LA County Museum of Art Essay

There exist three basic components of traditional Islamic art: calligraphy, geometric patterns, and floral and vegetal motifs. These three stylistic tools are beautifully rendered and masterfully integrated into complex works of art, but there is no question that artistic expression is severely limited under these categorizations. However, this limitation stems from Islamic theology and concept of art. The main reason for the limitation imposed on visual art is the Islamic theological prohibition of figural imagery. Social laws presented in the Hadith prevented the representation of figures because any imitation was deemed idolatrous. Also, art is considered to be decorative and imitative. Script and patterns are used to decorate

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.

HVIII. ARCHITECTURE: Mosques in the old days were decorated beautifully with calligraphy and tile. They also had their own kind of domes that they used on the most important buildings. Used minarets. The specific geometric forms decorating the walls (known as Arabesque) represent the infinite.

It must have been 13 years or so since I have been to the art museum, back in elementary school, on a one of a kind field trip. 13 years is way too long to have been away from the art museum, as my experience this year reminded me that. It was a beautiful, sunny October day, although it felt like July, and it was an even better day to talk a walk through the vast, mesmerizing pieces of art that the museum has to offer. The North Carolina Museum of Art provides an abundance of artwork from various time periods, cultures, and one can find art anywhere from Egyptian, to classical, to modern and contemporary art. The artwork that the museum provides not only displays an abundance of artwork, but

Lorraine O’Gradys’ unintentionally historic performances, seemingly elevate everyday life to the status of art. In her ‘exhibit’ at the Studio Museum, her work is represented through photographs, in ‘Art is…’. Thirty years ago, O’Grady presented ‘Art is’ in the form of a float in the African American Day Parade right here in Harlem. Performers pranced with empty frames, metaphorically capturing fleeting pictures of the people and places that surrounded the route of the parade. By doing so, the trappings of high art were brought out of the museum, into the street, which promotes a new way people might begin to recognize this new art form in the celebrations of every day life. The

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

The first piece of architectural art to look at is the Taj Mahal. It was constructed as a mausoleum for the wife of Shah Jahan’s favorite wife after her death following complications of childbirth (Kapadia, n.d.). It became so famous that its design was even replicated as a casino in Atlantic City, although that became a mausoleum for the cash of its investors. When someone looks at the Taj Mahal for the first time, the thing that stands out the most is the use of white marble in its construction. Almost everything in the Taj Mahal was created with white marble. Next to be noticed would be both the domes and minarets that make up the monument. These are key tenets of the Mughal style that was used in building it. So too is the calligraphy that adorns almost all of the gateways and

When I attend the Oklahoma Art Museum this morning, I was completely blown away by the different styles, technique, and artistic abilities that artist have. Art can come in many forms and can involve many different things. From paintings, sculptures, and abstract pieces of the modern world. Along with my visit, I got to experience a new collection of blown glass that was absolute remarkable. As I walked though the museum, it was as I walked though time and got to see how each period’s art changed throughout time. From the different shades of color to the different types of technique that filled the halls of the Oklahoma City Art Museum, each piece was genuine in its own way. I was starstruck as I witnessed Lowell Nesbitt’s Parrot Tulip, Richard Diebenkorn’s Albuquerque, and Dale Chihuly’s blown glass.

The exhibit that I viewed at the Philadelphia Museum of Art was one about European Art between the years 1100-1500. This was a series of paintings, sculptures, architecture, and tapestry of the Medieval and Early Renaissance as well as objects from the Middle East. This exhibit was an important part of the history of the Philadelphia Museum of Art because for the first time, Italian, Spanish, and Northern European paintings from the John G. Johnson collection were shown. It gave me a good idea of what the paintings were like in these four centuries and reflected ideas of both the east and the west.

The Whitney Museum of American Art has often been referred to a citadel of American Art, partially due to the museums façade, a striking granite building (Figure 1), designed by Bauhaus trained architect Marcel Breuer. The museum perpetuates this reference through its biennial review of contemporary American Art, which the Whitney has become most famous for. The biennial has become since its inception a measure of the state of contemporary art in America today.

A simple form of art, Mosaic uses hundreds of small tile or pottery pieces to build large pictures and images either on the floor or on walls. The tiny little pieces of tile are known as tesserae. This technique has been adopted by many cultures throughout such as in Rome, Greece and in Middle East. The technique used in its cladding is very effective due to which this art form is long lasting Popular belief states that the Middle eastern architecture is heavily influenced by the middle ages roman and Byzantium culture and therefore has included their signature style of mosaic art form in their architecture. This holds true because the Middle Eastern region makes extensive

Jan van Eyck was active since 1422 and died in 1441. He was the most celebrated painter of the fifteen-century in Europe. One of his famous works is “The Last Judgment”. At first sight this work immediately attracted my attention. The painting’s stunning colors and the fact that it reminded me of a previous similar work I have seen, triggered in my mind. The material that is used is oil on canvas, transferred from wood. The size of this work is 22 1/4 *7 2/3 in. (56.5 * 19.7cm).

The art of calligraphy has been in Islamic and as well as Chinese culture for many centuries. The word "Calligraphy" is defined as a "decorative handwriting,"or defined as "the art of beautiful handwriting." Islamic calligraphy was used to write the Koran because it was considered a sacred text by the Islamic race. Calligraphy is a well-known type of art in the culture of Islam. The Koran, which is the word of Allah that revealed revelations to the Prophet Muhammad that he recorded by hand by using the art of calligraphy.In ancient writings prophets never used pictures to describe what they were talking about because the prophet would be frowned upon by their god Allah. The type of paper

The Pre-Islamic Middle East was surprisingly similar to many societies today. Just like people in modern time, these civilizations were diverse, multicultural, and were very quick to adopt and modify any influences they favored. This Western influence can be seen in their architecture, and art such as their Pagan deities sculpted in Greek form. I found it very interesting that we as human beings still maintain the

Of course, not all works of Islamic art were sponsored by the court; in fact,