I Visited The David Owsley Art Museum

In art, there are qualities that speak louder than words. It expresses many different messages and emotions and each person has an experience different from the next. In this paper, I will be discussing two artworks I encountered. The piece is a good example of how people can encounter different experiences in one piece. I attended the Orlando Museum of Art a while back with family and overall enjoyed my experience. On my visit, I found the museum quite impressive and felt a deep connection with specific pieces.

I like this painting because of the feeling and memories it reminds me of. The water and rocks remind me of all my childhood memories of swimming in the water and hiking mountains. The bright and light colors create a cheerful and

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.

It is said that a picture is worth a thousand words, but maybe they are worth far more than that. Pictures, although seemingly simple in nature, are extremely complex. Far too often, people overlook what a picture truly is. When a person looks at an image, they most likely see only the image, nothing else. Many people do not look deep enough into an image to fully comprehend the true meaning of it. However, when an individual begins to truly study an image in an attempt to understand the true complexity of it, they will be surprised at what they overlooked before. As stated by French Realist Painter, Gustave Courbet, “Fine art is knowledge made visible.”

According to Mandel, art reminds us that we’re human. It is a subconscious human instinct, even “in the midst of catastrophe” (Knopf).

My Humanities Art Experience took place at the Columbus, GA Museum, located on Wynnton Road. I really enjoyed my experience at the museum. It was my first time visiting an American museum. I saw many pieces of fine art, some of which I will list below.

How does your piece of art communicate, evoke, or inspire? What do you think the artist was trying to say with his or her work?

During my visit to the Brooklyn Museum, I found it both intriguing and informative. The layout of the exhibition was divided into about three to four sections. Each section of the museum represented a movement of the 60’s. The themes represented were segregation of blacks and whites, how they tried to gain equality and the changes they anticipated would happen in the future. The artwork throughout the exhibit was displayed in a varying gradient of black and white to colors.

When I visited the Orange County Museum of Art (OCMA), I was mesmerized by the beautiful sculptures, paintings, and many other works of art. This museum introduces many different exhibitions at different times and dates. The exhibition that I chose to visit is called the “Sandow Birk: American Qur’an”. The reason why I was very interested in this type of exhibition was because it displayed Middle Eastern artwork. Another reason was because I am Middle Eastern and that I can relate to it. Although I was so focused on this exhibition only, I did not realize the other works of art. However, as I walked deeper into the museum, another exhibition caught my attention. That exhibition is called the “Olga Lah: Amass and Swell”. If anyone decides to visit the Orange County Museum of Art (OCMA), I would recommend to look online about any appealing exhibitions that are being displayed as well as calling their office to plan a visit. Furthermore, in my opinion, there were some types of art that I did not fully analyze because they were not relatively fascinating as the rest. Moreover, the artworks that I examined displayed unique qualities and their messages were demonstrated in a significant, yet informative way.

The two art pieces I chose when visiting the Detroit Institute of Arts are Cotopaxi by artist Frederic Edwin Church in 1862 and the Tomb of the Golden Engenderers by Carl Andre in 1976. The painting Cotopaxi was my favorite piece at the art museum. When I first saw it I was blown away by the beauty and skill of the painting. It is an oil canvas of the landscape in Ecuador named after the volcano Cotopaxi, showing an erupting volcano belching smoke and debris. It looked as if you were viewing the landscape in first person. The tremendous detail and crystal clear look of the painting left me in awe. The use of realism in his painting makes it stand out. The picture is very large and fascinating; the painting shows an emphasis on light and a passionate respect for natural detail. The color of the red sun and smoke of the volcano are shown with remarkable detail. The landscape and scenery of the painting makes it strikingly beautiful and allows the colors to burst. The artist allows for every landscape shown to compliment the other from the color of blazing sky, the massive waterfall plunging into the rocky canyon, to the dark chalky smoke of the volcano. The crimson sky reflects off the water in the distance. His painting shows the violence and power of nature with the explosion of the volcano obliterating everything around it in the distance. There is a small person in the bottom corner of the painting. The person surrounded by such a dramatic setting could symbolize the

When you go to an art show do you understand the symbolic interpretation of the pieces? Don’t feel bad, most people don’t. What’s so upsetting about that is that you really miss out on the experience. When I think about interpretation of art I think of Andy Warhol. Andy Warhol’s use of iconography changed not only the art world but the people who came into contact with his art. Once you understand his life and art, you will understand his art as a symbolic representation.

The painting I chose was a painting of Chrysanthemums by Pablo Picasso. It is a very simple and straightforward, yet captivating image. The way the petals on the flowers were painted are very interesting, each of them were created with unique stroke of the brush. Picasso obviously wanted viewers to focus only flowers as the foreground and background were left somewhat rugged and undetailed. At first it may be hard to notice, however, it can be seen that the source of light for the picture is on the left as the right side is painted with slightly darker colors. When positioned directly in front of the painting the flowers actually do not seem as flowers at all. Only until you move farther back will the blurry strokes of white and red actually

Good art allows me to flee the realms of reality. In my mind's limitless consciousness, I can escape the mundanity of everyday life. It opens a door in my head to a world only limited by my imagination. I am no more a slave to gravity, chained down on the earth when I am reading. I can be a bird and soar high above the clouds, or be a fish and swim deep down in the darkest depths of the ocean. I am there, I am that person, and everything else around me regardless of what it is, fades away. Sometimes these people are the one's I'd like to be but sometimes I encounter nefarious characters I wholly condemn. I am able to feel the emotions that the artist intends for me to feel. However, it is not merely reading or listening, but understanding

The most important trait in defining art is its beauty. As complex as the term “art” can be, the term “beauty” is nearly just as complicated. In order to understand art more clearly it is important to understand beauty. “We label an object beautiful because it promotes an internal harmony or ‘free play’ of our mental faculties; we call something ‘beautiful’ when it elicits this pleasure.” (Freeland 8). As defined above, beauty is not a direct message. It is something that subconsciously allows man to feel good and pleasurable. There is “an internal harmony” when we observe something beautiful that allows us to take away a deeper understanding of a work of art regardless of it being “nice looking” or “ugly”.

At first, I didn’t want to go to the museum. That day, I was exhausted after finishing school, so going all the way to San Francisco wasn’t exactly my idea of relaxing. Thankfully, my mom insisted we go that day, since it was my dad’s day off. I felt frustrated that we had to go right then, but my mom forced us.