Night at the Museum – Response to the Brooklyn Museum of Art

Three years had passed since I visited the Brooklyn Museum of Art. I had spent much of my childhood in museums, this one in particular. My mother, intent on culturing my sisters and I, had us attend art classes at the Brooklyn Museum of Art’s Gallery/Work Study Program. From the time I was five until I was thirteen, I attended art classes here every weekend and when I was fifteen, I had an internship.   In my youngest sister, the art classes exposed an inherent talent for art; in my other sister and I, neither of us very talented in this area, it showed us the importance of museums and art. As I entered this familiar building, a temple of aesthetic beauty and observance, I was in a dreamlike state – de ja vu galore.

As I walked the gallery floors, I saw the paintings that amazed me as a child – old friends and acquaintances I have not seen in a while. In my group was a friend of mine from high school – an art major from our arts high school, LaGuardia. A wealth of knowledge, he served as our own personal tour guide informing us on the historic context of the pieces, techniques used by the artists, and such. I was grateful for this. He reminded me of things I had long forgotten, made me see the art in different ways than before.  People in my group found themselves fascinated by paintings I never did before.

“Sunrise” by George Inness was an example of this. Surely, I passed by this painting before; however, I never really stopped to look at it. The more you look at this painting, the more you see. At first glance, you see a magnificently orange sunrise. Up close, it is almost blinding. Then your eyes settle upon a tree, slightly bent towards the brilliant sky. It’s darkness a deep contrast from the sky. Look closely, and you see birds over the water, a small orange sphere gradually escaping the sky. Looking at the grass your eyes locate a figure, is that a human? Yes! It must be. Look farther into the painting, the middle of the left side. That’s a cottage, isn’t it? And so it goes. I did not expect to ponder upon paintings I never truly looked at before.   But I did and was pleasantly surprised.

I have two absolute favorite galleries in the museum – the Egyptian mummy tomb and Dinner Party. Unfortunately, the floor Dinner Party is on was closed. Visiting the museum made me realize how much I wanted to see it again. I plan on returning soon for this purpose. However, I did get to see the Egyptian Gallery. Years after seeing them for the first time, I was still in wonder from these artifacts. I realized how much I missed the nose-tickle from the formaldehyde as my eyes feasted on their beauty, the stories I told myself of them as I wandered from display to display.

Seeing all of this beautiful art, made me want to see much more. I plan on visiting more art museums very soon especially now that I have my Macaulay Cultural Passport.