In Search of Meaningful Themes

The Metropolitan Museum of Art features many exhibits, but our trip focused on the African Art exhibit and the Matisse exhibit called In Search of True Painting. Both exhibits displayed different forms of art and were unique in their own way. Though each exhibition had its ups and downs, both of them managed to provoke deep thought about relating different aspects of art.

The focus of our visit to the African Art exhibit was on one room that linked the African Art to the avant-garde artists of the 20^th century. Much of the African art that was on display in that room was very geometric. Faces were distorted and artists had creative license to display figures in any way they wanted. They took this liberty and distorted people – making eyes bigger, extending torsos and shortening legs. Many of the features on the sculptures such as the eyes or the nose could be broken down into geometric shapes, resulting in a very symmetrical image. This style influenced cubism, a style that well-known artists such as Picasso were famous for. Avant-garde artists like Picasso or Matisse were influenced by the geometry and symmetry that many of the African sculptures and masks had. They evolved on this style and made their own successful work.

Although realizing the link between African art and modern art was interesting, the exhibit itself was dull. The room that linked the past and present was too small and I would have liked to see more connections through more pieces of work. Seeing more work by the 20^th century avant-garde artists displayed next to the African art would have made it a lot easier to see the connections the exhibit was trying to bring out. I think that would have added to the power of the exhibit.

In Search of True Painting specialized on Matisse and his search for a style. In his early career, he would paint the same still life two or three times using different techniques, looking for the one that fit him best. In his later career, he moved on to painting series such as “The Dream.” It took him nine months to paint the same image numerous times. His still lives like “Yellow Curtain, Anemones and Fruit” were very ordinary, no matter what style he painted in. It was always the same image and didn’t pull me in like art should. One that did interest me however, was “Large Cliff-Eel” and “Large Cliff-Two Rays.” What I found interesting was that although the background was similar, the different animals created a different feel for the painting and I enjoyed the slight change.

A couple selections from Matisse’s series “The Dream”

Wall text said that the African art and its geometry influenced Matisse. But in this exhibit, I could not see influence. Matisse’s paintings were dotted, made by many dots of paint on the page. Other styles involved a very flowing and shadowed style, and his black and white drafts of paintings. None of his work was very geometrical or distorted so I did not see the African influence. However, this was a thought-provoking exhibit because as I walked through, I tried to discover his style. In trying to find a style, he made his own. He created multiple images of the same painting in different styles. It is an art technique that is unique to him, and it works well for the still lives he does. The different styles for still lives attempt to add spice and variance to an otherwise dull subject.

While both exhibits did not fully interest me, I found their themes intriguing. I found the African exhibit to be too small and did not have enough sculptures and paintings to fully bring out the power of the connection between past and present. The Matisse exhibit was boring because his paintings all looked the same. The still lives were the same fruit and vases over and over again. Even the different styles could not capture my attention. But the themes that the exhibits brought out were well constructed. Connecting African art to popular avant-garde creations such as cubism through geometry was an eye-opening theme that I had never thought about before. Seeing Matisse struggle to find a style while making his own was fascinating, especially seeing all the times he repainted something. And while the art was not memorable, the themes will remain strong because of how well they were created.