New York City is known for its wide diversity as a cultural mecca for art, particularly with museums. Two of these major institutions are The Frick Collection and the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Each museum provides a glimpse of creativity from the past, all while remaining interesting in exhibiting the works of various styles and periods. While the two museums have similar goals in their Mission Statements, the differences in space, structure, and curating art philosophies differentiates them.
In 1870, the Metropolitan Museum of Art was founded by a group of businessmen and artists who wanted a place to present and educate the public to a variety of art. This museum houses paintings, sculptures, costumes, musical instruments, and antique weaponry. The works range from classical antiquity through the European masters to modern art. The Frick Collection was opened to the public in 1935, transforming Henry Frick’s mansion into a gallery showcasing his extensive collection of European paintings, drawings, manuscripts and sculptures. Both museums have similar mission statements, with the Frick Museum’s directive to preserve Henry Frick’s collection of art and showcasing it publicly, and the Met’s objective to encourage and develop the education of the fine arts.
One distinction between the two is the enormous size difference. While the Frick Museum has undergone several expansions, it is dwarfed by the magnitude of work the Met has the ability to display. The Frick can be viewed in its entirety within a few hours, while the Met would need several visits to fully explore. The rooms at the Frick are decorated with furnishings as it may have been when it was lived in. The works in each room were arranged according to Henry Frick’s lay...
... middle of paper ...
...onstant flow through the rooms, and navigation throughout was effortless.
The purpose of each museum is to educate the public by showing works of art. While the Met has a wider variety to offer the public in terms of styles and periods, the Frick has differently curated collection reflecting Frick’s personal tastes. Despite their differences, both museums are successful in achieving the objectives issued in their mission statements, and both can be visually exhilarating experiences.
Works Cited
http://www.frick.org/about/mission http://www.thefrickpittsburgh.org/collection_exhibitions/fine.php http://www.google.com/culturalinstitute/collection/the-frick-collection http://www.metmuseum.org/about-the-museum/mission-statement http://www.metmuseum.org/about-the-museum/history-of-the-museum/main-building
http://metmuseum.org/collections/search-the-collections/437372
Many might have been working on Good Friday, but many others were enjoying The Frist Museum of Visual Arts. A museum visitor visited this exhibit on April 14, 2017 early in the morning. The time that was spent at the art museum was approximately two hours and a half. The first impression that one received was that this place was a place of peace and also a place to expand the viewer’s imagination to understand what artists were expressing to the viewers. The viewer was very interested in all the art that was seen ,but there is so much one can absorb. The lighting in the museum was very low and some of the lighting was by direction LED lights. The artwork was spaciously
As the tour of the museum began, it was easily noticed that all of the objects on display were placed behind thick glass cases. Many plaques inside of the case provide the visitor with information about the specific case that is being looked at. In most cases the plaques didn’t so much provide an elaboration on the pieces, but rather expand upon the historical context of the pieces. Also, the plaques shed light onto muc...
“Art Museums and the Ritual of Citizenship.” in Exhibiting Cultures. Eds. Ivan Karp and Steven Lavine. Washington: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1991. Print.
New York City has always been an example of how diversity can exist in a successful and peaceful place. Full of action, enthusiasm, and a combination of many cultures, New York is rich in every sense of the word. For example, taking a walk down the busy streets not only opens your eyes to the small but meaningful details of the city and the different people that revive it but also the numerous worlds that are somehow fused in this magical city, like Little Italy, Chinatown, Little Syria, Korea Town, and many others.
Since the Museum's opening in 1931, the collection has grown to more than 12,000 paintings, sculptures, prints, drawings, and photographs, representing nearly 2,000 individual artists and providing the most complete overview of twentieth-century American art of any museum in the world. The collection is also recognized for its in-depth commitment to a number of key artists. From the first half of the century, such seminal figures as Edward Hopper, Alexander Calder, Reginald Marsh, and Stuart Davis are richly represented. In the latter half of the century, the Museum has committed considerable resources toward acquiring a large body of works by Louise Nevelson, Agnes Martin, Claes Oldenburg, Alex Katz, Ad Reinhardt, and others. The Museum's recent decision to dedicate two entire floors to the display of the Permanent Collection reaffirms the collection's central role in the Whitney Museum experience. This reflects the Whitney’s desire to remain as an authority on Contemporary American Art by devoting the remaining floors to changing shows, such as the recent Cy Twombly exhibition (Figure 2) and Tim Hawkinson’s first major in depth museum retrospective.
With exhibitions of the most thought-provoking art, The Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago is one of the Nation’s largest facilities devoted to the art of our time (“About the MCA”) . The mission of the MCA is to offer a direct experience to the public of modern day art and living artists. German architect Joseph Paul Kleihues designed the new building with seven times the square feet of its previous facility (“The Building”) . October of 1967 the museum opened its doors to the public for the first time. The Museum of Contemporary Art is a symbol of modern art, culture, and the artist of our time. It is a stepping stone in history and will leave footprints in the heart of Chicago for many generations to come.
During my second time visiting the museum, I looked at paintings from the 15th and 19th centuries. Two of the art works that I choose is “The Story of Joseph” from the Renaissance period and “The Marketplace” from the modern art period. Both of these paintings were from different time periods but they were also very similar in content and style.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art came about as an idea from Jon Jay in Paris, France in 1866 with the idea of “national institution gallery of art” within the United States. Once this idea was proposed, it was immediately moved forward with his return to the United States. With the help of the Union League Club in NY they began to acquire civic leaders, businessmen, artists, and collectors who aided in the creation of the museum. For over 140 years, the visitors who go here have received everything the mission of the institution states.
In Stephen Weil’s essay, he argues “the museum’s role has transformed from one of mastery to one of service” (Weil, 196). According to him, museums have changed their mission from one that cultures the public to one that serves
The “superstar” museum gained this status by considering every important detail during its establishment and initial phases of conversion from royal palace to museum (Gombault, 2002). As the purpose of the building changed, each room addressed new functions with new requirements. Although the function of the Louvre is different from the building’s original intention, the building is still appears dignified and important enough to display priceless artifacts and painting (Steffensen-Bruce, 1998). This consideration was applied in designing the Met. The Met looked towards the South Kensington Museum (Victoria and Albert) and the “ideal role model” due to its extensive collections and international reputation (Heckscher, 1995). The Met found itself in a similar situation to the South Kensington, because it did not have a building or a collection to start with (Heckscher, 1995). When designing museums, architects strived to create monuments that “prepare and educate the mind of the visitor (Steffensen-Bruce, 1998).” Education is an essential function of a museum. Acquiring, preserving, and properly displaying materials, permits a museum to fulfill this duty (Steffensen-Bruce, 1998). For instance, lighting is a factor that affects the manner in which artwork is viewed and can be properly appreciated. When determining the proper lighting for the Louvre, Comte d’Angiviller, strongly believed that natural, overhead lighting was the most effective solution (McClellan, 1994, p. 72). The same determination impacted the decision to add skylights at the Met. During the initial phase, architects Vaux and Mould, added skylights to the upper floor, and windows to the lower floor that provided a natural light solution (Heckscher, 1995). Additionally, glass-roofed courtyards provided “unimpeded light” for displaying
One pleasant afternoon, my classmates and I decided to visit the Houston Museum of Fine Arts to begin on our museum assignment in world literature class. According to Houston Museum of Fine Art’s staff, MFAH considers as one of the largest museums in the nation and it contains many variety forms of art with more than several thousand years of unique history. Also, I have never been in a museum in a very long time especially as big as MFAH, and my experience about the museum was unique and pleasant. Although I have observed many great types and forms of art in the museum, there were few that interested me the most.
To conclude, New York City is one of the most densely inhabited metropolitan collection of cultural diversity in the world in which structures our temperament. New York City applies an imperative influence upon trade, economics, mass communication, skill, style, and education. Frequently it is known that New York City is a crucial core for global politics and has been depicted as the ethnic headquarters of the globe. New York City has been known as a melting pot of culture and as this prolong throughout towards the current day, the city has become ornate with distinct cultures. You can easily experience many aspects of different cultures by going to the different ethnic neighborhoods that exist throughout the city.
When you think about New York, you think about Times Square, The Statue of Liberty, or The Empire State Building, however most people are blind to other attractions going on all the time. Since I am from the wonderful state of New York, I can fill you in on other attractions. New York City is way more than just a big, blooming, business city. Let me help you, by getting that sky scrapper image out of your head, and inform you on one of the oldest, most beautiful places to visit, containing plenty of attractions for one to do.
MacDonald, George F. “The Journal of Museum Education, Vol. 16, No. 1” Current Issues in Museum Learning (1991): 9-12. Web. 25 Feb. 2014.
New York City is very large and has lots of exciting and educational activities, such as