There are many art institutions in Hamilton, Ontario, such as the Arctic Experience McNaught Gallery, which focuses on Inuit art, and Canadian Landscape; the Hamilton Conservatory for the Arts, which is an art museum as well as a school for those who specialize in art, dance, and music, and of course, our very own McMaster Museum of Art, which needs no introduction. The art institution I have focused on, however, is the Art Gallery of Hamilton (AGH, for short). The Art Gallery of Hamilton, located in the heart of Hamilton on King Street West, is a large public art gallery. Opened to the public on the 28th of June, 1914, it is one of the oldest public art galleries in Canada, and also the third largest in the country, boasting a collection of …show more content…
This collection, known as the “Bruce Collection”, was donated by his widow for the sole purpose of having an appropriate venue to host her late husband’s work. And thus, the Art Gallery of Hamilton was born. Initially, the Art Gallery of Hamilton was a section of the Hamilton Museum, encompassing five rooms on the second floor. In 1952, however, the Art Gallery became its own separate entity after architects were hired by the art gallery staff to build a separate building on Main and Forsyth. Having amassed more and more wealth, the Art Gallery of Hamilton then moved to its present location on King Street in 1977, where it remains to this day. It is known for encouraging creativity within its artists, and instilling a sense of wonder into its audience. It is now considered one of the finest art galleries in …show more content…
There were also many exhibitions present during my visit. The ones that caught my attention were the Art for a Century: 100 for the 100th, and the One Eyed Rabbit. The Art for a Century exhibition is a collection of 100 different works of art that are meant to show the visitors the level of quality expected at the Art Gallery of Hamilton through three different collections: works from the Group of Seven, to European Baroque masterpieces and academic paintings, to contemporary African artistry. One work of art from this exhibition that had caught my eye was This is the Nemesis, by Canadian artist William Kurelek. This painting depicts a city that has been destroyed by a large explosion, and since it was created in the 1960’s, I feel that this painting was meant to portray his own political beliefs during the Cold War. The One Eyed Rabbit is what I saw as a far more childlike exhibition that depicts the misadventures of, well, a one eyed rabbit. In this exhibition, one is able to observe the subtleties associated with vision through the various holographic images, and optical illusions in the installment. This exhibition, although childish in nature, calls on both children and adults alike to observe and enjoy the more imaginative side of life. Due to the wide range of the art within the gallery,
“Cleveland Museum of Art: Building,” Cleveland Art, Cleveland Museum of Art, 2013. Web. 25 March, 2014.
The “bodily eye” relies on sensory perceptions about the world in order to determine what is reality. Metaphorically speaking, the cave is a physical world filled with imperfect images. This world is filled with distorted images about reality.
During my trip to the Art Gallery of Ontario, I found there to be one painting that surely stood out and made an unique impression on me, it was certainly a painting unlike the rest of the in the gallery. When my eyes met those of the portrait of Dr. Heinrich by Otto Dix, I was deeply intrigued and found myself to be drawn to the piece and inspecting it the longest out of the all the options of paintings that I saw at the AGO.
The black silhouette of a child carrying a rifle accompanies the quote, a visual element that conveys to the audience the shocking reality of how small the child seems next to his weapon. This is in direct contrast to the image that opens the piece; a Tenniel illustration of Alice peering curiously behind a curtain, signifying the discovery that is experienced by both the reader and the characters within the short story. Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland was a story that I wished to thread subtly through my piece, in order to develop an idea of childhood wonder and curiosity, as well as a loss of innocence. The significance of Alice’s name is not entirely clear without the opening quote from Carroll’s Behind the Looking Glass (“Now, here, you see, it takes all the running you can do just to keep in the same place. If you want to get somewhere else, you must run at least twice as fast as that!”) By including a relevant quote from an Alice text, the naming choice is able to fully portray the notion of childhood I desired. The quote itself successfully conveys a playful innocence, and leaves the dark tone of the piece unexpected by the
Canada’s national culture has been shaped by prose, poetry and painting in varying degrees since the country’s early days. The artistic movement in Canada has transitioned significantly throughout the course of the nation’s development, from an agricultural society to the urbanized one known today. Early periods view art much differently than those who followed, like the Group of Seven. A notably nationalist art movement suggests that their art represented a dramatic departure from earlier styles of painting in Canada. This paper will argue that the Group of Seven did in fact play a major role in its transition, in addition to ‘Great White Hope’, the myth of the North, which catered to the idealistic notion of the North’s influence in art. The work of Homer Watson, After the Rain, and Arthur Lismer’s, A September Gale, will also be used to help note the changing style and dynamic of Canadian art.
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.
...use to save it. After a series of changes, the building came to be valued as a museum in 1960. (City of Toronto website, 2014)The museum tells about a Victorian house belonged to a political reformer who led people to freedom. It tells the story of a man who led 1837 Upper Canada Rebellion against the government. (Hume, 2011)Some people visit the museum for the history, while others are interested in the ghost stories. (Chris Raible Special to The Star, 1988)The museum belongs to the Toronto municipality today and can be visited every day. A few might visit simply because it is a fine example of late-Georgian architecture. (Hume, 2011)
In all, both the Glasgow Art Building and the Goldman-Schwartz Art Building have a surprising number of similarities. Although they are located on two different continents, the styles are remarkably similar especially considering their function. Their similar goals to promote creativity by designing an open and free environment are perhaps, the most significant and interesting features of the structures. By comparing these features, it gives an indication of the serious dedication to art that has existed across the world regardless of history.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art came about as an idea from Jon Jay in Paris, France in 1866 with the idea of “national institution gallery of art” within the United States. Once this idea was proposed, it was immediately moved forward with his return to the United States. With the help of the Union League Club in NY they began to acquire civic leaders, businessmen, artists, and collectors who aided in the creation of the museum. For over 140 years, the visitors who go here have received everything the mission of the institution states.
The “superstar” museum gained this status by considering every important detail during its establishment and initial phases of conversion from royal palace to museum (Gombault, 2002). As the purpose of the building changed, each room addressed new functions with new requirements. Although the function of the Louvre is different from the building’s original intention, the building is still appears dignified and important enough to display priceless artifacts and painting (Steffensen-Bruce, 1998). This consideration was applied in designing the Met. The Met looked towards the South Kensington Museum (Victoria and Albert) and the “ideal role model” due to its extensive collections and international reputation (Heckscher, 1995). The Met found itself in a similar situation to the South Kensington, because it did not have a building or a collection to start with (Heckscher, 1995). When designing museums, architects strived to create monuments that “prepare and educate the mind of the visitor (Steffensen-Bruce, 1998).” Education is an essential function of a museum. Acquiring, preserving, and properly displaying materials, permits a museum to fulfill this duty (Steffensen-Bruce, 1998). For instance, lighting is a factor that affects the manner in which artwork is viewed and can be properly appreciated. When determining the proper lighting for the Louvre, Comte d’Angiviller, strongly believed that natural, overhead lighting was the most effective solution (McClellan, 1994, p. 72). The same determination impacted the decision to add skylights at the Met. During the initial phase, architects Vaux and Mould, added skylights to the upper floor, and windows to the lower floor that provided a natural light solution (Heckscher, 1995). Additionally, glass-roofed courtyards provided “unimpeded light” for displaying
Seeing the art in person truly made me see the beauty and captivity a painting can hold. Each gallery was filled with different American works. My favorite kind of paintings are the ones I can look at and immediately write a story in my head about what is happening, even if it not what the artist intended. As I was going through the galleries one painting in particular stuck in my mind. I was fortunate enough to experience a special exhibition called, “Audubon to Warhol.” It was composed of different works acquired from private and public collections. I was lured to the emotions that was captured by the main figure in one of the works. I was drawn not only to the beauty of the painting, but the story it shared. The painting I chose was Peeling Onions, by Lilly Martin Spencer.
The Museum Of Modern Art “MOMA” was firmly established on 53rd street in 1939 in Midtown Manhattan New York, after a decade of moving due to its growth in modern art pieces. Originally Patrons Miss Lillie P. Bliss, Mrs. Cornelius J. Sullivan, and Mrs. John D. Rockefeller Jr. wanted to establish a program dedicated to modern art in the late 1920s. A. Conger Goodyear, Paul Sachs, Frank Crowninshield and Josephine Boardman Crane, whom later became trustees, created the Museum Of Modern Art in 1929. It’s founding Director, Alfred H. Barr, Jr. wanted the MOMA to be "the greatest museum of modern art in the world." Its intent was to provide ordinary blue collar individuals with a better understanding and acknowledgment of art in its era.
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.
An artwork that stood out in the exhibition was School of Beauty, School of Culture (2012) . It portrays women and two children standing in a beauty salon and school with green walls and a red floor. The walls have posters promoting black beauty with one that reads, “it’s your hair” and under this statement are the words love, dark and lovely. There are mirrors against the wall and in the reflection a camera flash is shown from a person who is taking a picture of those in the salon. Red, black, and green, the colors of the Afro-American flag, border the top of the wall, symbolizing the black power movement . The focal point of this piece is a woman who stands in the center, posing for the person taking a picture. To her right, towards the floor, is a “floating” head of a white woman which is compressed and 2-dimensional. This is a tribute to Hans Holbein’s The Ambassadors (1533) because in Holbein’s piece, there is a 2-dimensional skull painted in the same fashion. Just how the skull in The Ambassadors is a reminder of death, the head in Marshall’s
The first art gallery we entered was by far my favorite. It was well put together and had very extravagant art paintings. Inside a man was strumming his guitar. I loved the ambiance I felt when I walked in. People observed the art in an orderly fashion. There were snacks like cheese, tea, crackers, cookies, and homemade flavored water to enjoy as people reviewed the art displayed on the walls. The art itself was truly breathtaking and breathtakingly expensive as well. I wondered at the time how much art could have costed back in the eras we are studying in class, as composed of