ART MUSEUM CRITIQUE

Name__A. Shantel Bodily____________ Class period/section__M,W,F 10 a.m._________

1) Which museum did you visit? (check one) _X_ Univ. of Utah ___ BYU 2) Describe at least one of the permanent collection exhibits on a theme, period, geographic region, or topic) within the museum. {150 words} One of the permanent collection exhibits that was on display was The Val A. Browning Memorial Collection 500 years of European. The common theme that I saw with the paintings was that it had a lot to do with Gods, Angles, and Medieval times. With the Gods, they showed them in the light and above everything else like in the clouds. Making sure that the viewer would understand that the people that they painted were more powerful than a human was. They then had angles flying with the birds in the sky as if they had the freedom to do anything that they wanted. The angles were also in the form of a baby. What I think the significance of this is that babies are the purest things that humanity knows of. As a baby they still have their innocence, they have done no wrong. This collection also had a lot of self-portraits that took place in the medieval times.

3) Give a brief, one paragraph description of a special, temporary exhibit (for help, ask museum staff what these are; they are usually in one of the first rooms). {100 words} A temporary exhibit that was on display was the Under Pressure exhibit. This exhibit shows the different ways artists adopted, embraced, and transformed the universal medium of art over the last 5 decades. This exhibit shows Abstract Expression, Pop Art, and Photorealism. This exhibit also shows minimalism, printmaking, and advancements in technology. This exhibit had many photos starting with paintings that have just plain circles in a line. There is also a layout of Bruce Waynes house and Bat cave. In addition, the painting went into detail to show what different shapes that made up a cow.

This was one of the many temporary exhibits that was held in the museum.

4) What do you think the museum administration and/or exhibit curators want you to learn or gain from the exhibits you viewed? {100 word minimum} What the museum administration wants us to learn form the exhibits that I viewed is what art is really about. While I was looking at the exhibits I saw the questions that asked what is pop art and art speaks: what does it mean. I believe that these questions were put around the museum for a reason. They want you to think about why the artists were inspired to make their artwork in the first place. The museum showed me that anything could be art even if it is something as simple as colorful lines painted on canvass going different directions or a floor plan of Bruce Waynes home. That is what I think the museum administration wants us to learn.

5) What kind of information is provided about the works? Where might you look for further information if you were interested? (Name three possibilities) The type of information that they provided about the works are: where they were made, who made them, how old the art is, what type of painting it is (like an oil painting), and the information about painters and the painting. Other places that you could find the additional information are: internet, books, or classes.

6) Choose several works that particularly appealed to you. Explain why you were drawn to these works. Comment on the subject, style, medium, time period, etc. Who were the artists? What message do you think the artists were trying to convey in the works you chose to discuss? This question must be answered in its entirety. {This should be at least 500 words} There were a lot of particular works that appealed to me. The first one would be by Jean- Leon Gerome who lived form 1824-1904 in France. The title of this piece is Dernieres Prieres des martyrs Chretiens also known as The Christian Martyrs the last prayer. This painting was painted on an oil canvas. Jean was an influential painter and

teacher. He also continued academic realism in the late 19 th century. He started to receive a commission for his painting around 1860. This painting took over 23 years to make and the final painting is in the Walters Art Gallery. What appealed to me in this painting was when the lions were coming out of a dark cave into the arena. When the lions came out of the cave they are looking upward into the clouds where there is a castle where the Gods live. The lions are not the only ones looking upward but the humans are as well. There is a group of people kneeling and praying to the gods. While they are praying there is a man standing in the middle of the group offering the prayer. What I got from this painting is that the group of people was sentenced to die with the whole town watching. This painting reminds me of the biblical story of Daniel and the Lions Den. However, the only difference is that it is a group of people instead of just one man. There is also a group of people that are praying for help to be saved from the lions. The lions look like they are listening to a higher power as well. The other painting that caught my eye was by the Mariner S. Eccles Collection of Masterworks. This painting was by Pieter Cosyn. The title of this pai nting is A View of Leiden. This painting was done on an oil panel. This painting is of a Dutch landscape, this painting appealed to me because of the big tree that is on the left side of the painting. The tree is the first thing that I see. Then there are two men under a tree having a pleasant conversation. Then to the right of the men there is a little boy lying on dead grass. Where the men are talking there looks like there used to be a fence. However, beyond that point of view there are three lots of farmland in the background. This is different because there is more life added to them. The grass is green and rich with trees surrounding each property. To me this shows that life can start from anywhere even though it was once was dead land. It is a beginning in the end. Meaning when death, fear, or tragedy happens there is always a way out and it will be better then

it was before. This painting shows that there is always hope for a bright future ahead even though the clouds are too thick to see the ending destination. Here are just a few pieces of artwork that caught my eye.

7) How did the artworks you looked at relate to material we have discussed in class? (They do relate in many ways, you just need to look for those relationships). {Minimum of 150 words} The artworks that I saw in the museum relate to other material that we have discussed in class like with religion. Why I say that this assignment relates to religion is because there was a lot of art that had biblical references in them. Like with the artwork that I described above named Dernieres Prieres des martyrs Chretiens. This reminded me of the story in the bible of Daniel and the Lions Den. How this relates is that the lions in the story was calm and did not harm Daniel. Then in the painting, the lions did not hurt the humans in the arena. The human(s) in both stories pray to a higher power to make sure that they would be able to make it through the trail that they were going through. That is how the material in the museum and the material that we learned in class relate.

8) What was your personal reaction to this experience? Would you enjoy attending this type of event again? Why or why not? {Minimum 100 words} My personal reaction to this museum experience was that I found it interesting. The reason why I found it interesting is that I found the different types of artwork interesting even though some artworks were simple they still had an interesting look to them. I think what made them interesting was that they were in some place that held a sign of importance for the artwork that was inside. Yes, I would enjoy going to another museum exhibit again. Why I would want to go to another one is because of the way different people define art. Like the way art can be simple or complicated.