Comparing The Museum Of Modern Art

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.

During our visit to the El Paso Museum of Art, our docent (insert name) took us on a tour of their current exhibitions: Robert Delaunay and Albert Gleizes: The School of Paris from Modern Master Series: Highlights from the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, The Immaculate Conception, Amplified Abstraction, and Modern Stone Totems. In addition to our expedition we observed art of Mexico and New Spain that showcased 17th and 19th century paintings and sculptures. European art with includes paintings and sculptures from the Samuel H. Kress Collection. As well as, early American art from the 19th century to the mid 20th century.

The first room of the museum pulled in the audience with artwork from the 20th century. Although it may seem like artwork put together at the last minute, if you look closer, you will see something entirely different. Each piece had so much detail and unique qualities, such as style and art form, that you haven't see in many other museums before. It is important to appreciate the erratic design and character of each piece of art, but after seeing the entire museum, it is easy see the monumental difference between art now, and the art of our past. Art of the past showed a lot more

The painting work done by C. Bertram Hartman was the first piece of art I observed inside the Dallas Museum. This painting, completed in 1930, consists of a campanile-type tower, most likely a representation of a historic skyscraper (Walker 73). The painting applies a fractured perspective blended on an urban look with muted color palettes accompanied by harsh shadows (MacDonald & Brettell 117). The painting is a reflection of the dynamism and energetic expansion of the current New York City. The geometrical arrangement of the buildings in the painting resemble the current scenes witnessed in New York, championing a fast pace and a

“The museum has changed people’s perception of museums, about the connections between art, architecture, and collecting.” (Freshome). Admiring the Architect, Frank O. Gehry, and how he would not just design, but how he would blend previous designs with his own and create a building made his work unforgettable.

In the Metropolitan Museum of Art, two paintings are exhibited taking place in the 1800s. These artists have similarities and differences viewpoints of the environment in their painting and it helps people get a glance of what the 1800s were like.

The Museum of Fine Art in Houston (MFAH) is the oldest art museum in the state of Texas. The very first museum building opened to the public in 1924, known as The Caroline Wiess Building, which was designed by William Ward Watkin. The building itself represents the neoclassical style that was prominent in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. The formation of the building represented the determination of Houstonians to transform their growing city into a rich, cultural center. It’s function is to bring art into the everyday life of the citizens of Houston. These elements are instilled in the architectural design of the building. The setting, space, location, and lighting of the building all play a role in its overall function.

The St. Petersburg Museum of Fine Arts stands out from its surrounding with is dimensions alone, being only two-stories it is dramatically shorter than any other building and its width covering near a city block makes it wider than any other building in the vicinity. The exterior of the museum constructed in a similar design to that of Greek

John Volk was the architect that designed The Museum of Fine Arts and explained the structure as such: “a museum should give a feeling of permanence and that is what I have tried to do with this building”. His plan was well executed, when I arrived to the museum I noticed two different designs. The front of the museum reminded me of the Ionic Order, the Volutes and the molded bases became my main focus. The beige paint seemed like a great fit as well, it added to the light and airy flow within the museum and gave me further evidence that the Ionic order outside represented what was displayed inside. However, the actual style of the building was a Palladian Style which originated from Europe in the 1500’s.

In the 1920’s Miss Lillie P. Bliss, Mrs. Cornelius J. Sullivan, and Mrs. John D. Rockefeller, Jr., created The Museum of Modern Art in 1929. Its founding director, Alfred H. Barr, Jr., wanted the Museum to be dedicated to helping people understand and enjoy the visual arts of our time, and that it might provide New York with “the greatest museum of modern art in the world.”MoMA also owns about two million film stills. The Museum has a collection of modern and contemporary art exhibitions with a wide range of subject matter, mediums, and time periods, highlighting significant recent developments in the visual arts and new interpretations of major artists and art historical movements.The Museum is dedicated to its role as an educational institution and provides a program of activities set out to help both the general public and special segments of the community in approaching and understanding the world of modern and contemporary art. Today, The Museum of Modern Art welcome millions of visitors every year.

As I walked up to The Metropolitan Museum of Art (MET) for the first time, I was overwhelmed with amount of visitors that occupied the steps to the entrance and wondered if this visit was the best choice. I opened the front doors to the museum and stepped inside; my immediate impression of the place reminded me of my first experience at Grand Central Station. Initially, I was overwhelmed and distracted by the hustle and loud noise around me, yet at the same time, I found myself mesmerized by the architectural beauty and layout of the place.

The Museum of Modern of Art was the first to use the words “International Style”, which was a fitting term to introduce modernist arts to the world. Johnson and another renowned architect Henry-Russell Hitchcock organized a major show under the title “Modern Architecture: International Exhibition”. There they described the International Style that expresses several design principles, that concerns with volume rather than mass and solidity, regularity instead of axial symmetry, and the proscription of “arbitrary applied decoration”. Exhibits featured leading European and American architects, especially the likes of Le Corbusier and Ludwig Mies van der

I chose to travel to the Museum of Modern Art for this assignment. Once I was there, I wasn’t sure which artwork I wanted to focus my analysis on. At first I was overwhelmed by the sheer enormity of the museum (I have never been), but after a little while I gained my bearings and began to explore for 20th century art. After viewing many of the paintings that we discussed in depth in class and many that we did not, I decided to write my analysis on “Street Light,” by Giacomo Balla. I chose this painting because the colors and aspects of it intrigue me. I am also familiar with it, which can help aid me in my analysis. I was extremely interested when we discussed Futurism in class, and I was happy that I could find something in the Museum of Modern Art that had to do with that particular movement, especially a painting that we touched upon. The painting itself was much larger than I anticipated in person, and stood taller than me the way it was mounted on the wall. The colors were more vibrant than any picture online could convey, and I found that I had to restrain myself from physically touching the lines of color that symbolized the street lamps light. Up close, I was able to notice the finer details of the work. The lines seemed a little messier and more hastily painted than I had originally thought, however, this added to the movement of the piece overall. I found myself wishing that the lines of color pushed to the boundaries of the painting rather than ending before

Before the mid-twentieth century, museums in Europe and the United States were generally planned in variations of the neoclassical style. But, the Guggenheim museum in Bilbao moved the heading of gallery outlines, which gave an extensive show venue to twentieth century and modern art, designed by the famous architect Frank Gehry. Architecture is important nowadays to the public, because it offers a physical surrounding environment in where we live in. Moreover, architecture is not only affected by the culture, but also by the economy of the country.