Tania
Museum
Paper
Museums are sites
in which works of art and other items of permanent worth are kept and
exhibited. They keep all the evidence, proof, and information of what once was.
Museums display collections that allow viewers to understand and learn from the
past. It lets us see the difference between ancient and modern times. Without
them, people and children wouldn’t know what those times looked like.
Artists’
help people understand what was going on and what time was like for them in
just one painting. Florine Stettheimer, the artist of the Cathedrals of Wall
Street in 1939, is a great example. This painting is located in the Modern Art
gallery at the Metropolitan museum. Her painting portrays the close
relationship between big business and politics.
Besides the fact that she included herself holding a bouquet of flowers,
we can see the Salvation Army workers holding American flags, taken place when
Roosevelt was getting paid by the New York Stock Exchange. Another good example is Edward Hopper’s, “Office
in a Small City” in 1953. This painting catches a lot of attention because of
its colors and view. “A solitary figure, physically and emotionally detached
from his surrounding and other people”. We see a white man, alone, in an office
with a nice view of the city. The artist’s wife describes this painting as “the
man in the concrete wall”. That might’ve been how it was for some people in the
hardworking class.
For
the culture side, the Modern Art gallery displays Stuart Davis’ Arboretum by
Flashbulb 1942. This paint itself extracts a lot of one’s attention just because
of its dramatic colors and patterns alone. “This composition embodies the
syncopated rhythms of American jazz and the dynamism of modern life.” It’s
actually very noticeable because you almost feel as if the painting is singing
to you. There is a girl on the corner in the middle of a dance move surrounded
by shapes and color combinations. Created in 1942, we know what Americans were
listening to just by this painting.
Museums
also contain ancient sculptures from Italy and Greek times that explain their beliefs
and myths. At the Metropolitan, I got the chance to come across Lorenzo
Bartolini’s “Demidoff Table”. It’s a table with three children
laying on each other, only one of them is awake holding up his/her index
finger. According to the site, the child with its
body extended is Cupid. "Stretched
out upon the plan of the world is Cupid, God of generation, sustaining and
watching over the symbolic genius of dissolute wealth without virtue, who
snores in his sleep…dreaming of past diversions in pleasure. Left to himself,
the Genius of ambitious rectitude in work sleeps the agitated sleep of
misfortune and glory...his head extending beyond the periphery of the
world." This is a very peaceful sculpture, just because of the simple fact
that these children are sleeping on each other harmlessly.
Museums make it
easier for one to understand how things were once like in the past. Instead of
reading and listening all the time, museums give us the chance to actually see
for ourselves what is actually true and what is not. And when you get to see
these sculptures and paintings with their dates, you will be satisfied with
what you’re learning about.
Works Cited
Office in a Small City 1953
Edward Hopper (American,
Nyack)
1882–1967
Arboretum by Flashbulb 1942
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