Museum Observation

Douglas Crimp begins his essay by delivering a story about a librarian, Julia Van Haaftan and how she was interested in the photography organization at the Art and Architecture Division of the New York Public Library. In addition, Crimp delivers his most enlightening and meaningful point by explaining how Julia Van Haaftan is also now a “director of the Photographic Collections Documentation Project”. She discovered several lost books and photographs, which she researched, re-categorizing, and placed them under the photography or art category in the photographic collection. I found this section of the essay entertaining because it demonstrates that the history books can get lost

ArtScience Museum at Marina Bay Sands is a premier museum destination for major international touring exhibitions from the most renowned collections around the world. It seamlessly integrates art and science to tell fascinating narratives. Embracing a spectrum of influences from art & science, to media & technology, to design & architecture, the ArtScience Museum features over 4,600 square meters of galleries. This premier venue houses a constantly changing line-up of major international touring exhibitions, brought in through collaborations with organisations such as the American Museum of Natural History and the Smithsonian Institute.

During my visit to Balboa Park’s San Diego Museum of Art, I was able to visit many diverse exhibitions that allowed me to explore the broader definition of art. Among the medieval, religious paintings and the European portraits of high-class nobility, there were several pieces that stood out to me -- such as the selection of colorful, geometric quilts in “Quilts and Color” and the bronze lions sculpted by Arthur Putnam in “Ferocious Bronze”. The quilts were especially shocking to see in such a grand museum, as I was used to seeing quilts in old crafting stores or bedroom closets. However, the use of pattern and optical illusion in the quilts truly made it mesmerizing; the exhibit reminded me that artists choose the medium

The Meadows Museum is a public art museum on the Southern Methodist University campus, and it collects a lot of Spanish works. When I was around the museum, I saw many beautiful stone sculptures. When I entered the museum, I felt quiet, serious and professional because of visitors who focused on appreciation of art and staff wore formal clothing. According to the artwork I am most interested in, I will introduce its information, my first impression, and the second impression.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art is one of the world's largest and finest art museums. The main Neoclassical architectural style building is located on the eastern edge of Central Park in New York City, New York. It was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1986. It was founded in 1870 with a mission to collect, preserve, and display works of art. In 1866 a group of Americans gathered at a restaurant to celebrate the Fourth of July. After dinner, John Jay, a prominent lawyer gave a speech proposing that he and his compatriots decided to create a “national institution and gallery of art.” In the next four years, they convinced American civic leaders, art collectors, and philanthropists to support the project, and finally in 1870 the Metropolitan Museum of Art was incorporated. During the 1870s the museum was housed in two different locations in New York City, first in a building at 681 Fifth Avenue and later at 128 West 14th Street. In 1880 the museum moved to its present location in Central Park on Fifth Avenue between 80th and 84th Streets. The museum moved to this land to make a permanent home for the collections. This original Gothic Revival-style brick building, designed by Calvert Vaux and Jacob Wrey Mold, was opened to

BY MANY MEASURES, the museum world today seems sexier and more successful than ever. The Metropolitan Museum of Art announced in June that its annual attendance had topped 6 million for the third year in a row, its highest levels on record. In the Boston area, institutions including the Institute of Contemporary Art, the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, and the Peabody Essex Museum have opened sleek NEW additions or entirely NEW buildings designed by big-name architects. The Museum of Fine Arts recently opened a glamorous new American wing to great fanfare.

I recently read your reaction to the new Getty Museum. I found that your opinions about J. Paul Getty’s museum align with my thoughts about the museum. You said the outer aesthetics of the museum provide people with a “heated art controversy.” You said that a museum must not portray a non-neutral or partial nature between the museum’s looks and its content. My perception of the museum falls under the relation between a statue and its pedestal. Most people observe and admire statues that sit atop a simple, uniform pedestal. But, when the pedestal receives a makeover making it highly glorified, the spotlight slightly shifts from the statue onto the pedestal. People don’t lose complete sight of the statue, but people still appreciate and admire

Since ancient times, humanity has used art to express feelings, emotions, ideas, and much more. Also, it was used as a medium to communicate between each other. As a result, it is not surprising that we feel delighted while observing works of art. Now, there are many opportunities to go to museums, and enjoy the precious art pieces shown there. One of the museums that has a wide variety of art, is the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

The Field Museum started as a Columbian exposition held in Chicago. Everyone who worked in the exposition saw the effect it had to the people who came to visit the event so a year later, Marshall Field agreed to invest on the museum project (Encyclopedia, 2005). In 1894, the museum was established in Jackson Park, but due to the decision of the committee to change the name, they decided to relocate the museum to Grant Park and leave the museum to be known as the Museum of Science and Industry. It was a struggle to find a new location for the museum, but eventually everyone agreed to build it by the lakefront (Field Museum, 2016). In my standpoint, I would not have made the decision better myself. I believe the Field Museum stands where it belongs. It is located in one of the best area in Chicago. It is near other fascinating attractions such as Navy Pier, Adler Planetarium, and Shedd Aquarium; making it easy for

Salvador Dalí is known for his surrealist paintings and his innovative techniques which instills an illusional vision upon his spectators. Two of his paintings that have made an huge impact in mass media and pop culture today are called Old Age, Adolescence, and Infancy (The Three Ages) and the Ecumenical Council. These paintings serve as the epitome of Dali’s career that has allowed him to gain such a high recognition as a surrealist painter and an influential artist.

In a word, I love National Museum at Warsaw’s idea of children curating the exhibit. On the other hand, according to Laneri, Neue Galerie is turning away a little kid who wants to see her favorite painting, which is Munch’s “The Scream” (Par. 2). The reason they gave is: first, they have many fragile art works on display, and the other one is because some of their art works contain adult contents (Laneri, par. 9 & 10). We discussed a lot during today’s class about education programs at museums, and whether those programs should open to children even though they may contain some contents that are inappropriate for children to see them. In my opinion, it should be the parents’ call whether they want to bring their children to those kinds of exhibitions or not. When museums put age limitations on, it somehow can turn away lots of potential

I was toured by the docent Ms. Alba Muniz at the Ringling Museum of Art located in Sarasota, Florida. Asking her and some of the tours many questions, one of the answers they gave me was that the museum does have a lot of Renaissance, Gothic and Rococo but the museum is particularly strong in the Baroque period. This museum was very interesting and exciting to visit. It had featured exhibits such as Peter Paul Rubens’s, The Triumph of the Eucharist Series, Trenton Doyle Hancock’s, What the Bringback Brought, and Builder Levy’s, Appalachia USA. These three exhibits where really compelling and had a strong background to them. For example Peter Paul Rubens’s, The Triumph of the Eucharist Series, was comminsioned by daughter of King Phillip II in 1625. Her name was Isabella Clara Eugenia and she was actually in one of the tapestries presented in the museum. That tapestry was called The Defenders of the Eucharist. The

Visiting the Museum of Jewish Heritage was quite an experience. The museum focused on Jewish culture before the Holocaust, the war against the Jew during the Holocaust and the Jewish renewal after the holocaust. Visiting the museum was definitely a big eye opener it helped me to realize that I did not know much about Jewish History as I thought I did.

You know what’s disturbing in today’s world? When a story about a lost pig in Dalhousie gets way more views than a local museum losing one of their prime time players. Heritage House Museum in Smiths Falls losing its curator Carol Miller disturbed me because people need to realize that it could happen in any of your towns, any day, anytime-- and if we don’t do anything to stop the hemorrhaging we will not have these local gems anymore.

I had the pleasure of visiting The Miami Art Museum and was very impressed by what I encountered and viewed. I have never found interest in art until I got to see the museum. Throughout my exploration at the Miami Art Museum I was able to view a wide selection of art. In this venture, I viewed the most beautiful artwork I had ever seen, observed interesting non European/North American art, was alarmed by the most disturbing works , explored a breath taking exhibition, and actually found work that I would actually take home with me.