The Met Essay

The focal point of the painting is the woman with infant. This is shown by the lighting in the painting being directly on her, the bright red that she is wearing, and the circling of the putti around her figure along with the majority of their gazes being directed at her. The bright light directly behind her and the infant could possibly be coming from the sun behind the clouds in the sky, the putti to her upper right holding the torch, or it could be symbolic in that it is the infant’s halo and representative of his divine nature. The overall piece is not overly dark but the lighting seems to be most focused on the woman, infant, her other children, and the flying putti. This is an example of tenebrism.

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.

The artwork that is my personal favorite is Ethel Long by Arthur Byron Phillips. This painting in tempera was made on hardboard in 1966 or 1967. Phillips successfully captures the beauty of the older woman through the use of light and the contrast of colors.

There is also a striking luminosity to the painting. The man and the woman’s faces appear to slightly glow, as if you can really see the reflection of the sun beaming off of their skin. This was achieved by a complex method of applying glazes. Wood would apply a layer of oil paint, allow it to dry, and then varnish it. This tedious process would be repeated numerous times. It was a process perfected by the 16th century Venetian painter, Titian. The series of glazes seems to have created an overwhelming sense of depth and radiance within the paint.

Interestingly, my first visit to the Museum was almost accidental. When I was a freshman, my mother was taking an art class at the College of Staten Island which required a class trip to the Metropolitan Museum, and my brother and I both agreed to accompany her. I will never forget the moment that I first laid eyes on the Metropolitan Museum. Although it was a dark, cold winter night, the shimmering lights made the building most inviting. As we crossed the threshold, I was struck by

The painting Udney Maria Blakeley (1830), by Thomas Sully, was the first painting that came to mind when assigned the project: the painting has fascinated me both as a child and an adult due to the beauty of both the woman in the painting, but also from my deeper understanding of art now. Thomas Sully used the wet medium of oil on canvas, and included the woman in the foreground of the painting holding a rose in a vase in her right hand. There is a deep contrast between the women dressed in a white gown, and the darker background of the painting. Due to the highlighting along the left side of her face, and the shadowing on the right, it can be assumed that she is facing, or even looking straight at 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

It was my first time going to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Visiting the Met was a visit forced onto me by the class, nonetheless it was a visit I would eventually take as I had always wanted to go to the Met. I went with a friend that had already visited the museum, but went a couple years ago. I was intent on seeing only three periods, and they were Greek and Roman, Renaissance and Baroque art. With my intent on doing Baroque art, I did not want to spend a lot of time in the other periods, but my friend was eager to see everything. Hence, I ended up seeing more, because there were so much art and so many exhibits. The museum was bigger than I expected and I expected a pretty large space. Since I went on a weekend and it was a tremendously beautiful day, the museum was crowded. I think I spent about two hours at the museum and then was exhausted from all the art I saw. It was a pretty memorable experience.

Thomas Hovenden uses a mix of warm and cool colors to paint this picture. The mother and the babies clothing are the only colors that have high value, which helps them stand out in the painting. The baby is wearing a bright blue jacket while the mother is wearing a red bandanna and yellowish dress. His use of bright colors to illustrate this little family along with John Brown giving his blessing to the baby communicates to us that there is a bright future ahead for them.

1. "Self-Portrait With Two Pupils" by Adelaide Labille-Guiard in 1785. It was made out of oil on canvas and measures 6'11" by 4'11 1/2." It is located in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.

In the painting, ‘Virgin and Child’, by Rogier van der Weyden, it can be observed that the artist chose to use the medium of oil on wood. Despite the fact that Rogier van der Weyden created this painting in the Netherlands and was born in Tournai, Belgium, their primary influence appeared to stem from the Italian Renaissance, which had begun to use the technique of oil paintings with increasing frequency by turn of the 15th century. The subject of the painting itself, Madonna and her virgin child, were a common theme in the Renaissance, where religious subjects and topics were the primary choice for any prominent artist during this historical artistic period.

My experience to the Dallas Museum of Art was a bit different from the last time I had attended the museum. I was curious to see what pieces of art there would be and if it would be the same as the previous visit which was long ago, but to me all the pieces of art were so different and very interesting. It may have been because I saw all the pieces in a new perspective since learning about the different types of paintings there can be and knowing how and where sculptures come from. Even though I do not know much of art I really gave it a try into seeing what the artist may have wanted us to get out of his work. By reading a view of the chapters made me aware of art, I wouldn’t call myself an expert, but it was actually nice knowing that a

The piece I chose is Pablo Picasso’s “Nude combing her hair”. I first saw it at the Kimbell Art Museum and remember admiring it. It was finished in 1906 and is oil paint on canvas. The main (only) figure in this painting is a nude woman, standing, who appears to be combing through her hair with her fingers after bathing. Although abstract, Picasso creates a very elegant, raw, and naturalistic form using color, space, and his depiction of figure.

The feel of the picture lends to emotions of unease and recognition of sexual innuendo. The colors of the painting are vibrant, but for the most part are dark. The heavy tones and shades of the colors are well balanced throughout the piece. It can be noted that the brightest shades of color are found on areas depicting the actual woman. In areas that are understood as landscape, the colors are more dreary and create a sense of instability. Even Hess observes that the

Dark colors picture anguish, loneliness and to a certain extent the feeling of insignificance of the man. On the other hand, bright colors denote what he thinks of his lover. Munch use lines to draw the viewer’s attention to the main area of interest. In this case, that is the connectedness of the man with his lover despite their separation. One example of a line is the woman’s golden hair floating towards him as a symbol of their love. Lines are also used to etch the man’s facial expressions and the woman’s lack thereof. But other than the two lovers, the nature in the background has a symbolic meaning. The crimson bush, the tree, the land, the sky and the water all help represent the man’s inner turmoil. All of the elements of the painting collectively help to convey the permanence of