Comparative Criticism of Two Museums

Never before have I seen a museum as grand as the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. From its architecture to its massive art collection, The Met has a little bit of everything and one is sure to find something that captures his or her interest. Considering that The Met is the United States' largest art museum, it is easy to get lost within its many corridors and wings. My visit to The Met took place during the last week of July. Despite the almost unbearable heat and humidity that hung in the air, visiting museums under these climate conditions is a welcome respite from a suffocating, yet bright summer afternoon.

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.

Positioned alongside Central Park in the heart of New York City, The Metropolitan Museum of Art is one of the largest and most influential art museums in the world. The Met houses an extensive collection of curated works that spans throughout various time periods and different cultures. The context of museum, especially one as influential as the Met, inherently predisposes its visitors to a certain set of understandings that subtly influence how they interpret and ultimately construct meanings about each individual object within the museum. Brent Plate in Religion, Art, and Visual Culture argues that “objects obtain different meanings in different locations and historical settings.”An object placed on display behind a glass case inside a museum would hold a vastly different meaning if it was put on sale by a street vendor, like the ones who set up their tables in close proximity to the Met. The different meanings that objects are able to obtain is attributed to the relationships that are established between the object itself and the environment that surrounds it. These relationships often involve the kind of audience that a museum attracts, where the work is exhibited, and how the exhibits within a museum is planned out. Museums subsequently have the ability to control how these relationships are established which influences the way a viewer is able to construct meaning. When a visitor observes an object on display at the Met, they instinctively construct a certain set of

To highlight the relationship between each of the exhibitions, the staff could provide daily visitors with a cohesive guide map of the entire museum. The current location of the museum is massive to accommodate for the displays as well as three research laboratories, but due to large size, each exhibit feels isolated and

Art museums are special and they can be anything to any certain person. Art museums have always been a place where people can advance their knowledge about history or a place to preserve special things. You can think of it to be a place that holds precious treasures. Art museums all over the world have been a place for people to come together and socialize about what is being observed. There are so many interpretations what art museums can hold which is amazing knowing people simply come to visit museums to enjoy the beauty and inspiration behind the art shown. Art museums of the 21st century have evolved as culture evolves and has shown us what type of art is being prioritized, changed, and re-thinks the purpose of museums, as well as how art museums are booming in which they are being developed til this day.

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

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.

The Guggenheim Museum is a form of abstract art which has no separate floor levels but uses a spiral ramp. This was his ideal of continuous space and most significant building. His principles

The de Young museum seen from a distance is a bold architectural statement, with its sleek horizontal building, indeterminate dark brown color and its massive tower emerging from its slightly bent curving roof. The building is an example of boldness, internationalism and cultural neutrality. Its setting in the Golden Gate Park’s landscape with the topography, vegetation; weather and light are taken advantage of. The significance of nature and the art that is housed in the museum from the Americas, Oceania, and Africa can be seen as having resonance in the architecture. Many of the works of art are sacred in their cultures, are made of natural materials and were never intended to be displayed in formal settings. Post modern theme of ‘context’ comes into expression as Jacques Herzog put it: “These objects belong to nature. We wanted to emphasize that”.

Positioned alongside Central Park within the heart of New York City, The Metropolitan Museum of Art is one of the largest and most influential art museums in the world. The Met houses an extensive collection of curated works that spans throughout various time periods and different cultures. The context of museums, especially one as influential as the Met, inherently predisposes its visitors to a set of understandings that subtly influence how they interpret and ultimately construct meanings about each individual object within a museum. By analyzing two separate works on exhibit at the Met, I will pose the argument that museums offer a unique expression of a world view that is dictated through every element of its construction.

To determine whether the Armani exhibition is considered a sell-out, the relationship between the objectives of the Armani exhibition and the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation's mission statement plays a central role. Since the mission statement allows for interpretation of what is considered art in the modern and contemporary periods, the Armani exhibition does fit into this mission. Additionally, since the Foundation strives to put on "exceptional exhibitions" for an "increasingly diverse international audience," the Armani exhibition fulfills this part of the mission because it attracted a high level of attention—from celebrities to experts in the fashion industry to businesspeople—who came from different parts of the world to see the famous works of Armani. Thus, this exhibition does appear to fulfill the mission of the Foundation.

Mountains. Tall, mounded structures that clouds rest on. Like layered cake, a large row of trees carpeting the gigantic base floods the ground like a cool, green sea. A gray middle towers up, carving rocky outcrops. And finally, the snow capped point, like icing, that beribbons the top. Imagining them is one thing, but climbing them only takes one priority, perseverance.

How art is presented in a museum is based off guidelines. The shows cannot be too crowded, there has to be a flow to the pieces, and there has to be a concept behind the curation of the art. This process can take years depending on the size of the show; both floor plans and 3D models are created to curate shows. Shows in other countries and cities will follow similar guidelines. Some exhibits may have more money put into them and more thought about the curation, but generally there will be a concept, and flow to the pieces shown.

Art gallery and art museum are two different types of structure. The major difference between them is that the purpose of the art gallery is to go to discover the artist’s work and with an interest in buying their art. So it's basically a small business to promote and sell art.

The Guggenheim Museum Bilbao is a museum that represents modern and contemporary art. Its story first begins when Thomas Krens the director of Solomon R. Guggenheim foundation in New York City, was looking for a museum location in Europe. He chose the industrial wasteland in the middle of the city on a curve of the Nervion River. The site was located in the center of