountainous quantities of ice and snow. This piece makes you feel the cold and the dark sky almost makes a depression scene along with the grays. I would not want to be stuck in that storm. This piece made me feel like I was there and drew me away from it becuase I dont care for winter and all the preparing you have to do to make sure your warm and comportable.

A Midnight Modern Conversation
William Hogarth in 1732, oil on canvas.
According to the clock in the piece it is four in the morning. The drinkers seem to be decent men and well dressed middle aged men. They have gone through more than two dozen bottles in this piece of art and are in various different states of disarray. Most are depressed of asleep. "At the round table the debauched clergyman ladles punch while a politician lights his sleeve in his mouth."(YCBA) So much is happening in this piece and it was funny to see a painting of what happened after hours. Hogarth has changed British art with this piece. It is very different from traditional portraits.

The Deluge
John Martin in 1834, Oil on canvas.
"In the generation after Adam that Dog repented of the whole of creation and sent down a huge flood destroying almost everything on earth. Martin tried to capture the divine violence at its most destructive when all the fountains of the great deep water were broken up and the windows of heaven were open." (YCBA) This piece is very dark and symbolized redemption because it rests on highest rocky ledge near the ominous conjunction of the sun, moon, and the blood red comet. This piece was very large and my favorite piece, you cant walk by it without stopping to stare at the detail and meaning of it. The curves of the waves look very realistic and I like how the moon is reflecting on the treacherous waves.

The Sense of Taste
Philip Mercier in 1744-47, oil on canvas. "The scene involved two pairs of lovers sitting in an open loggia. The couple on the right are the merrier of the two, in charge of the wine bottles and filling glasses. The couple on the left appear more restrained, the young ladies glass is being filled." (YCBA) This is what caught my eye to the piece because the action of the wine falling was captured beautifully. I like the detail in this piece. I also like the lighting and how the light is focusing on the important people in the scene and the ones not involved are darker or almost to be blurred out in the background.

A Green Land Falcon
George Stubbs in 1780, oil on canvas.
"This is the only known portrait of a falcon by Stubbs and may have been commissioned by Colonel Thomas Thornton one of the artists best known sportsman patron. The picture has not survived in as pristine a state as many of the other paintings by Stubbs in this collection and the flattening and deterioration of the background may be a consequence of the artist’s experimentation with new media for oil paint that might have included beeswax." (YCBA) I like how Stubbs captured the detail of the bird and it almost appears to be brighter than the rest of the piece which could be because of its condition or Stubbs might have purposely created the piece that way. This is a beautiful bird, I like how Stubbs focusing on animals instead of people. I feel that he really captured their beauty and detail in nature.

An English Water Spaniel
George Stubbs in 1769, oil on canvas. "The English water spaniel no longer exists as a pure breed but it is the ancestor of various types of modern poodles. It was employed by sportsmen to spring and retrieve games from rivers, streams, and ponds." (YCBA) It is the only dog portrait for which Stubbs provided a plain dark background and not a suitable setting out doors. But I still enjoy the piece I think he painted it very realistically and the dark background makes the dog pop out from the canvas. The dog almost appears to be glowing because of the dark background which makes him pop off the canvas which I feel draws in the viewers I becuase it caught mine.

Lion Attacking a Stag
This was painted by George Stubbs in 1765, oil on canvas. "This picture was commissioned by the Marquess of Rockingham as a companion to the great lion and horse picture that hung on the wall next to this one. Stubbs took great trouble to execute drawings and studies of a real if caged and somewhat subdued lion. The animal belonged to the early of Shelbourne one of Rockingham’s Whing cronies and Stubbs went to draw him at cord Shelburne’s villa on Houslow Heath which is west of London." (YCBA) This is a beautiful piece, I liked the action in this piece however I thought that the lion shouldn’t have been looking straight out. The animal that the lion is clawing is darker taking the attention off of the attach and bring it to the lions face which is calm. He doesnt appear to be angry or tired from crushing the animal below him. I enjoyed looking over the details of this piece. Stubbs is a very talented painter, I think he really knows how to bring out the beauty.

Here are just some other pieces that I also enjoyed....

New Britain Museum of American Art.

2010-04-26T17:29:00.000-04:00

New Britain Museum of American Art.

2010-04-26T17:08:00.002-04:00

Mladen Curakovic
New Britain Museum of American Art.

New Britain Museum of American Art. This museum was founded in 1903 and it was the first institution in this country devoted to collecting and exhibiting American art. Each of the paintings that I have looked at while at the museum represents a different style of major development from 1750-1950. This museum contains over eight thousand works and it is expanding in an effort to reflect our ever-evolving culture. The outside of the museum one will discover numerous sculptures that overlook the beautiful Walnut Hill park that is designed in the 19870s.
During my visit to the museum the current exhibits that are on display are: The Great American Watercolor, Meticulous Masterpieces: Contemporary Art by Dalton Ghetti, Les Lourigan and Jennifer Maestre, Ruthie Davis Shoes: Couture, Futuristic Design, NEW/NOW: Kwabena Slaughter, Hudson River Paintings from the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Lisa Hoke: The Gravity of Color,
From the moment I entered the museum I was taken away by the Art that was on display. The design of the museum its self is art and eco friendly. On the first floor I looked trough the Hudson river paintings but was not allowed to take pictures. The detail and the way artist painted these paintings were amazing. In the hall toward the second floor there ware several of my all time favorite paintings that I have looked at in class and had to learn about. Such as Norman Rockwell paintings. I was surprised to see the actual paintings and not only remember them from a textbook. The detail and the way he depicts American life is amazing and great.
Further down the hall I saw paintings of tarazan and couple other comic books paintings that were originals that were used for the book covers. Right above the second floor a huge Glass blown chandelier hangs in front of the wall display called gravity of color which was stunning because the artist used plastic cups that she poured color in and arranged them in such a way that it is soothing to the eyes.
On the second floor I looked at the early modernism exhibits. One exhibit that caught my eye the most was the 911 portraits. When I got to this painting I just froze in my spot. The painting is done in such a way that one looking at it takes at least twenty minutes to absorb everything in and the message it is sending. The artist that painted this is Graydon Parrish, the painting expresses the setting as a desolate landscape crowded by shallow rivers, on the horizon clouds and billowing smoke obscure the city skyline. A great mass of paper and debris flowers and votive candles weave between the figures in the background. Resonates which symbolism the passage of time the loss of love and the brevity and frailty of life. This painting was one that took me the most time to look at and I was so impressed by it and remained of all of the lives lost in the tragedy that has happened.
The second exhibit that I found truly amazing and when talking about detail and patience this one wins with hands down. Maticulous Masterpieces., is sculpted pencils visionary alphabets, unusual media, and painstaking attention to detail are all elements that the art work of Dalton M. Ghetti, Les Lourigan and Jeninffer Mastre have in common. The work of these three artists gives the viewer an exciting and inspiring glimpse of the art world beyond traditional definitions.

Other painters such as Andy Warhol Chuck close, Roberto Bernardi. I was struck when I saw chuck closes painting. Learning about him and his style in my Art history class was even more amazing when I came across his painting. The detail and vivid colors were just the beginning. From far away the painting speak one thing but when you move close you realize that it is a well placement of vivid colors in a circular motion. Knowing that even though he became paralyzed from the waist down and being limited to his production of art and the style he u se to paint in he himself created a totally new and if not better style of painting that he does today as well. He wakes up every morning goes to his art studio and paints until sunsets and just enjoy doing it.
The entire museum experience was such that I can’t explain it. The thing that I did not know before taking this class is that by just going to a museum and not knowing what you will see there that you know and love is a shock and the best feeling. For example when I saw the 911 painting and famous chuck close painting and Norman Rockwell paintings I was lost for words. The whole idea of the style of paintings and time periods and the movements make a lot more sense to me now that have seen these paintings in person and have observed them and seen the differences in them. Even when this class is over and I have more time I will continue to go and visit museums just to see these amazing pieces of art work that were created now or thousands years ago and now we can see them right in front of our eyes.

Yale Art Gallery Experience

2010-04-22T01:32:00.003-04:00

Yale Art Gallery Experience
The Yale University Art Gallery has much to offer to its visitors. Embracing all cultures and periods, their mission is to encourage appreciation and understanding of art and its role in society through direct engagement with original works of art. "The Gallery stimulates active learning about art and the creative process through research, teaching, and dialogue among communities of Yale students, faculty, artists, scholars, alumni, and the wider public." (YAG website). The Gallery also organizes exhibitions and educational programs to offer enjoyment and encourage inquiry, while building and maintaining its collections in trust for future generations. The Yale Art Gallery truly believes in the importance of art in everyones lives. "Looking at art can provide a much needed refuge for reflection, sympathy, quietude, inspiration, and even ecstasy in this increasingly chaotic world. Looking further can deepen knowledge of cultures and artistic practice, develop and hone observational skills, reveal insights into history that other documents can't, and encourage creative, analytical, and autonomous thinking." (YAG Website). The artist I admire, whose work I would like to focus on for this paper are: Paul Cézanne, and Georges Seurat.
This impressionist painter whose work almost always catches my eye is known as Paul Cézanne. His first piece, "The House of Dr. Gachet at Auvers." (1872-73) oil on canvas; features the house of Dr. Paul Gachet (1828-1909). "Gachet was a a homeopathic physician who was one of the earliest supporters of the Impressionists. Gachet would later be immortalized in Vincent van Gogh's Doctor Paul Gachet of 1890. To depict Gachet's house, Cézanne divided the painting into four compositional wedges of sky, road, trees, and houses; a rigorous structuring of the canvas used in his subsequent works. His additional interest in combining different points of view is evident in the head-on view of the house, juxtaposed with the upward tilt of the approaching road. A brightened palette and lively facture suggest the influence of Camille Pissarro, who introduced Cézanne to Impressionist technique while the two worked around Auvers from 1872 to 1874."(wikipedia.com) There's a great sense of location and space in this painting. I like how Cézanne creates a rich depth of field in this piece, using cool colors to open up the canvas. This piece is beautifully rendered with a effortless style.
Cézanne's next piece that I admire is called: "The Neighborhood of Jas de Bouffan" (Environs du Jas de Bouffan), 1885–87. Oil on canvas. The story behind this intriguing piece, is simply that Paul Cézanne’s father bought a large country house and farm, called the Jas de Bouffan, just outside Aix-en-Provence. "For the next forty years, this estate, which included a large eighteenth-century house, alleys of chestnut trees, and views of Mont Sainte-Victoire. This property afforded Cézanne with many of his subjects. It was only in the mid- and late 1880s that Cézanne explored the varied motifs offered by the manor and its grounds in real depth."(wikipedia.org). The work has a traditional design, with a large foreground tree at one side and a clump of smaller trees at the other framing a distant view in the center. "But in Cézanne’s scrupulous adaptation, it becomes an image of a particular place beyond the walls of his family estate, seen in the warm light of Provence on a cloudless summer day. I view both the sense of order and the sense of isolation from this balanced yet uninhabited landscape. This predict this conveys what must have been the artist’s dominant mood in the summer of 1887 or 1888. Calm but resigned. "Always the sky, the boundless things of nature, attract me and give me the chance to look with pleasure.”(wikipedia.org). I think when viewing this piece, the vibrant color harmony is dominated by a rich variety of greens, in one sense toward yellow, in the other toward blue and violet, in a manner at once descriptive and abstract that does indeed do the most good to the eyes.
No understanding of Georges Seurat's (1859-1891) development would be complete without consideration of the 85 oil studies he produced in the formative years prior to his first large painting, Bathers (1883–84). Agrarian workers and peasants are among the most consistent subjects of these early works, which reflect the important influence of Jean-François Millet, the Barbizon school painter of rural life. Seurat achieved his beautiful sense of style through innovative coloristic and painterly techniques. Working directly in the field, he followed the Impressionists’ practice of painting outdoors to capture the fugitive effects of light; he also studied contemporaneous developments in physics, optics, and color theory assiduously. In Seurat's painting, "Vache noire dans un pre" (Black Cow in a Meadow) 1881 oil on panel."(wikipedia.org).

You get a sense of a still life depicted of a large black cow grazing and eating in a field. I love the rich green color used for the lushish grass, and the silhouette effect of the two lonely trees and cow. The shadow growing from each object gives this painting a sense of time in the day. There's not much composition in this piece, but the painterly technique Seurat uses, gives this painting simple but brilliant dimension.
The last piece of Seurats that intrigued my mind was his "Le pecheur" (Riverman; Fisherman) 1884 oil on panel. This piece is another beautiful composition. The painting depicts a fisherman standing in a small paddle boat in an open river, viewing the environment around him. He looks like he is patiently waiting for his catch, or he can be frustrated with his results of the days activity on the river. Anything can be taken away from when it comes to the emotion of the fisherman considering his facial expression is unknown. The river is painted with a sense of great motion and depth, using the cool colors of blues and greens and whites. I love the long dark shadow of the boat on the water. A little piece of land is shown in the background of this painting giving enough to propose a location to the viewer. The cropped view of the boat and fisherman, really draws your attention to the story being told here. The way the river is painted gives this painting such a calm attitude, I feel like i can stare into the water endlessly. I feel Georges Seurat's dabbing technique really brings his paintings to life with such great dimension. In accordance with scientific thinking, he applied pure hues rather than premixed pigments to the canvas and employed the technique of “optical mixing,” in which complementary colors “vibrate” when placed in correspondence with one another. At this time, Seurat made his painting surface highly active through the use of short, crosshatched brushstrokes; he subsequently distilled these brushstrokes into tiny dots, a method now known as Pointillism.

Yale Art Gallery, New Haven

2010-04-21T16:38:00.009-04:00

Alyssa and I visited the Yale art gallery in New Haven, here are my favorite pieces followed by African Art which I choose to focus on because I found it very interesting and different.

African Art

The Yale Art Gallery houses a significant collection of art and embraces all cultures and periods. "The mission of the gallery is to encourage appreciation and understanding of art and its role in society through direct engagement with original works of art." (http://artgallery.yale.edu/) The gallery posse’s collections of early Italian painting, modern art and what caught my eye the most during my visit was African sculpture, masks and tools. There were over 1000 objects made from wood, metal, ivory and ceramic.
The first piece I was drawn to was “Headdress in the Form of a Winged Woman (Tiyambo), Baga Guinea, mid-20th century made from wood, paint, and nails”. "The voluptuous bust of a woman called, Tiyambo is worn as a headdress in dance celebrations by the young Baga men." (Yale Art Gallery) She is identified by the two marks that are on her cheeks, and her wings align her with the female messenger birds of the sky. I think that her horns might suggest that she is an example of a grounded masculine animal. "The Tiyambo headdress was created in the 1930’s, after a young Baga man spied on the old men of the community in their sacred grove and discovered their sacred female spirit as they conjured her image. He did this by carving the form in wood and presenting it to the public." ( Yale Art Gallery) I felt this piece to be very meaningful to the tribe; however I want to know why the woman’s facial expression is emotionless and why she’s just looking straight out. I feel the wings and the horns make this so unique and complete the significance of the woman.
The next mask that I was intrigued to know the meaning of was “Mask (Gongoli), Mende, Liberia or Sierra Leone, early to mid-20th century made from wood, black pigment, red paint fabric”. I feel that this is a very ugly and oddly shaped mask. I think that the mask might have been used for performances, they might have wanted an ugly mask on purpose to get their message across. "The function of the Gongoli performance is to show the worst side of the human nature." (Yale Art Gallery) For example deformed, disheveled, chaotic, undisciplined, deceptive, etc, the mask was worn with a hideous costume of dead leaves and rags. The performers wearing the mask would move erratic and awkward which was amusing for the crowd. "Gongoli masks were usually owned by private individuals and would appear at any celebration." (Yale Art Gallery) This mask appears to almost be distorted because of its ugly shape and emphasized features.
“Mask (Kakuungu), Suku Congo (Kinshasa) late 19th- early century, made from wood, raffia, pigment, animal hair, and tortoiseshell”. A Kakuungu mask gives the viewer an instant fear whether it is viewed close up or from a distance. "The yisidika used this mask to teach obedience and respect to initiates and to threaten those who might inflict harm upon his charges. The performer wearing this mask could celebrate in song by jump from village to forest and travel great distances in record time." ( Yale Art Gallery) This mask appears to be the oldest and most powerful of Suku masks in this gallery, it also is said to cures weakness and infertility, control severe weather and intervene in other disasters. I like how the their was a lot of hair surrounding the face and how they made the eyelashes so long with the carved out eye sockets which makes the viewer become attracted to the eyes of the mask before moving down to the very large cheeks small circular position of the mouth. I would like to see the performer’s costumes and body movements when wearing this mask because it has multiple purposes for celebration and warning signals.
The animal mask was very intriguing because it was almost cartoonist. “Mambila, Cameroon, late 19th –early 20th century made from wood, pigment and fiber”. This didn’t appear to be a mask to me but more like a hat to me because I didn’t know how it was worn. The black and orange colors caught my eye along with the painted on white teeth along the creature’s mouth. "During the festivities of the Mambila people’s semiannual agricultural ceremonies a series of masks appeared according to mask rank. The crow was a protagonist of secondary rank and always performed with a first rank character like a dog." ( The Yale Art Gallery) The mask was displayed to be worn with a fiber costume and made from wild banana plants. This mask could only be viewed by men and when the masks were not in used they were kept in the village ancestral shrines. I would like to know why this tribe felt that this mask could only be viewed by males and why it was kept away from woman. I don’t find this piece to be degrading like some of the other female figures that I viewed at this exhibit.
I found the African Drum to be very tall, thin yet carved very intricate. “Drum, Baule, Ivory Coast, late 19th-early 20th century, made from wood, hide, fiber, pigment, feathers, and encrustation”. Because it was so tall I wondered if they made it tall for a specific reason, or if they just wanted to complete the design and it became that height. High slender trunks of wood were used to carve the drum. It was elaborately embellished with carved figured of people, animals, and other objects with symbolic significance. This drum has serpent forms, human faces, rams’ heads with horns, and geometric shapes. The drum is over two metes high, it incorporates at bottom a fluted shape that may replicate a still signifying the political power of a older male in the tribe. The tall drums appeared in pairs and were played to announce the most momentous performance events, for example at the beginning of a festival or a funeral of a respected elder. I would like to play the drum and see what type of sound it makes, I also wonder if the height gave it a different pitch than other instruments that they might have had.
These African masks and figures were just some of the many fabulous examples at the gallery. I like to view a different civilization from what we have today and compare how our tools, memorial structures, and types of celebrations have changed and flourished. This way I can appreciate the great advancements I have and also see how much time and work they put into something that we have made by machines today. Hand crafted work is always the most significant because it has a meaningful purpose behind the reason it was made. I would like to view more of this periods African Art, they definitely had a unique taste for their living styles.

The Guggenheim Museum Experience: New York

2010-04-07T23:50:00.007-04:00

Guggenheim Museum Experience
The Guggenheim is an internationally renowned art museum and one of the most significant architectural icons of the 20th century. "The Guggenheim Museum is all at once a vital cultural center, an educational institution, and the heart of an international network of museums." (Guggenheim Museum) Visitors can experience special exhibitions of modern and contemporary art, lectures by artists and critics, performances and film screenings, classes for teens and adults, and daily tours of the galleries led by experienced curators. "Founded on a collection of early modern masterpieces, the Guggenheim Museum today is an ever-growing institution devoted to the art of the 20th century and beyond."(Guggenheim Museum) The permanent collection of the Guggenheim Foundation embodies the institution’s distinctive history. I feel that the story of the Guggenheim collection is among the most diverse collections of art and media mixed together that create a truly remarkable experience to take in . For example, among these are Solomon R. Guggenheim's collection of nonobjective paintings formed around a belief in the spiritual dimensions of pure abstraction. These collections form a unique, shared global collection that reflects the art from the mid-19th century through the present.
My favorite collection while experiencing everything the Guggenheim had to offer, went to the Thannhauser Collection. This exhibition, on view in a dedicated gallery, presents highlights from Justin Thannhauser's collection, also including masterpieces by Paul Cézanne, Paul Gauguin, Edouard Manet, Claude Monet, Pablo Picasso, Camille Pissarro, Pierre Auguste Renoir, and Vincent van Gogh—to the Guggenheim Museum. Out of all these richly talented artist, I would like to focus my attention and share with you the art work of Vincent van Gogh.
"Van Gogh was born on March 30, 1853, in Groot-Zundert, the Netherlands. Beginning in 1869, he worked for a firm of art dealers and at various short-lived jobs. By 1877, while working as an evangelist, he decided to become an artist. Van Gogh admired the work of Jean François Millet and Honoré Daumier, and his early subjects were primarily peasants depicted in dark colors. He lived in Brussels and in various parts of the Netherlands before moving to Paris in February 1886. In Paris he lived with his brother, Theo, and encountered Impressionist and Post-Impressionist painting. In February of the following year van Gogh moved to Arles, where he painted in isolation, depicting the Provençal landscape and people. During the years preceding his suicide in 1890, Vincent van Gogh suffered increasingly frequent attacks of mental distress, the cause of which remains unclear. " (Guggenheim website)
The first of his work that caught my eye was- "Mountains at Saint-Rémy" (Montagnes à Saint-Rémy), July 1889. Oil on canvas. This was painted when van Gogh was recovering from just such an episode at the hospital of Saint-Paul-de-Mausole in the southern French town of Saint-Rémy. The painting represents the Alpilles, a low range of mountains visible from the hospital grounds. In it, "Van Gogh actively painted the terrain and sky with the heavy impasto and bold, broad brushstrokes characteristic of his late work." (Guggenheim website). I love the feeling of soothingness you receive when you stare at this painting. The cool colors of green, blue, browns and white used help enhance that feeling. The mountains are depicted almost in motion, in a flowing drifting manner. I think some symbolization of feeling trapped in the hospital where van Gogh stayed, is lived within this painting. "Van Gogh advocated his paintings from nature rather than inventing a motif from the imagination. On a personal level, he felt that painting outdoors would help to restore his health. Nature had a religious or transcendental significance for van Gogh. Unlike the earlier Impressionists." (Guggenheim Website).

His next piece of work that caught my eye is known as "landscape with Snow" (Paysage enneigé), Late February 1888. Oil on canvas. "Van Gogh left Paris in 1888 to find rejuvenation in the healthy atmosphere of sun-drenched Arles. When he stepped off the train in the southern city, however, he was confronted by a snowy landscape, the result of a record cold spell. Undaunted, van Gogh painted "Landscape with Snow" around February 24, when the snow had mostly melted, just prior to a new inundation. The artist implies the patchy coverage of the snow through daubs of brown paint and by leaving areas of the canvas to the brilliant illumination and feverish colors of the summer harvest paintings van Gogh made later in the year. Here, instead, he presents the looming, purplish light of an impending snowstorm." (Guggenheim website). Once again you'll notice van Gogh's gradation of colors from dark greens and browns framing the foreground to the blue sky in the distance, and through the recession of the road in the snowy landscape. I think this present work shows van Gogh concentrating on the terrain between where he stands and the bright red-roofed cottage in the distance. He paints the scene from a perspective immersed in the landscape, on the same plane as the black-hatted man and bowlegged dog walking along the path. A sense of motion is also expressed in this painting due to his flowing brush strokes.
Vincent van Gogh's last piece that caught my eye was, "First Steps" (After Millet), 1890, oil on canvas. This work of art depicts a child taking it's first steps to its father figure working out in a planting field. There is a lot of happy, pleasant emotion that comes with this painting. "Van Gogh painted twenty-one copies after Millet, an artist he greatly admired. He considered his copies "improvisations" or "translations" akin to a musician's interpretation of a composer's work. He let the black-and-white images—whether prints, reproductions, or, as here, a photograph that his brother Theo had sent, "pose as subject" then "improvised color on it."(Guggenheim website). I just love Vincent van Gogh's brush strokes. I have no idea how he does it, but he just makes the work look so effortless with his brush flow technique. Some of the other Impressionists paint more natural looking settings and I think this is why I like van Gogh at this point. For instance, when I look at the painting below, I wonder if Van Gogh was able to create this masterpiece in an hour? Perhaps two hours, or maybe it took him all morning. If you just look at the paint on the canvas, to me it looks like each brush full of paint fills its space with life. No coming back over a previous brush stroke to change something, not even a second stroke to add depth or shading, everything the artist wanted to do in the scene was done on the first stroke. Absolutely amazing.

Guggenheim Museum, New York

2010-04-02T20:40:00.004-04:00

Alyssa and I went to the Guggenheim here are some pictures of the building, we were not allowed to photograph inside the museum.

The Guggenheim Museum is a vital cultural center, it draws in many people all over the world to view the masterpieces that it houses. "The numerous exhibits consist of ideal projects where themes emerge including: the return to nature in its prehistoric state, the desire to climb the building, the interplay of light and space, the interest in diaphanous effects as a counterpoint to the concrete structure, and the impact of sound on the environment." (Guggenheim.html)
Today, the Guggenheim Museum is an ever-growing institution devoted to the art of the 20th century and beyond. The museum features many of Pablo Picasso’s works which immediately caught my eye because of how much his works differed from the other pieces displayed. "Picasso’s revolutionary artistic accomplishments brought him universal popularity and immense fortunes throughout his life, making him the best-known figure in 20th century art.
Picasso and his work were the subjects of unending analysis, gossip, dislike, adoration and rumor." (www.pablopicasso.org) Picasso’s compositions filled the world, and left permanent marks on every discipline he entered. The fist piece I walked up to was “Le Moulin de laGalette” 1900, oil on canvas. Since it was very dark I didn’t recognize it to be Picasso until I read the caption. The entire scene depicts the couples dancing as fashionable South Americans. I feel the painting bears the influence of symbolism, which expresses itself in its dark tone. The lamps burning in the dark inspires us to perceive the atmosphere of the Moulin de la Galette as something mysterious and even fraught with danger.
I was able to sense the time of year because of the way he dressed the people in the painting. On the left he placed a table with customers which formed a sort of bridge linking the wall painting in the middle-ground to the foreground. The majority of women in the composition the same looks with bright red lips and washed out faces. It is believed that the woman on the left is Germaine Gargallo who was important to Picasso’s closest friend, Casagemas with whom he had travelled to Paris. "The Moulin de laGalette lead the transition to the emotional composition of the Blue Period." (Wikipedia)
Picasso’s “Woman Ironing” Spring 1904, oil on canvas made me feel very depressed for the woman in the picture because I was able to feel her pain and suffrage. This piece was painted at the end of the Blue Period in a lighter but still bleak color scheme of whites and blueish-grays. This is Picasso’s archetypal image of travail and fatigue. He painted her with a long and narrow figure which made her size and angular contour reveal a distinct stylistic balance. "Picasso filled his subject with a poetic and almost spiritual presence, making her a metaphor for the misfortunes of the working poor people." (www.pablopicasso.org) I feel that his intention was to show sorrow and anguish by painting her hunched over with no emotion on her mouth. This was a very moving piece to observe and to be able to feel what the woman was for the moment you were staring at her eyes which were focused on the sheet she was ironing.
The next piece of Picasso’s that I liked in this gallery was “The 14th of July” 1901, oil on cardboard mounted on canvas because of the crazy brushstrokes and colors he used to create this work. This was a much smaller painting than the others that I have seen of his before. What I was first drawn to was the big white buildings and the French flag in the background of such a crowded street. The people in this painting had very little detail and almost appear to be blurred out of focus when I walked up closer to the piece. I had never heard of this painting, I don’t think it was a very popular one at all, however I liked the fact how I was able to see the cardboard through the oil near the edges of the painting. My eyes also read the 4th of July when I first read the caption because my brain is used to the date but I feel he captured the essences of a street scene very well. The bight reds, blues, and whites I feel made this painting work well, if he had used duller colors I don’t think it would that interesting to view. I wonder why he decided to paint which such happy colors but over all I enjoyed this piece just like I do all of his works and I actually felt part of the scene on a hot July day in Paris. The style of this work wasn’t cubism yet the shapes of his subjects appeared to be leaning towards it.
Picasso’s final piece that caught my eye was “Fernande with a Black Mantilla” 1905-6, oil on canvas because of its complete gray scale color theme. This piece I also questioned to be Picasso’s because of the abbreviated detail in the woman’s face. Although the face had detail it lacked emotion other than a disappointing or a solitude look, Picasso used big brush strokes to compose the background and the mantilla that the woman wore on her head.
I feel this piece was an investigation of space, volume, and perception because of the strokes he used which later lead to the invention of Cubism. This portrait of Fernande with a Black Mantilla is a transitional piece. This piece is still somewhat expressionistic and romantic, with its serious and dark tone with big lively brushstrokes. Fernande Olivier was Picasso’s mistress, which perhaps symbolizes the Picasso’s Spanish origins. The section of the portrait that drew my eye to was the dark blue “flower is object” with a lightly green steam which appeared to be resting on Fernande’s chest. I would like to know why he decided to make only that object in a brighter tone then the rest of the piece, yet I do feel that it works in this case. "The stylization of her face represents Picasso’s increasing interest in the abstract qualities and solidity of Iberian sculpture, which profoundly influenced his subsequent works." (www.pablopicasso.org) I think although the naturalistically outline of the painting signifies his experiments with abstraction, you are able to see this in his later works.

Yale center for British Art Photos

2010-03-28T18:15:00.000-04:00

Yale center for British Art

2010-03-28T17:13:00.002-04:00

Yale Center For British art

About the center.
Presented to the university by Paul Mellon (Class of 1929)‚ the Yale Center for British Art houses the largest and most comprehensive collection of British art outside the United Kingdom. The collection of paintings‚ sculpture‚ drawings‚ prints‚ rare books‚ and manuscripts reflects the development of British art‚ life‚ and thought from the Elizabethan period onward. The Center offers a year-round schedule of exhibitions and educational programs‚ including films‚ concerts‚ lectures‚ tours‚ and special events. It also provides numerous opportunities for scholarly research‚ such as residential fellowships. Academic resources of the Center include the Reference Library and Photo Archive‚ Conservation Laboratory‚ and Study Room for examining works on paper. An affiliated institution in London‚ the Paul Mellon Centre for Studies in British Art‚ awards grants and fellowships‚ publishes academic titles‚ and sponsors Yale’s only credit-granting undergraduate study abroad program‚ Yale-in-London.
Not only does the center provide one with stunning and great paintings but it also has large collections of sculptures and drawings. During my visit to the museum I was shocked and amazed by the architecture of the building. Looking from outside one may not think that this is such a big building inside and that it looks like a work of art by it self. The building is a four-floor building. Each floor offers a different type of painting style and artwork.
Compared to my previous museum visits this one has to be the best experience I had so far. Yes there was no paintings that I remember or artists that I know. However that does not matter nor does it play a important role since this class is called a museum experience for a reason. If all of the museums contained arts of work that you like and expect to see then where is the experience in that. This museum experience was just opposite. And this is the main reason Why I found this museum to be a great experience.
Going back to the million-dollar question, which painting I would buy with that money. During this visit I found it extremely hard to pick out one painting that I would want to buy. So this time I could not pick one painting that I would buy because there were so many that I would love to have.
One thing that I noticed at the center is those British artists have great appreciation toward their architecture and their landscapes. I noticed this due to overwhelming amount of landscape paintings of the big king and queen mansions and their landscapes.
Painting that caught my eye was painting by Joseph Wright and it is a painting of a cave looking toward the sea. This painting is extreme because there was same painting next to it where the artist painted one picture where the cave has no water in it and on the second painting the tide was in and the cave was filled with water. All of the painting s at the center were extremely detailed and well painted that one will have to stop and look at it really hard to see and realize that it is a painting and not a photograph.
Another set of paintings that I have found interesting was The Sea by James Thomson this series consisted of several large scale paintings where artist painted ships on water in different mother nature circumstances. In some paintings artist painted ships under attack and in some he painted them where Mother Nature was taking control of them and people were doing everything they can to survive.
This museum experience was amazing and spending two hours at the center was just not enough time because before I knew it, it was time to leave because maximum number of hours I could park on the street by Yale was two dude to the huge amount of construction that was occurring. In the future I am looking to go back and spend more time at the center and read more about each painting and each artist because it is a great place top visit and spend the day in.

Metropolitan Museum of Art

2010-03-14T16:49:00.006-04:00

The Metropolitan Museum of Art located on the eastern edge of Central Park. "The Met has a permanent collection containing more than two million works of art, divided into nineteen curatorial departments. The main building, often referred to simply as “the Met”, it is one of the world’s largest art galleries. In the permanent collection are works of art from classical remains and Ancient Egypt, paintings and sculptures from nearly all the European masters, and an extensive collection of American and modern art. The Met also maintains holdings of African, Asian, Oceanic, Byzantine, and Islamic art." (Wikipedia) Here are some of the works that I enjoyed the most.

“Offering table of Amenemhat I” Dynasty 12, this great altar was used for the presentation of offerings in the funerary temple of Amenemhat I. "The top has a deep trough for libations and is carved with a conical loaf of bread on a mat, the hieroglyphic sign for offerings. The loaf, inscribed with the king’s names, is flanked by liberation vessels and round cakes." (The Met) I like how the figures on the table represent Upper and Lower Egypt. I have a big fascination with Egypt and I loved viewing all the Egypt artifacts at the museum. I also like the stone, I wonder how they were able to move sure heavy pieces without advanced technology.

“Marble statue of a lion” This is a Greek statue said to been found in Trastevere near Porta Portese, Rome. "Marble statues of lions were sometimes used as tomb monuments or as guardians at both ends of a large tomb façade. Like many classical Greek works of art." (The Met) I was drawn to this statue because the lion was in a pouncing stance with its mouth open. I like how it was shown in its natural position. Also I like how the artist choose marble to create this piece, I feel it works well with capturing the lions natural state.

“Terracotta bell-Krater” 440 B.C. This is a Greek bowl for mixing wine and water. "Persephone, the daughter of the goddess Demeter, was condemned to half of each year with Hades." (The Met) I really like the shape of these bowls and I find it interesting how today our bowls are nothing like this yet we do have vases which are similar to this terracotta bowl.

“Cleopatra”- marble carving by William Wetmore Story from 1819 to 1895. "Cleopatra exemplifies Story’s penchant for depicting famous or infamous personalities from history as they contemplate past deeds or forthcoming actions of significance. She was the last Macedonian ruler of Egypt, meditates suicide, the asp curled around her arm predicts her death from its venomous bite. She is dressed in a nemes, royal head cloth with the uraeus cobra headdress." (The Met) I think this sculpture is very beautiful and I like the way story chose to position her. I also like how she is sitting in a non-formal position. Her clothing was carved in great detail along with her physical features showing off her beauty.

"View of Oyster Bay”- Louis C. Tiffany, leaded favrile glass. I enjoy this glass piece because it is very unique and I like how the illusion window is framed by a trellis and vines dripping with blue and while blossoms. The view of the stain glass is remarkable; I would like to see Oyster Bay to perceive how the window captures its essences or not.

“Panther and Cubs” – "This bronze statue was created by Edward Kemeys from 1843-1907. Kemeys was America’s first animal sculptor of significance his works were inspired by the untamed beasts, he observed during frequent trips to the mountains and plains of the American west." (The Met) He focused on panthers because it varied emotional states from fierce to material tenderness. Although this didnt have great detail, I feel the material works well and shows the ture love of motherhood.

“Garden landscape and Fountain” –Tiffany’s
I thought this was a beautiful fountain and I love the glass mosaic. I like the shimmering landscape with the flow of the water below. It made me feel very relaxed when I was looking at it. This was created in 1915 and looks so peaceful like it could be a dream.

“Burgonet” –Filippo Negroli Italian (Milan), dated 1543.
"This helmet embossed steel damascened with gold is a masterpiece of Renaissance metal work. It was formed from one plate of steel and painted to look like bronze. The bowl is raised in high relief with motifs inspired by classical art. It has a graceful siren forming the helmet’s comb which holds a scowl head of Medusa by the hair." (The Met) The sides of the helmet are covered with acanthus scrolls which are derived from ancient Roman sculpture and wall paintings. I wonder how much protection this helmet gave the men who wore it. I think it is very beautiful and unique.

“Siren”
I found this Bronze piece to be very unique and looks like a strange mermaid. I way she was holding her two tails upward signified a heraldic device of the Colonna, a powerful Roman family. This piece would be placed outside set high for all to see. I like how her face appeared to be calm even though she had her crown on and tails up defensively.

“Virgin and Child” I recognized this piece first when I stepped into the first room of the gallery. It was painted by Murillo’s in 1670. I feel this is a very beautiful work of Madonna and child it is very sweet and intimate.

Yale art gallery

2010-03-14T16:09:00.000-04:00

Mladen Curakovic

2010-03-14T16:01:00.002-04:00

Mladen Curakovic
Yale museum of art.

Since I go to Albertus Magnus College and Yale art gallery is right down the road why not go and take advantage of it and spend few hours admiring awesome art.
The Yale University Art Gallery is the oldest university art museum in the western hemisphere. The Gallery was founded in 1832, when patriot-artist John Trumbull donated to Yale College more than 100 paintings of the American Revolution and designed the original Picture Gallery. This building, on Old Campus, was razed in 1901.
The Gallery's main building was built in 1953 and was among the very first designed by Louis Kahn, who taught architecture at Yale. A complete renovation, which returned many spaces to Kahn's original vision, was completed in December 2006 by Polshek Partnership Architects. The older Tuscan romanesque portion was built in 1928 and was designed by Egerton Swartwout. A 10-year renovation project is due to be complete in 2011.
The Gallery’s encyclopedic collections number more than 185,000 objects ranging in date from ancient times to the present day. The permanent collection includes: The Yale University Art Gallery’s permanent collection includes over 185,000 works organized into 10 curatorial departments. On view on the third floor are works by Giovanni di Paolo, Albrecht Dürer, Paul Revere, Wassily Kandinsky, Louise Bourgeois, and Edward Hopper and more.
When I was getting to the museum I have hit lots of traffic and construction however, awesome shops surround the museum and best of all one may go and get a coffee at star bucks. When I entered the museum I had to put my camera bag in the locker. I visited a lot of exhibits. However the ones that caught my eye were Paul Cezanne, Vincent van Gogh, Stuart Davis, and Monet, another one that I like was Edward hopper.
Since I have great love toward Vincent Van Gogh’s paintings I was fortunate enough to see the Nigh café painting on display at the museum. I was standing there looking at the details on the painting for more than thirty minutes before I realized that I have more paintings to explore. Another set of paintings that I found good and well done were Degas paintings of horses and jockeys. The reason why I found these paintings interesting is that they were painted in a way to make them look like they were taken by a camera and that they were photographs. This also can be said that there was a big movement toward photography.
The one painting I did not like or did not find interesting was Jackson Pollock’s painting. I guess I do not like his painting style just because being a graphic designer I look in to paintings to mean something more then just paint smeared all over the canvas.
Overall my Yale museum experience was a lot more then what I have expected it to be and the painting I would want to buy and own this time is Van Gogh Café. Next Museum I am planning on visiting is British Art Gallery in New Haven.

The Museum of Modern Art! (MoMA)

2010-03-13T12:51:00.010-05:00

Museum of Modern Art Experience

The Museum of Modern Art, located on 11 West 53 Street New York, NY, is a place that fuels creativity, ignites minds, and provides inspiration. With extraordinary exhibitions and the world's finest collection of modern and contemporary art, the MoMA is dedicated to intriguing the minds of all personal taste. With so much to offer, the MoMA showcases countless artists with exceptional talent. I feel I can honestly write about over ten artist whose work that I loved, but to key in on just a few of my very favorites, I'm going to concentrate on: Jackson Pollock, Andy Warhol, and Renee Magritte.

What attracts my eye to Jackson Pollock's work, is his simple free spirited design on canvas. Pollock (1912-1956) is most famous for his pouring technique and for painting his large canvases on the floor using heavily loaded brushes, sticks and turkey-basters to disperse the paint. It seems like such a simple concept, but very intriguing and enlightening at the same time. You can truly get a sense of emotion through his work, by the colors and stroke lines dispersed amongst the canvas. In Pollock's piece "Easter and the Totem"- 1953, offers a more figurative style going on instead of his dramatic paint splatters. He uses colors such as black, white, green, pink, yellow, brown, and blue. The figures are unidentifiable, which gives the painting a mysterious side. I can almost make out faces within the canvas. "Number 1A, 1948," is a perfect example of the "drip," or pouring, technique, the radical method that Pollock contributed to Abstract Expressionism. Moving around an expanse of canvas laid on the floor, Pollock would fling and pour ropes of paint across the surface. "On the floor I am more at ease, I feel nearer, more a part of the painting, since this way I can walk around in it, work from the four sides and be literally `in' the painting.”  - Jackson Pollock, 1947. "One" is among the largest of his works that bear evidence of these dynamic gestures. The canvas generates great energy: with strings of enamel, some matte, some glossy, weave and run in an intricate web of tans, blues, and grays lashed through with black and white." (MoMA Museum) The way the paint lies on the canvas can suggest speed and force, and the image as a whole is chaotic and dense. The details of Pollock’s style and facture, whether in major canvases or in his drawings and mixed-media works, all seem to derive from limitations of education and experience.

Another famous artist who I happen to love is Andy Warhol. I like the simple design and technique he uses in his work. Warhol would often paint the canvas with a single color—turquoise, green, blue, or lemon yellow, then silkscreen an image on top, sometimes alone, sometimes doubled, sometimes multiplied in a grid. The inverted colors of the images is what really makes Andy an abstract pop artist. His work is intriguing and dramatic in nature. "Gold Marilyn Monroe" 1962. Silkscreen ink on synthetic polymer paint on canvas. In this piece, Warhol uses the commercial technique, silkscreening, which gives the picture a crisp, artificial look. "Even as Warhol replicates Monroe, he reveals her public image as a carefully structured illusion." (MoMa Museum.) In memory of 1950s glamour, the face in "Gold Marilyn Monroe", is much like the star herself - high gloss, bold, compelling, yet elusive. Surrounded by a huge void, it is almost like the fadeout at the end of a movie. This piece is pretty dramatic. Another famous work of Warhol's put on display was "Campbell's Soup Cans"- 1962. Synthetic polymer paint on thirty-two canvases. When Warhol first exhibited these thirty–two canvases in 1962, each one simultaneously hung from the wall like a painting and rested on a shelf like groceries in a store. The number of canvases corresponds to the varieties of soup then sold by the Campbell Soup Company. Warhol assigned a different flavor to each painting, referring to a product list supplied by Campbell's. There is no evidence that Warhol envisioned the canvases in a particular sequence. Here, they are arranged in rows that reflect the chronological order in which they were introduced, beginning with "Tomato" in the upper left, which debuted in 1897. I love how Warhol uses such simple objects and manages to bring them onto canvas in such an intriguing manner. His expression and use of color is what really attracts his fans.

The last artist who always catches my attention is René Magritte. He was one of the major figures of Surrealism and perhaps the greatest Belgian artist of the 20th century. Surrealism was a movement in art and literature that revolved around several artists and authors in France. I would say Surrealist art is characterized by complex images that portray objects as unstable or illusionistic in nature. I love René's work because there is almost always a sense of mystery in each piece. Everything tells a story and provokes great, almost confusing, though entertaining thought. In René's "The Menaced Assassin" -1927 oil on canvas, a murder story is told through the painting. A woman's naked body is lying on a couch, while blood is trickling from her mouth. There is a well–dressed man, who is most likely from the looks of it her killer, the "assassin" of the painting's title, stands ready to leave with his coat and hat on a chair but distracted while he listens to a gramophone. Meanwhile you see two men who wait outside the room ready to ambush him, holding a club and net. And behind him, three more men watch from over the balcony, witnesses outside the action's frame like reflections of the painting's viewers, peering in from the other direction. A real murder scene mystery is portrayed like from a movie in this painting. Magritte's brand of Surrealism seems to deal in clear visions with unclear meanings, which is why I'm so attracted to his work. It always gets you thinking with your mind going in so may directions. I also love Magritte's "The Lovers"- 1928, for the same reason. This painting depicts a man and woman nicely dressed embracing each other in a kiss, only they're not truly touching because they're oddly separated by some sort of sheet or cloak over their heads. Once again, this painting evokes mystery and sense of wonder as to why these "lovers" are separated from one another and what the true meaning behind the sheets over their heads is about. There is a gloomy background behind them as well. I think the sheets smothering their faces sort of symbolizes death and though they seem to obvious lovers, I think all together the theme I take away from this painting can be the death of love.

2010-03-13T12:19:00.005-05:00

Alyssa and I enjoy the MOMA very much.. here are some other pictures from the MOMA

MOMA

2010-03-13T12:04:00.001-05:00

The Museum of Modern Art in New York City is a place that stimulates creativity, incites minds, and provides inspiration. The MOMA consists of extraordinary exhibitions and the world’s finest collection of modern and contemporary art but the pieces which stuck out most to me were Claude Monet’s oil on canvas Water Lilies (1914-26).
Claude Monet was one of the founding fathers of French Impressionism. Monet’s concern was to reflect the influence of light on a subject. Monet painted simple landscapes and scenes of the contemporary middle-class society. Monet violated one traditional artistic convention after another in the interest of direct artistic expression. His experiments in representing outdoor sunlight with a direct, sketch-like application of bright color became more and more daring, and he seemed to cut himself off from the possibility of a successful career as a conventional painter supported by the art establishment.
When I took a first glance at the Water Lilies, I was so astonished. I was finally in the same room with the great work of my favorite painter. I love Monet’s broken brush stroke technique and I adore that fact that he used such a big scale to create the lilies. When I step back from the mural I could imagine myself present at the Japanese style pond with the lilies admiring them and breathtaking nature surrounding them.
I think he wouldn’t have made such a proper message across had he painted the lilies on a small canvas. I also like how depending on the distance you stand from the piece it appears as though it is out of focus because you just see a stream of colors or it is a symmetrical landscape when your eyes are focused at a farther distance. I tend to follow along his lines of color and value the many different brush strokes.
Ever since I have started painting myself I have took Monet’s impressionist style into my own works. I love blending different tints and shades of a color in order to complete one portion of the piece. Then when I am finished the color balance and different hues tie together to form a beautiful and unusual composition from the ordinary fashion that the brain thinks things appear. Monet’s essence to his art philosophy was that he wanted the unobtainable. He felt that when other artists painted objects such as a boat or a house they simply painted that subject and then they were finished. Monet however would paint the air which surrounded the boat or house and the beauty of the air in which the objects were located to reach the meaning that nothing was short of impossible.
I feel that this ethereal image features soft reflections of clouds among a relaxing surface which is weaken by the pink lilies. I love how the panels of the mural have been installed on the wall on a slight angle; the caption stated that it was installed at such a slight angle because of Monet’s wish for the painting to embrace the viewer. Monet’s Water Lily paintings are based on direct observation of nature. Monet had endless inspiration from the outdoors which is demonstrated in the many years that he based his work off of nature.
The aim of his large Water Lilies paintings, Monet said was to supply “the illusion of an endless whole, of water without horizon or bank.” His garden in Giverny has his water-lily pond where the sky above is the subject of this monumental work of art, his representation of them can be seen to border abstraction. In the attempt to capture the constantly changing qualities of natural light and color above and below, near and far, water and sky all merge.
He couldn’t paint the lilies looking flat down at the water he had to paint the lilies at a view where there was always attention between the illusion through the surface and the surface itself, he worked with his right through his life because the paintings were worked on over such a long period of time. Monet reduced detail in his paintings to include only the essence of the seen.
I also find myself looking at the detail of the color of the subject I’m painting rather than the actual detail of the object. I wish I was able to ask Monet what made him think to place two brush strokes of different colors next to one another so when the viewer stepped away from the piece their eyes would blend the colors together make an illusion of the correct color choice.
In February 1926, at the age of 83, Monet finished the last great challenge of his life a commission by the French government for 22 mural paintings of water lilies. On December 5, 1926 Monet died from lung cancer. I would like to see his last mural that he painted in his lifetime. I think he truly made a difference in fine art and in the work of his fellow impressionists because he wasn’t afraid to express the overlooked details of life through his works.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art

2010-03-11T13:46:00.016-05:00

The Metropolitan Museum of Art is one of the world's largest and finest art museums. Its collections include more than two million works of art spanning five thousand years of world culture, from prehistory to the present and from every part of the globe. Founded in 1870, the Metropolitan Museum is located in New York City's Central Park along Fifth Avenue (from 80th to 84th Streets). Nearly five million people visit the Museum each year.
The Met truly has so much to offer, but if I were to key in on certain exhibits that really caught my attention, then I would have to share with you my love for The Charles Engelhard Courtyard, and The European Sculpture Courtyard.
The renovated Engelhard Court, which has always been one of the Museum's loveliest and most popular spaces, features a new display of monumental large-scale sculptures, mosaics, stained glass, and architectural elements. Here are a few pictures of my favorites works of art:

"Garden Landscape and Fountain" - Louis C. Tiffany (1848-1933) New York City, ca 1915 Favrile- glass mosaic
I love how beautifully constructed this fountain is with its iridescent colored glass. It has a delicate touch with the water and garden landscape in the background. Tiffany's works graced countless interiors such as churches and department stores.

"View of Oyster Bay"- Louis C. Tiffany (1848-1933) New York City, 1908 Leaded Favrile glass
This is another one of Tiffany's works using delicate colored stained glass. This has sort of an illusionistic window view, frmaed by a trellis and wisteria vines dripping with blue and white flower blossoms. I love the calm feeling you get from staring into this window.

"Grapevine Panels"- Louis C. Tiffany (1848-1933) New York City, 1905-15 Leaded Favrile glass
These highly decorative panels feature lush grapes and vines entwined on a structured trellis. I like how the broad leaves are rendered in a variety of greens lightly touched with blue, purple, and even pink. The 3-dimensional forms of the grapes enhance the illusionistic effect.

"The Angel of Death and the Sculptor" From the Milmore Memorial. - Daniel Chester French (1850-1931) 1889-93 carving Marble
This memorial represents the moment when the Angel of Death interrupts the sculptor's work, staying the chisel in his left hand. She also hold a bunch of poppies in her hand, symbolizing eternal sleep. I love the poetic content of this detailed sculpture, as well as the integration of real and ideal elements.

"All Angels' Church pulpit and choir rail"- Karl Bitter (1867-1915) New York City 1900 Limestone, oak, walnut
Bitter was one of the foremost architectural sculptors working in the United States at the turn of the twentieth century. This pulpit and choir rail portrays finely carved angels in high relief, playing musical instruments or carrying appropriate attributes, dramatically twist and turn as they move across the balustrade. On top, a large bronze trumpeting angel appears, supported by a partial figure of Moses holding the tablets of the law. The detail carved in the angels and railing is beautifully constructed.

"Boy and Duck"- Frederick William MacMonnies (1863-1937) Bronze fountain
Italian Renaissance art, MacMonnies is known for his contemporary sculpture In France. Boy and Duck depicts a laughing child delighted in having captured a prized duck. As a fountain, I love how the ducks and ducklings spout water from their beaks. The fountain is overall greatly crafted and the expression on the child's face is timeless.

The European Sculpture courtyard:

These Four large monumental sculptures represent one of the four Elements of life: Water, Fire, Earth, and Wind. All sculptures were done in Limestone by artist Jean-Pierre Defrance (1694-1768)

"The Nymph of Dampierre"- Louis Claude Vasse (1716-1772) French, Paris, signed and dated 1763 Marble
This wall fountain seems to have a woman washing her hair with snakes at her feet. The detail in this fountain is beautifully crafted and a sense of mystery is portrayed through this scene.

"Andromeda and the Sea Monster"- Domenico Guidi (1625-1701) Italian, Rome 1964 Marble
Andromeda was a princess from Greek mythology who, as divine punishment for her mother's bragging, was chained to a rock as a sacrifice to a sea monster. She was saved from death by Perseus, her future husband.
In this grand sculpture, Andromeda is shown awaiting her delivery by the demigod Perseus from the jaws of the sea monster. I like the intensity of the sea monster, and how Andromeda is shown chained down to a rock awaiting her savior.

"Ugolino and his Sons"- Jean Baptiste Carpeaux (1827-1875) Marble
Told by Dante in "The Inferno", The story of the Pisan traitor Ugolino Della Gherardesca, imprisoned with his sons and condemned to starvation. I love the great expression in the faces of this sculpture, mainly the anguished father resisting his sons' offer of their own bodies for his sustenance. I like how the figures and their body compositions in this piece are so life- like, the way they twist around and firmly grasp their father. I think the way the hands are portrayed in this sculpture give it the dramatic touch. Composition cast in bronze as well.

My experience at the Met was very fulfilling and I loved learning about the history of these great works of art. I would definitely encourage everyone to come visit this museum at some point in their life.

Whitney Museum of Art

2010-02-27T22:15:00.003-05:00

Amanda and I went to the Whitney Museum of Art. Unfortunately, We were informed that we weren't able to take any photos. Here Is a written evaluation of some of the key pieces of Art that I was attracted to the most.

Whitney Museum Of American Art Experience
The Whitney Museum of American Art is located in New York City, on 945 Madison Avenue. The Whitney’s collection comprises more than 18,000 paintings, sculptures, drawings, prints, photographs, films, videos, and new media by more than 2,800 artists. The museum contains some of the most significant and exciting work created by artists in the United States during the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney, the founder of the Museum, focused her collecting efforts on living artists, and this emphasis has been a guiding principle of the collection for the past eight decades. Unfortunately, The Whitney Museum was going under some reconstruction the weekend we decided to go, so we were only able to experience the first, fifth, and sixth floors. Even though we didn't get to take in everything the Whitney had to offer at that time, I did enjoy many intriguing pieces that I would like to share.
The first piece of work that really caught my eye was by artist Trenton Doyle Hancock, called "Rememor with Membry", 2001. This piece was created with acrylics and plastic on canvas. I was automatically drawn into this piece because of the classic black and white design. I love everything black and white, so this was a great start to my attraction. The picture was an entire black and white forest with intertwining textured branches creating almost a surreal, mythological world. I loved how the only color that was mixed in this black and white piece, was this light blue shiny textured plastic that covered only small portions of the lettering all over the canvas. The phrase "Rememor with Membry", is repeated throughout the entire piece throughout the branches of the forest. Creating a crazy psychological impression you get when you first view this piece. I love how this piece created such mystery and wonder within my head. The artist Trenton Doyle Hancock's work, is based on personal mythology of epic dimensions. In his narratives are half-animal, half-plant beings that he calls "mounds." If you were to lay on your back looking up at this piece, you would view this mythological forrest with it's long twisted branches, sky, and forest floor interlaced with the words "Rememor with Membry" interpreted as "Remember with Memory", a sentimental phrase. This piece was truly amazing in my eyes and really intriguing with its dream like design.
Another piece that was quite intriguing was by Stephen Greene, "The Shadow", 1950.
This piece was created with oil on canvas, and displays a broken down human skeleton seeming to hang off of an artist's easel of some sort, casting a large shadow of the skeleton itself and the easel on the wall. This sort of morbid, creepy piece caught my attention mainly for the feeling of loneliness you took away from the large shadowed cast. On the floor, beneath the skeleton's feet, rests a large bone that could represent a part of the broken down skeleton's frame, either being from his leg or arm. The bone also cast a large dark shadow on the wall. The piece is dark and mysterious making you wonder the story behind who the skeleton may be, or how it got their attached to the easel, and for what reason. I like the concept in general.
Another one of my favorites from the Whitney goes to Philip Guston' piece, "Corbal" 1977. I loved how abstract the image was and you could basically take away anything from what was painted on this canvas. The picture portrayed a large sort of island scene with complete black background sky mostly concentrating on the large mountain in the center which looked like to me, made out of human eye balls. I called this piece "eyeball mountain", due to the odd shaped eyeballs that created a mountain. You can see almost a human head as part of the mountain structure and an eyeball closed with lashes and all. This is a very strange, dramatic piece, because the ocean in which the mountain of eyes are coming out of, is a bright red body of water. This sort of depicts a bloody river, which can be interpreted in many ways, possibly death. The eyes are almost sort of crying blood, which is why the river is that color. It's dramatic and abstract at the same time, due to its color scheme being only red, white, and black.
Last but not least, I enjoyed viewing one of Jasper Johns works of art known as "White Target", 1957. This piece is made out of wax and oil on canvas. I liked how even though this is a still just a picture of a target bulls-eye, it's not your traditional colored target. Jasper actually has two different versions of targets, one being in color yellow and blue, and this one being a cream color and white wax bulls-eye. What really attracted my eye to this target, is how the wax caked on the canvas gives the entire piece a stone-like look. A look in which you want to come up real close and touch it to feel it for yourself. The illusion of this texture is unbelievable. The wax texture also gives the piece an ancient roman look. It looks like a staccato wall in some ways. Definitely different, and tasteful.
All together, our journey to the Whitney was a great time, other than the fact that we were only limited to viewing three floors of the museum. I definitely enjoyed my time there, and have gained new favorite artists that really caught my attention. I would love to take a trip back to the Whitney again sometime in the near future, to experience their entire collection they have to offer.

Wadsworth Museum Hartford CT

2010-02-24T21:20:00.001-05:00

Mladen Curakovic
Spring 2010 Museum experience
Wadsworth Atheneum.

To introduce my museum experience I believe that it would be right to give you the basic history of the museum that I have visited. Wadsworth Atheneum is the America’s oldest public museum since 1842. Hartford art patron Daniel Wadsworth started the museum. He founded the Wadsworth Atheneum in order to share the wonders of art with the public. In the mid-nineteenth century, average citizens had little if no exposure to fine art, antiquities, or beautiful objects. Only the very wealthy purchased paintings or decorative arts, and then only for their own enjoyment. Thus, Wadsworth's generous gesture was an exciting turn of events that raised the cultural fortunes of an entire community.
When I was getting to the museum I decided to make my museum experience even more fun by thinking that if I had million dollars and had to pick one painting to buy which one would it be. Getting to the museum was no problem and finding a parking spot was no problem. When I got inside the staff tagged my camera and told me what I can and cant take pictures of.
The museum has collections of European art, American decorative arts, American painting, Contemporary art, Costume and textiles, European decorative arts. All of these exhibits were amazing and fun to look at. While at the museums first floor I was blown away by the six centuries of impressionist Renaissance favorites paintings.
While looking at many exhibits and other collections of many different paintings from all over the world I was extremely impressed. However one painting that struck me the most was the Apparition of Face and fruit dish on a beach by Salvador Dali. Being a big fan of Salvador Dali and the surreal type of artwork I was happy that I got to see one of his art peaces in person. This painting is done so well and professionally that one may look at it and think that it was done on the computer however it was painted in such detail that it is unbelievable.
Being a big fan of Vincent Van Gogh while at the museum I found one of his paintings there as well. It was a self-portrait painting. I have to say though I was shocked to see that the painting was not larger. Instead it was little bit larger then a 12 by 12. However the detail and style of painting was truly amazing and it is obvious when the person sees it in real life why it is in the museum.
The one exhibit that I found the most interesting was the Hudson River school. This exhibit was filled with paintings that were ninety five percent landscape and atmospherics style paintings. These paintings were done so well one might stand next to it and think that someone took a photograph of the landscape.
Coming back to the one million dollars that I would spend on the painting I think that if I was to buy a painting it would have to be the Vincent Van Gogh self portrait. I know it would be more then one million dollars but if I had to choose one it would definitely be that painting. This museum experience was amazing because knowing that we have the Americas oldest art museum in our back yard that is amazing in every way possible is just a awesome privilege.
Mladen Curakovic.

Wadsworth Museum Hartford CT pictures

2010-02-24T21:19:00.000-05:00

Here are some of the pictures that i took at my trip to the museum. Vincent van gogh self portrait, Salvador Dali, and Hudson river school painting,Monet, and interior of the museum and outside of the museum. for additional pictures email me and i will send you more if required

Whitney Museum

2010-02-22T20:57:00.003-05:00

Alyssa and I went to the Whitney museum in New York City.. here are some of the captions of the art work before we were asked to not take pictures at all...

Whitney Museum of Art

When I visited the Whitney Museum of Art, there were several pieces that appealed to me among the many other great works of art in the museum. I was able to view work from some of my favorite artists, Jackson Pollock and Milton Avery and also artists that I have never heard of yet. I enjoyed interpreting their work.
Trenton Doyle Hancock’s “Rememor with Membry”, is a very unique piece within the gallery. He used acrylic (plastic) on canvas to create this work of art. He used the entire space of the canvas which made the forest emerge when taking a first glance. As you move closer you were able to see the details and the word “rememor” which entices your brain to think you are seeing the word remember. This work depicts the forest from the Legend’s perspective after the forest vegans have punctured the legend with holes. The legend looks up into the trees, and sees the branches, sky and forest floor interlacing with the words rememor and membry which appears to mix together the words remember and memory.
Each new work by Hancock is a contribution to the saga of the Mounds, portraying the birth, life, death, afterlife, and dream states of these half-animal, half-plant creatures. Influenced by abstract expressionism, Hancock transforms color, language, and pattern into opportunities to create new characters, and convey symbolic meaning. This piece caught my eye because of the immense detail with the usage of text and the black and white theme with just a few pieces in a blue-ish color.
Milton Avery’s work combines both abstract and representational elements in his paintings. Seashores and beaches were frequent subjects for Avery. His “Sea Glazers” 1956, uses flattened planes of color and simplified shapes to represent a couple sitting under umbrellas at the beach. Avery is a master of two-dimensional objects, and yet in his scenery of shapes and colors he achieves an immediate sense of space which is natural to the work itself. I feel that his abstractions and representations have achieved a new kind of unity. As I looked at this piece, I felt very relaxed because his use of colors and brushstrokes brings that smooth feeling to your eye. He leaves details and just paints the essential shapes which I feel makes his style unique from other abstract painters. I was drawn into the simplicity of colors and the beach. I was also interested in this piece because it is not one of his most popular, yet I was able to see another gentle minded composition. If I was a painter I think I would use his techniques because I truly enjoy the simple yet attractive outcome of the work.
Jackson Pollock’s designs in his painting have no relation to the shape or size of the canvas. When he would paint he had no fears of making changes or destroying the image because his paintings had a life of their own. In his # 17, 1950 (fireworks) piece enamel and aluminum paint on composition board the paint splatter resembles a firework. I like how he has a black background (like a night sky) along with the color splatters for the fireworks. I was drawn to this piece of art because I am able to spot Jackson’s work from a far without looking at the tag. I like how he uses objects like sticks or knives to create the lines and shapes in his work. I think when looking at this piece your mind is able to drift in any direction with the many abstract lines and spots on the canvas. Even though many people feel like they could create pieces like his themselves they wouldn’t be able to put themselves into the piece like he is able to do. He works on the floor, so he could get at the canvas at any angle and become part of his creation. His pieces were either praised or dismissed because of the lack of detail and planning that went into them. He lived an unhappy life so I feel this painting were a way for expressing his pain through the many lines and strokes to symbolize his depressed and frustrated thoughts. The dark color theme in this piece could possibly symbolize his anguish which wasn’t known if you didn’t know his life behind the canvas when viewing his art.
David Hammons “Untitled” 1992 sculpture reminded me of a spider and a sea urchin. He created his big sculpture from cover wire and hair. There were stones on the bottom which I believe held in the several long skinny hair covered sticks that were popping out all over. Because he used found objects to create such an abstract piece it worked, Hammons justified his use of such non-art materials; which marked a reaction against what he saw as ‘clean’ art, by pointing to Dada for an example. This sculpture caught my eye because it was so different and hairy; it was shedding on the floor. Since Hammons is centered in the black urban experience, he often uses sarcasm as a means of confronting cultural stereotypes and racial issues. After viewing this piece for several minutes I couldn’t come up with his motive to create this piece, but I do like how he is able to create something unusual out of found tools. The untitled model is very balanced and protrudes out all around from the rocks at the center of the room. I wish he named this piece to let the viewers know a little bit more of his reasoning for this sculpture. I would like to know what the many stick like objects symbolize, and if he had a vision of this before he created it or if it just came to mind as he was working.
These are just a few of the best pieces in this museum. I like to interpret each piece I come to, and try to figure out how and why the artist used the color and elements that they used and what came to mind to make them express their feelings on canvas or through other medias.

Museum Experience, Spring 2010

2010-01-28T22:11:00.001-05:00

Hi Amanada, Mladen, Alyssa and Robbie,

I just set up the blog for your tutorial class, The Museum Experience... Here is the url: http://spring2010museum.blogspot.com/

This is essentially an independent class... You need to visit 6 museum, write 4, 3 page papers illustrated with images of your chosen work and post photo narratives with captions from 2 more visits for a total of 6 submissions... I have suggestions for museums but if you are going to NYC or Boston, you can use as many mainstream museums there as well...

Please read the syllabus: http://jnevins.com/museumsyllabus1.htm

Take a look at the past blogs linked for the head of the syllabus...

Would you like to post your work to the main class blog, since there are only 4 of you or create your own blogs? You may as well post to the one blog....

Click on the link embedded inside the email blogger sent you (from me) inviting you to join the class blog... that way you can post to the blog... Only the 4 of you can post there....

Take care,

Jerry