After photo-shopping, formatting, and uploading our assignments, our class filters into the darkroom to critique the art that we made. In the Philedelphia Museum of Art, I found myself doing exactly what I do in the Rutgers Prep darkroom, to exhibits from hundreds of years ago. I realized that I might have started to analyze the world through the lens of a photographer. To clarify, this doesn’t mean that I got the chance to analyze many photographs- the exhibits emphasized statues and paintings much more than actual photography. What I mean is that when I saw an exhibit, I didn’t just see a statue; I saw potential for a great shot. I saw symmetry. I saw conceptual linkage. I saw negative space. I saw life the way a photographer does.
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first diptych consisted of the fountain from the Monastery of Saint-Michel-de-Cuxa and a mirror that was a part of the re-installation of “Drawing Room from a Town House: 901 Fifth Avenue, New York City”. The entire point of a museum is to promote interaction with both modern art and artifacts from thousands of years ago. If you separated the two images and critiqued them individually, solely on their conceptual basis, they would convey almost the same message- life interacting with art. That is why I decided to pair the two images for a diptych. Conceptually, there is an element of the human body visibly alongside a statue or structure, evoking the feeling of old vs new and structure vs sentient. I wanted to capture the process of understanding and appreciating art, which otherwise is almost purely psychological. The hand in the two photographs also is situated very close to the art, but is never actually touching it. You can appreciate the past without attempting to change it. The other point of museums is that it is a safe haven for artwork, not a jail. Those who come to musuems get the chance to admire the artwork and expireince divergent takes on life and art. Formally, there is a near-far aspect to this picture, where we are situated closely to one of the artifacts, but are a bit farther from the other.
However, the hand and the art is still at the center of both photos. I also saw a tonal aspect where the tannish- peach color of the hand contrasted with the adobe, gray, and gold color scheme of the background. These contrasting colors create for great contour around the hand, emphasizing it’s outline. A sense of balance is also apparent in the first photo, with two objects point inwards at each other. However, the distribution of visual elements in a photograph creates a feeling of weight in the work. The hand is more isolated than the fountain, creating assymertical weight.
My second diptych included “La Premiére Pose”, a sculpture by Howard Roberts, in the first photo, “Diana”, by Augustus Saint-Gaudens, in the second photo, and Rachel Emmet, a fellow photography student, in both. Before I explain the conceptual aspect of this diptych, I would like to note the effort that went into taking these two photographs. Rachel stood under a statue for over five minutes in one pose while I crouched on the floor desperate to get the right angle. Many people watched and pointed. Although the pictures may not be master pieces, dedicated photographer were made in the
process. Compositionally, my goal was to create symmetry between both photos; the statue is formally situated above the person both times. The sculptures also take up more space in both images, however the person and the statue are situated in the center of the image, with focus on both. The backgrounds in both are fairly unimportant, except in creating contour with the sculptures; the outline of the statue is very visible and adds depth to the image. In addition, the vantage point from which the photographs were taken are different. The first is taken straight on whereas the second was taken form a slight worm’s eye view. Oscar Wilde once said that “Life imitates art far more than art imitates Life”, and on a very surface level, that is the story told by these two photographs. They share the quality of a human-being emulating a statue, whether it be shooting an arrow or holding a string of flowers. Wilde held the belief that life’s aim is expression, and that is exactly what art is: expression. The story for my second diptych is analogous to the theme of the first one, life interacting with art. However, the trend of the two photos in my second diptych emphasizes imitation more than interaction, although imitation could be classified as a type of interaction. In capturing an image of a person literally imitating art, I’m calling on the viewer to examine that art itself is a plane of existence, and therefore can be experienced through life itself.
For my research I decided to visit the Smithsonian art museum in Washington dc. The Smithsonian art museum has about 3299 art works on display for viewing. I was able to see many great works of art while the art museum. The trip was eye opening. I was exposed to different art techniques with varying use of contrast and depth. I noted the different brush strokes and drawing styles and how they varied between each artist. After viewing many works of art, I decided to compare Henry O Tanner’s painting “The head of a Jew in Palestine” with Alice Pike Barneys painting, “The head of a Negro Boy”
For my museum selection I decided to attend Texas State University’s Wittliff Collection. When I arrived, there was no one else there besides me and the librarian. To be honest, I probably would have never gone to an art museum if my teacher didn’t require me to. This was my first time attending the Wittliff Collection, thus I asked the librarian, “Is there any other artwork besides Southwestern and Mexican photography?” She answered, “No, the Wittliff is known only for Southwestern and Mexican photography.” I smiled with a sense of embarrassment and continued to view the different photos. As I walked through Wittliff, I became overwhelmed with all of the different types of photography. There were so many amazing pieces that it became difficult to select which one to write about. However, I finally managed to choose three unique photography pieces by Alinka Echeverria, Geoff Winningham, and Keith Carter.
The face of the portrait is detailed, and more naturally painted than the rest of the composition. However, the left iris exceeds her eye and extends past the normal outline. The viewer can see every single brush stroke resulting in a unique approach to the capturing human emotion. The streaky texture combines with the smoothness flow of the artist’s hand creating contrast between the hair and the face. The woman’s hair is painted with thick and chunky globs of paint. The viewer can physically see the paint rising from the canvas and flowing into the movement of the waves of hair. Throughout the hair as well as the rest of the portrait Neel abandons basic painting studies and doesn’t clean her brush before applying the next color. Because of the deliberate choice to entangle the colors on the brush it creates a new muddy palate skewed throughout the canvas. Moving from the thick waves of hair, Neel abandons the thick painting style of the physical portrait and moves to a looser more abstract technique to paint the background. Despite the lack of linear perspective, Neel uses a dry brush technique for the colorful streaks in the background creating a messy illusion of a wall and a sense of space. The painting is not clean, precise, or complete; there are intentional empty spaces, allowing the canvas to pear through wide places in the portrait. Again, Neel abandons
I observed a very unique series of photographs by Vik Muniz called Seeing is Believing. Vik Muniz’s images are not simply photography but are pictures of complicated pieces of art he has produced at earlier times. Utilizing an array of unorthodox materials including granulated sugar, chocolate syrup, sewing thread, cotton, wire, and soil Muniz first creates an image, sculpturally manipulates it and then photographs it. Muniz’s pictures include portraits, landscapes, x-rays, and historical images.
In addition, to the composition of the painting, the balance is also a dynamic factor. Both Ducci...
I have a tendency to forget to breathe when I'm sitting in my art history class. A double slide projector set-up shoots its characteristic artillery - bright colors, intense shapes, inscriptions in languages that are at times read merely as symbols by my untrained mind, archaic figures with bodies contorted like elementary school students on the recess monkey bars. I discuss Diego Rivera's "The Liberation of the Peon," Frida Kahlo's "Self-Portrait," and Anselm Kiefer's "To the Unknown Painter" with my classmates. The room is never silent as we marvel at these images. When the slide projectors give off that first glimmer of light, their Gatsby spot of a blurry green hope at the end of the dock, we depart on our collective imaginary field trips. The teacher doesn't need to coax, to pry, to pose multiple-choice questions. We are already on our way.
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
Though most works of art have some underlying, deeper meaning attached to them, our first impression of their significance comes through our initial visual interpretation. When we first view a painting or a statue or other piece of art, we notice first the visual details – its size, its medium, its color, and its condition, for example – before we begin to ponder its greater significance. Indeed, these visual clues are just as important as any other interpretation or meaning of a work, for they allow us to understand just what that deeper meaning is. The expression on a statue’s face tells us the emotion and message that the artist is trying to convey. Its color, too, can provide clues: darker or lighter colors can play a role in how we judge a piece of art. The type of lines used in a piece can send different messages. A sculpture, for example, may have been carved with hard, rough lines or it may have been carved with smoother, more flowing lines that portray a kind of gentleness.
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.
Heritage is crucial to Grantham as it binds us together by offering a fascinating collective sense of history, which will shape our aspirations for the town's future. The Grantham Museum acts as a guardian to this heritage and a focal point for the community. The Museum reopened in 2012, with the Grantham Community Heritage Association, a charity organisation run by the local community, taking the responsibility of keeping this vital local resource alive. By joining and supporting the Museum project, you can tangibly contribute to the improvement of the Museum. This is our history and our heritage, and your support keeps the Museum running. Belonging to the scheme also offers the unique opportunity to attend exclusive events and previews at
Mr. Grooms is very artistic about explaining each detail between the two pieces of art he is comparing, creating a clear picture in the reader’s head of what the portrait looks like without needing the photo; though having the photo there is definitely helpful.
In Confronting Images, Didi-Huberman considers disadvantages he sees in the academic approach of art history, and offers an alternative method for engaging art. His approach concentrates on that which is ‘visual’ long before coming to conclusive knowledge. Drawing support from the field of psycho analytics (Lacan, Freud, and Kant and Panofsky), Didi-Huberman argues that viewers connect with art through what he might describe as an instance of receptivity, as opposed to a linear, step-by-step analytical process. He underscores the perceptive mode of engaging the imagery of a painting or other work of art, which he argues comes before any rational ‘knowing’, thinking, or discerning. In other words, Didi-Huberman believes one’s mind ‘sees’ well before realizing and processing the object being looked at, let alone before understanding it. Well before the observer can gain any useful insights by scrutinizing and decoding what she sees, she is absorbed by the work of art in an irrational and unpredictable way. What Didi-Huberman is s...
Although a picture is worth a thousand words, I believe one could only tell truly what goes around if he/she her faces it. I object the idea of taking pictures of the artwork. When I was at the museum it was hard for me to take a picture of the Interior. The colors would not appear the same as compare to how they actually were in person. I could not even get the details of the artwork in the picture. Before visiting the museum, when I looked up the images for the painting I could not really tell artists truly feeling behind the work of art. Even though artistic elements such as composition, form etc were available in an image of a painting; the image altered the paint color, the skill and style with the medium, and our perception of reality. We can not depict the genuine identity of an artwork from it 's digital image or print. In essence, this made me realize how a person needs to see an artwork in person to really know what it looks
Modern Life "Musee des Beaux Arts" is a poem written by W.H. Auden in December 1938, while he was staying in Brussels, Belgium. The poem ‘Musee des Beaux Arts’ means ‘Museum of Fine Arts’ in French, he composed this after he visited the museum in Paris. This poem may be hard to understand when you first read it, and has the feel of being much older than 77 years of age. Although, this poem is very complex, it is still relative and can be applied to our current modern day life. Many issues and problems the world had 80 years ago still exist today, and they will continue to exist for another 80 years after us.
To start off, a Natural History Museum is usually a place where the public can visit to obtain knowledge on the history of the earth and its inhabitants. Much about people’s culture and customs is found at a Natural History museum, especially people that have made a difference or played a role in history that we learn today. Therefore, the Indigenous peoples are represented at these precise museums. The indigenous people have various amount of customs that are even used today, however, the fact that many of their descriptions are led by the word “history” or “ancient” almost makes the guests at museums believe that these indigenous people are no longer alive, and that is incorrect. The key objective for a Natural History museum is to simply help connect the understanding of human beings, connections based on culture,