A Visit to the DMA To complete the project work assigned in our arts class to analyze the art, I went to the Dallas Museum of Art located in the downtown of Dallas, Texas. I took an elevator from parking lot to the first floor of the museum i.e. the main entrance of the museum. I was impacted by the service of the museum and the diversity of art and sculpture in the museum. This major art museum of U.S.A is too big inside consisting the old to recent work of art from different countries. One of the art I chose to describe was the Stele of Lakshmi-Narayana which is in the third floor of the museum. It is located in 306 Hindu gallery and is made of sandstone. This …show more content…
The stele is composed of the god Vishnu and goddess Lakshmi in androgynous form i.e. combined male and female parts as one structure. This sculpture is in the form of Archway. The right part signifies the male part while the left part signifies the female parts, both standing on the lotus pedestal as oneness. This icon of Lakshmi-Narayana is derived Ardhanarishvara, the popular androgynous form of God Shiva and his consort Parvati. The purpose of making this icon was may be to symbolize the oneness of male and female principles of the Universe. In Hindu Religion, it was believed that male and female were essential companion for divine union. This icon also symbolizes the combination of truth and consciousness helping one to develop happiness inside. The androgynous …show more content…
I think this sculpture was made to portray the deep love of Vishnu and Lakshmi as oneness who are fulfilling the responsibility towards each other as an husband and wife. What I find emotional and inspirational about this icon is the way it depicts the love story of Vishnu and Lakshmi. The combined form also depicts the two body parts having one soul. I was also fascinated by this sculpture. The costumes worn by Vishnu and Lakshmi, the eight arms in two people, icon standing on the lotus pedestal were really an amazing experience for me. The sculpture taken from Nepal to which I belong to and the amazing characteristic features of this art drew me towards it. So, in this way my visit to the museum was fruitful as I came to know about the different types of art from many countries and of course, I would like to visit the museum for second
...e Amida Buddha’s name is recited over and over again in a chant, whether silently or aloud, so that the individual may focus on the Amida Buddha and nothing else (Cleary). This sculpture is meant to portray the Amida Buddha that presides over the Pure Land, and it is a reaction to the Pure Land Buddhism’s popularity (“Amida”).
The stela is deemed to be a round-topped stela because the top is curved while the sides and bottom remain straight. It is 33 cm high and is 24 cm wide; its thickness is estimated to be 2 to 3 cm. It was carved from limestone and has only a few traces of red and black pigment. The bodies of the Egyptian gods Horus and Thoth still have the red pigment on their bodies as well as the solar disc of the uraei. The stela has a border all around it with a patter that interchanges between one wide red bar and three small black bars. At the top there are two-winged cobra called uraei (Capel, Markoe, Cincinnati Art Museum, & Brooklyn Museum, 1996). There is also an inscription below the uraei. The center of the stela depicts a woman, who is Ta-Khaa-En-Bastet, standing on the right and on the left revering the Egyptian gods Horus and Thoth. The central scene also has two small inscriptions above Horus and Thoth. The bottom has three rows of hieroglyphs, which are an offering prayer, details about Ta-Khaa-En-Bastet’s family, and her title as “Mistress of the House” (Capel, Markoe, Cincinnati Art Museum, & Brooklyn Museum, 1996, p. 166).
Once again the theme of support, unity, and strength is further represented in the artist choice of mass and volume. Even though the piece of art shows two individual figures, the sculpture is made out of one solid black sandstone. This lets the sculpture appear more robust and compact, signs of strength. However, when observing the relief sculpture in profile it appears that the Queen is slightly tilted back and held up by the sandstone itself which adds a notion of support to the view’s perspective.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art has one of the finest Asian art collections that has enlightened and strengthened my understanding in my personal art experience. The Museum itself is an artistic architectural structure that graces the entire block on 82nd Street in Manhattan. Entering inside, I sensed myself going back into an era, into a past where people traded ideas and learned from each other. It is a past, where I still find their works of yesteryears vividly within my grasp, to be remembered and shared as if their reflections of works were cast for the modern devoted learner.
The St. Louis Art Museum is one of the United States most renowned art museums that is located in our very own St. Louis. It has over 30,000 pieces of exquisite art that I had the privilege to witness. While there, I mainly examined the art pieces that were modern art, since that is of what I have a good working knowledge. There is a wide range of art that I also got to witness including the sculptures and the museum itself. In the past year, they have recently installed a new sector of their establishment that has done nothing less than enhance the entire museum’s overall beauty. The St. Louis Art Museum, there are many beautiful works, but there were three special projects that caught my eye while I was there. The Contemporary art periods, Modern art periods, the American art periods, and the museum itself.
Examining the iconography in this sculpture, there are two details to note. The first is the grapes in the Virgin’s hand. The grapes represent
My reaction to the Marble statue of Dionysos leaning on an archaistic female figure was it looked amazing and I feel like I could have written more about it. I also felt like there more than one symbolic meaning behind it. The other symbolic meaning I see is that Dionysos is always watching the protecting the small figure. My reaction towards the statue of King Sahure and Nome God was that who was more important the king or the God. The reason I say that is because the king is more focused on that the God. I would think they will be equal, or that the god should be more focused on.
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.
The artist wanted to draw you in by giving you a place to look at imminently upon looking at her and after looking at her your eyes is drawn down to her genitalia. This leads me to believe that she was created to represent fertility in woman, because certain exaggerated parts of her body and very detailed female reproductive organs.
The facility was smaller than expected by many on the tour group. However, the tour guide had a very nice explanation to each of the artworks. By visiting the museum to gain the aesthetic experience it has open many people point of views to how they can express his or her self through art.
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.
It creates a well-balanced subject matter. Although this sculpture has two human heads, it is well proportioned. The hue, saturation, and value made the subject matter appealing to the eyes. Mangbetu Artist. Democratic Republic of the Congo.
I chose this sculpture because I was intrigued by the position of the man and the centaur. I was able to witness that the centaur is trying to invade the personal space of the man. The sculpture showed me that there is a strong relationship between man and creature. The quality of the sculpture made me realize that animals play a big part of a human’s life and can be seen as threatening to humans. It was interesting to see that both the man and centaur were created to have almost of the same structures. This statue has a metallic brown and green, bronze tone and appeared undersized. It has a height of four and a half feet, and six inches. It has long, thin, legs with calf muscles, and bulging thighs. The sculpture evolved from Olympia, Greece. The man and centaur sculpture was created in 750 BCE during an orderly time period. The colors used for this sculpture, proved that it has a longer lasting mold for statues. On the left side of the sculpture, the man has a wrap on his head, that can symbolize, he is some form of a god. On the right side, the centaur has the same head piece as the man, but the body of a horse. It can be seen that the man and
The two-meter tall slab of pink sandstone commemorates the Akkadian victory over the mountain people of Lullubi (Gates 53). The stele’s martial theme is similar to “earlier Near Eastern art, but the composition of the scene differs” from the ones previously seen (Gates 53). Naram-Sin is depicted, standing in the high hills above everyone else. He was shown wearing a horned helmet, a symbol of divinity, while a vast collection of defeated enemies lie “wounded or dead at his feet” (Gates 53). The relief itself serves as a type of propaganda that not only legitimizes his power, but also illustrates that he has become a god (Hilker 2/2).
This image shows the goddess Durga in nine of her forms. The goddess in the middle is the main form, Durga. This is evident because she is in the center and is largest, suggesting that she is more important, or that the entire image has to do with her. It looks a lot like the image of Vishnu and his avataras. Durga, often referred to as Durga Maa (‘Maa’ meaning mother), is associated with many things. Her vehicle is a tiger, she is extremely beautiful, and she carries weapons in each of her hand except one in which she holds a lotus. The weapons and her vehicle refer to her creation. Durga was created by the Gods when they were overthrown by a demon that could not be killed by them. Since a woman could only kill this demon, the gods put their angry energies together and from each of those energies stemmed a body part of Durga. Each of the gods gave her his weapon, which is why she carries weapons such as Shiva’s trishul, Vishnu’s discus, and the lion from Himalaya. These weapons are the key symbols to look for when recognizing an image of Durga Maa, along with the tiger. The other eight forms of Durga are formed each day of her battle with this demon. Since this battle took nine days, there are nine total parts of Durga. The first form is Shailputri. ‘Shail’ comes from the Sanskrit word meaning mountain, which explains that she was incarnated from Himalaya. She is recognizable in the image as the one on the bottom left corner. Her mount is a bull. She has a trishul in one hand and a lotus in another. She is known for wearing colored apparel. The second phase is Brahmacharni. In this content, Brahma means penance. In this image, she is located right above Shailputri. She is the part of Durga that practices penance. Brahmacharni is easily recognized because she is the only form of Durga that does not have a vehicle.