Yale Center for British Art

On Saturday May 12, 2007 I visited the Yale Center for British Arts. Visiting the Yale museums was nice for the fact that they were both free admission. If I were to do it again I would have gone to both the Yale Art Gallery and the Yale Center for British Art on the same day. I did not realize that they are pretty much directly across a street from one another.



Paul Mellon presented the Yale Center for British Art to the University in 1929. It houses the most comprehensive collection of British art outside the United Kingdom. It is not only a public art museum it is also a world-renowned research institute for the study of British art and culture. The center is the last museum designed by the great American architect Louis Kahn, who also designed the Yale Art Gallery.
As I was walking through the museum I noticed that there are quite a few portraits. The whole 4th floor seemed to be filled with them, so I didn’t spend too much time here seeing as they did not interest me as much as the others. I also noticed that there were quite a few paintings with horses. Just like this painting by Sir Alfred Munnings, Start at Newmarket: Study No. 4.



I really enjoyed this painting by Thomas Malton called Interior of St.Paul's Cathedral, ca. 1792. This was painted with watercolor, pen and ink over graphite on laid paper laid down on card. I really enjoy the detail in this painting. The halls seem to go on forever almost like it is three-dimensional.




The picture I chose is from Joseph Wright is called the Cottage on Fire at Night. Joseph Wright, byname Wright of Derby, was born in Irongate, Derby on September 3, 1734. He was an English painter who pionerred in the artistic treatment of industrial subjects. He was also the best European painter of artificial light of his day. Wright was trained as a portrait painter by Thomas Hudson in the 1750s. Wright's home was Derby, one of the great centres of the birth of the Industrial Revolution, and his depictions of scenes lit by moonlight or candlelight combine the realism of the new machinery with the romanticism involved in its application to industry and science.



I was really fascinated by how to orange color of the fire radiates throughout the painting, as it get brighter to darker. It also amazes me how the shadows in the painting follow the fire. It is easy to see how he can be classified as the best European painter of artificial light in his day.
The Yale Center for British Art was a very nice museum. The only thing I did not like is that it was not as diverse as the rest of the museums, for obvious reasons. Being a museum of British Art I missed seeing the types of art I have come to look forward to over the past weeks, especially modern art. I have come out of my museum experiences with a better appreciation of famous art that is within driving distance.

The Museum of Modern Art

On Friday May 4, 2007 I visited the Museum of Modern Art in NYC. It was a great experience and a wonderful. When we got there it was free admission because it was Friday around
5:00. It was so crowded I felt like I was going to a concert. Anyway here are some of my favorite pieces from this museum. Sorry again for the blurry pictures, the good new is I finally got my camera back.



This piece is by Henri Rousseau
The Sleeping Gypsy 1897
Oil on Canvas
I found this painting interesting from its colors. It almost seems like a water color painting.


Vincent Van Gogh
Starry Night 1889
Oil on Canvas
This was clearly the painting everyone was there to see. I had to fight through a crowd of people to get this picture. It was also my wife's favorite painting and she was disappointed we could not get in closer to admire for a bit.


Pablo Picasso
Card Player winter 1913-1914
Oil on Canvas
I really liked this painting. It looks as if there there are multiple paintings laid over the top of each other.



Giacomo Balla
Swifts: Pathss of Movement + Dynamic Sequences 1913
Oil on Canvas
This painting has nice flowing lines through the painting. It seems to get busier as it moves into the bottom right hand corner.


Jackson Pollock
Number 1, 1948 1948
Oil and enamel on unprimed canvas
I had to throw in a Jackson Pollock. I did my painting at the Met on him and I seem to have a new found appreciation since I did some research into his background. This is one of the pieces during the era when he used his "drip method".

Metropolitan Museum of Art

On Friday May 4, 2007 I took the trip to New York City to visit the Metropolitan Museum of Art. This was a trip I had planned to take earlier in the semester but kept getting postponed due to the weather. I was trying to avoid a weekend trip to New York City so on Friday I took the day off from work and hopped on the train.
It was such a beautiful day I decided to walk the 40 or so blocks up 5th Avenue to the Met. It was almost the perfect spring day and the walk by central park was enjoyable.





I finally got the museum and it was more crowded than I expected it to be on a weekday afternoon. I waited in line and walked in to the Greek and Roman Art exhibit. I felt like I got lost in this exhibit no matter how many people I asked for directions or how many times I looked at my map. I know I have probably mentioned it a few times in previous papers but I love looking at the Greek and Roman paintings and artifacts. I was really impressed with the rebuilt roman chariot they had on display.




They also had armor and weapons. I really amazes me how far back these artifacts date. Some of these items date as far back as 9th century B.C.






While passing through some of the other areas of the museum there were a number of paintings that caught my eye. This one called The Crucifixion by the Workshop of Francisco Zurbaran. Which is a very large painting of The crucifixion of Jesus.



It was when I made my way into the modern art exhibit is where I found the painting that intrigued me the most. It was very exciting to see some of these works from Jackson Pollock. The painting I chose is called Pasiphae by Jackson Pollock. I find the painting very difficult to read but can be looked at for an extended amount of time.

According to http://www.bama.ua.edu/~labra001/pollock.htm The painting was a symbol of the struggle with the dark animal nature of human beings. The story of Pasiphae restates the struggle with the physical union of a Cretan queen and a large powerful bull that leads to the creation of the Minotaur, half human, half animal. Although the painting and the story of Pasiphae are not exactly the same they both address the same idea from different angles.

I guess knowing the story of passiphe and a highly imaginative way of thinking this result can be seen.




Jackson Pollock was born in Cody, Wyoming in 1912. Pollock was introduced to the use of liquid paint in 1936, at an experimental workshop operated in New York City by the Mexican muralist David Alfaro Siqueiros. He later used paint pouring as one of several techniques in canvases of the early 1940s, such as "Male and Female" and "Composition with Pouring I." He began painting with his canvases laid out on the studio floor, and developed what was later called his "drip" technique. He used hardened brushes, sticks and even basting syringes as paint applicators. Pollock's technique of pouring and dripping paint is thought to be one of the origins of the term action painting.


"My painting does not come from the easel. I prefer to tack the unstretched canvas to the hard wall or the floor. I need the resistance of a hard surface. On the floor I am more at ease. I feel nearer, more part of the painting, since this way I can walk around it, work from the four sides and literally be in the painting."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jackson_Pollock


At the height of his popularity Pollock abandoned the drip technique and started to reintroduce figurative elements.

Jackson Pollock died of an alcohol related accident in August 11, 1956.

During this trip I felt like I had spent so much time in the Metropolitan Museum of Art that I did not get to see as much as I liked. It was getting late and still had to take in the Museum of Modern Art so I had to get going. Someday I will make the trip back where I will have more time to appreciate more of the exhibits, and try not to get lost.

New Britain Museum of American Art

Today, I visited the New Britain Museum of American Art. Sorry for the blurry images!











Graydon Parrish (b. 1970)
The Cycle of Terror and Tragedy: September 11, 2001
2002-2006
oil on canvas
This was my favorite painting at the museum. It seems as if if has so much hidden meaning. There are the children playing with the airplanes to the left and the Constitution ripped up all over the ground. This painiting will have me take the trip back to this museum.



John Quidor (1801-1881)
A Knickerbocker Tea Party, 1866
oil on canvas
What drawn me to this painting is that is seems to be so much older than it actually is. The colors seem to be so dull and faded. The painting looks as if it wants to fall apart.


Benjamin West (1738-1820)
Thetis Bringing Armor to Achilles, 1806 or 1808
oil on canvas
I couldn't resist to include this painting because of the interest I have in Greek Mythology.



Walton Ford (b. 1960)
Fallen Mias, 2000
watercolor, gouache, ink, and pencil on paper
What I find interesting about this painting is that it seems the jungle is being overtaken by whateveer is causing the fire in the bottom righthand corner. The apes seem to be rushing to find a way out. Another thing I found was interesting is that the artist artificially aged the painting to make it appear several hundred years old.


Sam Gibbons (b. 1980)
Out of Death Sprung a Fountain of Life...,2005
acrylic on canvas
I found this interesting because of the cartoon-like animation going on in the painting. The right and left also seems to be mirrored.



Georgia O'Keefe (1887-1986)
East River from the 30th Story of the Shelton Hotel, 1928
oil on canvas
I'm not sure what it is about this painting that caught my eye. Maybe its the dull colors, that seem to give it a dreary feel.

The Wadsworth Atheneum

On Sunday April 15, I decided to visit the Wadsworth Atheneum located at 600 Main St in Hartford, CT. The museum was surprisingly easy to get to and would have been a perfect day except for the torrential downpours. Other then that I got there just after the museum opened and it seemed like I pretty much had the entire place to myself, which was kind of nice.
The Wadsworth Atheneum is America's oldest continuously operating art museum, founded in 1842. This was three decades before the Met in New York City and the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston. It was founded by Daniel Wadsworth to give the public exposure to fine art that they are normally not accustomed to seeing.




The Atheneum's permanent collection features a diverse selection of modern and international art as well as many representatives of American paintings, sculpture, and decorative pieces. Other then being the first public museum in America it also has been an innovator in a number of firsts. In the 1930s, the Atheneum held the first Surrealism exhibit in America, and the museum's collection of surrealist and modern art features prominent names, such as Salvador Dali, as well as many lesser known Surrealist artists. The museum places a large emphasis on local artists, and many of its exhibitions showcase Hartford or Connecticut artists.
From the minute I walked in I noticed how friendly the staff was, they were there to greet me when I walked in and were happy to answer any questions I had. I thought it would be best to make sure I knew the policy on photography. They sent me right over to the security guard and had me fill out a non-disclosure form and gave me a photography badge.
As I was walking through the museum I noticed a number of eye-catching exhibits from the number of American History paintings on the first floor to the Connecticut paintings, furniture, and recreated rooms on the third floor and other parts of the museum.



I also walked in to look at the exhibit they were displaying "Picasso to Pop" that had a number of more recent artworks. The painting that had caught my eye was one by Louis Anquetin called Avenue de Clichey.



Louis Anquetin was born in Etrepagny, France, in 1861. In 1882, he came to Paris and began studying art at Léon Bonnat's studio, where he met Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec. The two artists later moved to the studio of Fernand Cormon, where they befriended Émile Bernard and Vincent van Gogh.
At the end of my walk through this is the painting that I remembered. The overall scheme of the painting is very dark. Everyone is the painting seems to be drawn in to stay close to the light. I feel the vibrant blue colors is what made this painting stand out in my mind. This painting is also said to be a direct influence on Van Gogh's Cafe Terrace At Night.

NYC trip rescheduled

Well, I was planning to go to NYC on Sat to get in both of my museum trips but got sick and was not up to it. I tentatively have this rescheduled for Thursday provided I feel ok and the weather cooperates. Otherwise, I may have to shuffle around my itinerary. Will keep you posted.

Tony

Yale University Art Gallery

On Saturday the 31st of March, I decided to make my first museum trip to the Yale University Art Gallery. The Yale University Art Gallery is the oldest college art museum in the United States. The gallery was founded in 1832, when patriot-artist John Trumbull donated to Yale College more than 100 paintings of the American Revolution.

Today, the gallery houses a collection that has grown to rank with those of the major public art museums in the United States. Its two connected buildings house ancient, medieval, and Renaissance art, Near and Far Eastern art, archaeological material from the University’s excavations, Pre-Columbian and African art, works of European and American masters from virtually every period, and a rich collection of modern art.

I actually work about two blocks from the museum and can honestly say I have never even thought about going. When I left my house I wasn't even sure of the exact location, but I figured I'd just wing it!

After some searching I finally made it and only to be greeted by those two great words, "Free Admission"!


The gallery had a very modern feel to it, we were promptly greeted at the door and given a map and instructions as to what exhibits were going on. I passed on the tour and figured I would just take it at my own pace. After going the African and Asian art sin the second floor we made our way up to the third floor and passed through the modern art. They had a large modern art exhibit of which I enjoyed taking the time to look at. I have to say I haven't exactly been the most avid art devotee but I was amazed at all the art the Yale Art Gallery had on display. There were pieces by well-known artists such as Van Gogh, Manet, Monet, Picasso, and Andy Warhol.

Claude Monet's the Artists Garden at Giverney



It wasn't a painting from any of these artists that caught my eye it was one from the artist Jean-Leon Gerome. I am very interested in history so I was drawn to the European Art section and this is why "Ave Caesar! Morituri te salutant" is the piece I chose. All of the art in this section seem to tell a story of the past. The more I looked at this art the more I felt I took from the paintings.



Jean-Leon Gerome is a French painter and sculptor and a student of Paul Delaroche. He inherited his highly finished academic style almost directly from Delaroche. His best-known works are his oriental scenes, the fruit of several visits to Egypt. They won Gerome great popularity and he had considerable influence as an upholder of academic tradition and enemy of progressive trends in art; he opposed, for example, the acceptance by the state of the Caillebotte bequest of Impressionist pictures.

My first impression when I look at this painting is that it is very detailed. The detail in the arches at the top of the coliseum and on the stone podium where Caesar sits first caught my eye. Next, I noticed the fallen gladiators that are being dragged off of the coliseum floor. It is hard to tell whether the Gladiator's are done fighting or have not yet begun. The name of the painting translates to "Hail Caesar! We Who Are About to Die Salute You". In my opinion, I would say that they are getting ready for battle as they in no way look wounded from battle. It seems as if they are giving Caesars one final salute. Another aspect can be that these Gladiators could have just fought a battle in a coliseum and they can be seeking Caesar's decision to live or die.

Well, it's off to the Wadsworth Athenum next!