Tourist Guide

The second painting that caught my attention was Albert Bierstadt’s “A Storm in the Rocky Mountains.”  Landscape painting of the raw, untouched wild has always had a special effect on me. The sheer level of depth and detail in this painting make it hard to believe that it was created with a simple brush. The perspective that Bierstadt chose is also very interesting, as you can see the violent, dark storm in the distance, yet the clouds are still white and the sun is still bright and shining closer to the viewer. This contrast of moods created conflicting emotions within me. In my interpretation, besides simply depicting the Rocky Mountains, this painting also shows the constant balance between the positive and the negative essences of our world. Another interesting aspect of the painting is that even though the viewer can clearly see that the storm will soon hit this peaceful part of the mountain, it will undoubtedly pass, just as it did over the peak of the mountain visible in the background behind the storm. Perhaps this too points to the natural cycle of constant change yet preservation that’s present in our world. Landscape painting such as this amaze me in that they not only allow you to marvel at the mystical beauty of nature, but can also provoke deep, philosophical thoughts as to the nature of our planet.

Visiting the Brooklyn Museum proved to be a valuable experience in that I was exposed to types of art that I have never previously seen before. An example of such art is a painting by Valerie Hegarty entitled “Fallen Bierstadt.” This painting is based off another work by Albert Bierstadt, which depicts the Bridal Veil Falls. What’s interesting about this work of art is that it acts as a critique of landscape painting, which was prevalent in the United States during the 19^th century. Landscape painting sought to idealize the American continent and played a heavy role in creating an identity for the American populace. Hegarty took this notion and applied it to art in that she shows nature as an accurate portrayal of the current situation of the country at the time. My first interpretation of this work was to show that art in itself, as magnificent as it may be, is still made out of a material, and is thus at the mercy of the forces around it. Yet the impression that it leaves on those who see it is timeless, because the mind can’t burn as easily as a canvas. The title of the work is worth noting as well, as it connects Hegarty’s work to that of the original painter and shows how his accomplishment in portraying the beauty of the American wilderness can be easily destroyed and reevaluated.

I did learn to appreciate some forms of Modern Art during my visit to the MoMa. An example of such works is Claude Monet’s Agapanthus, which depicts nature in its purest form. This painting depicts several flowers, known as agapanthuses, surrounded by swirls of what seems to be green grass and leaves and is reminiscent of Van Gogh’s paintings. I enjoyed seeing the directions of the brushstrokes on the painting, as it points to the attention to detail paid by Monet in a painting surrounded by a green backdrop. According to the description, Monet often painted in his garden, which was rich with plant life. Such an inspiration is clearly depicted in this painting as it is completely covered in the color green, showing that life surrounds the flowers on all sides. Such art, which is a nonstandard interpretation of common scenes, is unique in its technique, which adds to its artistic value. This is the type of innovation that I can appreciate in art, as opposed to Frantisek Kupka’s lackluster style and lack of genuine technique.

I have always been rather critical of modern art. In my opinion, drawings of angled lines and shapes of different color or splatters of random paint on a canvas discredit true art from all around the world, which actually requires some sort of talent and devotion, and depicts situations or places which people can closely identify with or have some sort of personal relation to. In my opinion, for art to be successful, it must elicit some sort of emotional response. Instead, much of the works considered as modern art leave me feeling apathetic. The piece entitled “Amorpha: Fugue in Two Colors” is an example of such art. According to the description, the artist, Frantisek Kupka, painted this picture to show that rhythmic progressions of colors in a specific, organized fashion reflect the forces present in our universe. I think that it is naïve and even foolish for an artist to assume that he can capture the incredible nature of our mysterious universe with such a simple piece of art, if it can even be called that. I wonder if anyone would ever interpret this painting the way the author did as he was drawing it. If not, and the painting is interpreted completely differently by every other person, then it should not be considered art. I understand people who try to experiment with different techniques, even if unsuccessfully, in order to enrich the art of painting, but in my eyes, this piece can only serve two legitimate purposes. It should either show potential painters exactly what they should not pursue as an artist or be burned to keep someone warm in the cold winter months in New York.

Back in ancient China, the Chinese monarchs would often pick their wives from various portraits of beautiful women. In Japan, they also hold the same practice of depicting both real and idealized beautiful women in paintings. Kikugawa Eizan was a famous painter and the leading designer of bijinga during his time. Bijinga is the Japanese art for beautiful women. In this painting, the female is dressed in a simple, casual attire, showing that she belongs to a lower rank. In the past, these types of paintings only featured high-ranking courtesans, but as time progressed, bijinga began depicting lower-ranked courtesans, fictional characters, geishas, and historic figures as well. The woman in the painting also has her leg shown from the slit of her kimono, which is to help attract men to the painting. Most of the women in these types of paintings are often shown as really pale and their hair tied up with ornaments.

This African mask is called the Dugn’be Mask, meaning “the ox raised in the village.” Young men of Bissagos Islands’ initiation ceremonies often wear it, which marks the men’s formal entrance into adulthood. The cord running through the nostrils of the ox mask enforces this fact that both the young men and the ox’s strength must be controlled and encouraged. Made out of wood, glass, hide, cow horns, fiber, metal, and pigment, it makes one wonder how anyone can survive under such a large and heavy mask. One thing that is unique about this mask is that while many African masks resemble human figures, this mask resembles an animal, the ox.

Prior to my last visit to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the last time I visited this museum must have been several years ago. This made my trip around the museum and its many sections seem almost new and original. Although I enjoyed quite a lot of the exhibits, the first to truly catch my attention was the Etched and Gilded Armor thought to have been made for Henry VIII in 1527 by Hans Holbein the Younger. My father is an avid collector of different weapons and armor from this time period and he successfully passed this interest on to me. The first thing I noticed about this suit of armor is the fact that it is completely coated in gold. As equipment for battle, where a soldier can die at any moment, I found it interesting that it would be made with such valuable material and with such precision to detail. After reading the description and realizing that this suit may have belonged to a king however, this made complete sense. According to the description, it might have been made for a simple presentation for the French ambassador François de La Tour d’Auvergne. I was also amazed at the sheer weight of the armor. Many soldiers wore similar armor during this time period, and even though it provides ample protection from the blows of his foes, it also requires a huge amount of strength and endurance to wear and be mobile in.

This bronze statue was created in Greece during the Hellenistic Period and is dated to around the 2^nd or 3^rd century B.C. It depicts a veiled dancer in a dress in the middle of her performance. Several aspects of this statue caught my attention. First, I noticed many sculptures around the museum of both men and women in the nude. These impressed me in their attention to detail in the depiction of the most seemingly minor aspects of the human body, creating an image of a person who appears to be almost real. However, after seeing this statue, I realized that creating a clothed person out of whatever material is a lot more difficult, leading me to appreciate this work even more. Not only did the sculptor have to consider the precise details of the human body, but also how the material the woman’s dress was made of would rest on her body in accordance to her shape and posture. The sculptor also successfully captured all of the folds of the dress on the woman’s body, another incredible feat.

“I Love to Beat You” by  Dorothy Ionnone 1969-1970
Exhibition: Seductive Subversion: Women Pop Artists 1958-1968

This was a very explicit painting and the artist herself is famous for her psychedelic and erotically-charged work. In this painting the woman is in power and in control of the man sexually which is often not how men are portrayed to be. The title pretty much suggests that this is also about domestic violence. The woman has the genetalia of a man, which suggests that the artist wanted to switch the roles of the sexes, where women are the superiors. This is meant to make people uncomfortable which is always exciting, but also create room for discussion on the sensitive topics that this piece might bring up.

“Triptych II (Beach Girl)” by Marjorie Strider 1964
Exhibition: Seductive Subversion: Women Pop Artists 1958-1968

This piece captures three almost identical poses of a pin-up style bikini model with 3D breasts. It almost humors the typical one-dimensional sexuality that is portrayed in the Pop culture; clearly the breasts always grab the viewers attention, but now its exaggerated and looks in a way pornographic. Both of these works of the exhibit try to bring attention to the experiences and expectations of women in the 60’s and 70’s.

Roy Lichtenstein is definitely one of my favorite artists, known most famously for his Pop Art paintings in comic book style. I was actually introduced to his paintings when I visited the National Museum of Art in Washington D.C., and I’ve loved his work ever since. Lichtenstein captures these cartoon scenarios and makes them larger than life as well as tranforms them into a more realistic context, as if these comic book characters and speech bubbles represented snapshots of a regular person’s daily life struggles.
In order to paint in a comic book style, Roy Lichtenstein’s 1963 Drowning Girl,for example, is illustrated with a half tone.  A half tone is a reprographic technique that contains a continuous tone of the same color broken into binary images, or what you see as these dots.  All of the dots are the same color, but when they vary in size of spacing, the “half tone” creates the optical illusion of different shades and values of color.
Lichtenstein’s dots look stimulating to the eye both up close and far away in this 67 5/8 x 66 3/4″ oil painting, catching a woman in emotional distress and shouting, “I don’t care! I’d rather sink than call Brad for help!”  I love how Lichtenstein controls both the dramatic and the familiar in his style, exposing a scene like Drowning Girl at such a large scale to bring light to some of our trivial problems in everyday life.

Unlike many other pieces of artwork at the museum, this piece was simply left as ‘Untitled.’ David Hammons did not use paint or ink to create this artwork. Instead, he used his body. By smearing his skin and clothing with grease and then pressing it against a sheet of paper, Hammons was able to create an image by sprinkling graphite or pigment on it afterwards. The artwork was Hammon’s way of describing his feelings during that time period. It was created in 1969, the period of nationwide protests and demonstrations against the Vietnam War. In the artwork, the man, who represents Hammons himself, clasping his hands in a prayer, hoping there won’t be a war. The wrinkled lines that Hammon’s body made the man’s clothes in the picture seem real. It amazes me how artists are able to constantly generate new ideas and display their artworks with hidden meanings through different methods.

I love the MoMa for its’ photography but I appreciate photography in general, which is why I chose these two photographs. This first one is called “Nan One Month After Being Battered” by Nan Goldin taken in 1984. At the age of 31 this woman still had a bloody eye a month later after being brutally beaten. She is facing the camera head on and her expression is composed or perhaps hardened; the contrast too, brings out the red and drags our attention to her lips and eyes.  This sends a powerful message about domestic violence. It’s brave of her to put this picture on display, since most women are embarrassed and don’t speak out against this ongoing issue.

This photograph is called “Nice”. It was taken by Lisette Model in 1938. This photo I found to be a bit humorous because of her unusual clothing style and body type. I haven’t seen many photos like these, but it seems that Model was trying to capture the reality or perhaps another side to the story. As this picture was taken during the Great Depression, the photo itself does not reflect the conditions of the time period. Instead this woman is overweight which suggests that she is not starving nor without a shelter. She seems pretty comfortable, except the sun in her eyes which ironically captures her with a bitter expression. Behind her are cars and buildings which don’t really say much about the Depression. Her expression alone might be the truth behind this picture after all.

In the midst of such accredited artworks at the Museum of Modern Art, I saw a large crowd, gathered around a specific section of a wall.  Everyone had their fancy DSLRs and camera phones to get a quick snapshot of the mysterious piece and would immediately leave.  Once I made my way to the front of the crowd, there it was.  Vincent Van Gogh’s 29 x 36 1/4″ oil painting, The Starry Night hung on the wall in front of me, illuminating in symphonic silence from within the very cypress trees and moonlight sky on the canvas.

Van Gogh had painted The Starry Night in 1889 during his year at the asylum in Saint-Rémy de Provence, the most difficult time of his life.  However, through his depression and isolation, this masterpiece swirls into success, a view front out of his window with a lucid dream like quality and comforting application of materials.  Each brushstroke on the canvas feels like an intuitive decision that progressed with the painting itself and since it is done in impasto, Van Gogh adds physical movement and body to the piece with his thick application of paint.  The yellows shine at the perfect humble volume and the blues and greens danced together across the sky and throughout the village, sweeping our eyes deep into The Starry Night.

Richard Lippold is a twentieth century American sculptor with a background in industrial design. Through his skills with geometry and engineering, he produced many sculptors out of wires that resemble a three-dimensional mechanical drawing. Hanging from the ceiling, this structure, Variation Number 7: Full Moon, caught my attention immediately. The blue light directed at the structure gave it a calm and nighttime feeling. Made out of brass rods, nickel-chromium and stainless steel wires, the complexity of this structure is immense. It comprises of cubes, ellipses, triangles, and pyramids. The different shapes and lighting symbolizes the radiations of moonlight. The structure also represents the tenseness of life. If one key wire snaps, the whole structure would collapse. This was my favorite piece at MoMA because it shows traits of both geometric and abstract art. Next to the picture of Full Moon is Lippold’s 2D drawing of it.

The New York Hall of Science is a small museum on the outskirts of Corona and Flushing, and is well known for its interactive exhibits that keeps the visitor’s hands and mind on alert.  It is New York’s one and only hands-on science and technology museum, and has been so for quite some time..  Established in 1964, the New York Hall of Science is one of the few remaining buildings of the 1964 New York’s World Fair.

I had gone to the New York Hall of Science several times already, and the one exhibit that I often keep coming back to, in part because of my love of baseball, is a ball-throwing exhibit.  The visitor is given a softball, a baseball, and a tennis ball, and is asked to throw each ball as hard as he or she can, and see which ball goes the farthest.  I know the answer through experience, but I think it’s best if you find out yourself.  It may be simple, but it’s fun to do.  On the same floor, there is an exhibit about basketball players and their ability to jump, models of molecules, and a rock-climbing wall.  The exhibits in the New York Hall of Science range through all three of the major sciences: biology, chemistry, and physics, and despite the relatively small size of the museum, a lot of material is covered.  On the first floor of the museum, there are displays on meteorites and solid CO2, and an interactive exercise with a space rover.  On the highest floor there several microscopes that allow you to spot several different types of simple organisms like bacteria and protozoa.  All of the microscopic exhibits freaked me out–I really don’t enjoy looking at bacteria.

There’s enough content in the quaint New York Hall of Science to keep you busy for a good couple hours, and with all the many types of interactive games and displays, this museum is definitely one to remember.  The only issue with the museum is that it’s geared more towards people thirteen years or younger, so a young adult might find the exhibits a little bit underwhelming.  I found the miniature golf course outside of the museum to be a bit silly, but it’s sure to entertain any children you bring.  Be sure to visit this jewel of a museum in Queens when you have the time!

Museum Hours (they’re pretty complicated):

September to March:

• Closed on Mondays
• Tuesday to Thursday- 9:30 am to 2:00 pm
• Friday- 9:30 am to 5:00 pm
• Saturday & Sunday- 10:00 am to 6:00 pm

April to June:

• Monday to Thursday- 9:30 am to 2:00 pm
• Friday- 9:30 am to 5:00 pm
• Saturday & Sunday- 10:00 am to 6:00 pm

July to August:

• Monday to Friday- 9:30 am to 5:00 pm
• Saturday & Sunday- 10:00 am to 6:00 pm

The “Little Fourteen Year Old Dancer” sculpture was unlike any I have seen thus far in the European Collection or even in the whole museum. It stood out amongst the typical naked statues of men, women and children that I have seen in this collection. The bronze statue of this very elegant ballet dancer represents beauty and a type of form, specifically in dance. The careful position of her feet and arms show us the proper etiquette of a dancer. The original sculpture by Edgar Degas in 1881 was in wax form of a ballet student in Ballet Opera named Marie van Goethem. The wax form was a more realistic version of this dancer (with a flesh colored tint, horsehair wig, silk ribbon, ballet slippers and a tutu), which depicted the young dancer as more of a copy rather than a representation that it is now.

As soon as I walked into the exhibit of Arts of Africa, Oceania and the Americas, my eyes drifted to these Asmat bis poles. There were about ten immensely tall woodcarvings lined up next to each other. It is impossible not to notice these 18 foot bis poles. Each pole is unique to each represented individual in the Asmat region (Papua Province, Indonesia). Primarily these poles were carved to commemorate the lives of important individuals (usually warriors), and served as a promise that their deaths will be avenged. In their culture, death of an individual was never accidental whether in war or by some magical powers. This created an imbalance, which was corrected by the living killing the enemy. This would usually occur during a bis feast where male elders would go on a hunting raid. Currently, the bis feast occurs to alleviate a specific crisis or for male initiation. These poles strangely enough were intended to be around for a short period of time. After the feast, The Asmat people let these poles rot on the groves of sago palms to strengthen the palms with their supernatural powers. Astonishingly, they were carved from a single piece of wood, typically the mangrove tree, as well as a lot of time and effort to be created. The roots were of the tree carved into the winglike projections at the top of the pole. They represented fertility and signified a continuation of the family/male lineage.

Pair of Royal Earrings

Originated from Andhra Pradesh

Many past Indian jewelry have been melted down to avoid transmitting the karma of the former owner, and this pair of royal earrings is one of the few Indian jewelry that survived. The floral form of the earrings and the symbols embellished on them symbolizes royalty. The craftsmanship of the winged lion and elephant designs depicts that the earrings were probably worn by royal figures. The elephant and lion are delicately forged on the gold by granules and snippets of wire and sheet. Although they are a pair of earrings, the two earrings differ by their patterns of the fronds. One scene in history in which a figure wears earrings like this dates back to the first century B.C. A chakravartin, or the Universal King, from the stupa of Jagayapettya had the earrings hanging from his ear and resting on his shoulders due to the earrings’ heaviness.

In the photo above, one can see the lion intricately formed on the gold. The lion represents courage and strength, thus emphasizing the ruler’s power. Both the lion and the elephant were considered as royal protectors during that time.

The Dinner Party is an important icon from the 1970s. It’s presented as a centerpiece around the Elizabeth A. Sackler Center for Feminist Art. The exhibit comprises of a ceremonial banquet on a table with a total of thirty-nine settings, each of which commemorate an important woman from history. The Dinner Party features embroidered runners, gold chalices and utensils, and beautiful china. It’s quite the beautiful piece. Additionally, there are 999 women who’s names are inscribed in gold on the floor. This is a permanent installation at the Brooklyn Museum.

The Dinner Party immediately caught my attention. Not only did it seem extremely sophisticated, but it’s a huge exhibit and is sure to stand out. I remember spending a lot of my time just walking around the table, appreciating all the art and the beautiful utensils and china. Learning about the Dinner Party was a really good experience too because it allowed me to educate myself on influential females in history.

Kehinde Wiley (1977) is known for painting members from urban neighborhoods in very regal settings. While traditionally, the people in Wiley’s paintings would be looked at as troublemakers or “shady” characters, Wiley’s work helped paint them in a lighter light. Seeing them float around on clouds and be painted in such vivid colors allows the audience to be more comfortable with their image.

The reason this painting stood out to me was that it was a painting I found myself relating to. Often, we find that we make hasty judgments on people based off their appearances. Every day walking down the street, walking into class, walking into a store, anywhere. I found Wiley’s work a refreshing way to slowly break down our stereotypes and make us more comfortable with all types of people, from all demographics. It was humorous to see men who would traditionally be called “scary” floating around on clouds, being giddy and energetic, and it was an image that will stay with me for a long time to come.

The Metropolitan Museum of Modern Art has always been one of my favorite museums.  I know, I know.  You’re probably wondering why I love every single museum.  But the truth is that New York offers some of the best museums in the world, and that’s not an exaggeration.  The Metropolitan Museum of Modern Art (or MoMA, for short) has one of the world’s most extensive galleries of art, ranging from more classic paintings like Vincent Van Gogh’s Colors of the Night to more contemporary pieces like Raqib Shaw’s Garden of Earthly Delight III.  There are so many different aspects of art that are well-covered by the MoMA’s endless variety of works.  The first time I visited the MoMA was when I was five, and the only thing I remembered from that visit was Van Gogh’s Starry Night. I didn’t have much of a clue at all as to what was going on, considering I was five.  But now, visiting the MoMA for a second time, my perception of things are so much clearer (at least I hope so).  There were pieces of art that made me wonder how it even got classified as art, like Felix Gonzalez-Torres’s Untitled piece that displayed paper rolled into sharp cones and placed base-down onto the paper, but in general, the visit to the MoMA was highly enjoyable.

Walking to the Brooklyn Museum, what surprised me most was that the building was simply gorgeous. The building has a very historic look to it, with grand pillars and sophisticated sculpting towering over the building. It surely makes a great first impression on any prospective visitor.

The piece from the Egyptian art collection at the MET  that appealed to me was the “Statuette of a Hippopotamus,” created during 1981-1885 B.C.E.  This 4 3/8 inch hippo sculpture is made of a quartz ceramic medium called faience, and is painted in a turquoise color with outlines of nature.  The sculpture is not completely naturalistic, but depicts the essence of a delicate and slow but strong and lumbering hippopotamus.
This statuette’s function was similar to that of the Near Eastern lamassus, to protect in the afterlife. Senbi II had this hippo sculpture buried with him in his tomb, along with food, models of boats, and a coffin.  The black outline on the hippo’s body represent the nature of the habitat that the hippo lived in, among marshes and plants.  The turquoise coloring could represent the hippo’s river habitat as well.

But why a hippo?  In Egyptian culture, the hippopotamus was “one of the most dangerous animals in the world.”  Because of their large size, hippos were hazards to many people using the waters for fishing, trade, etc.  In order to control the hippo from also being a hazard to the waters of the afterlife, the sculptor created this statuette and originally had broken off 3 of its 4 legs, (they have been restored by the MET) in order to prevent the creature from “harming the deceased.”  Many of the Egyptian gods and goddesses were also depicted as a hippopotamus because of their reputations to be capable of great destruction as well as carry many things.  The Egyptian goddess Tauret represented fertility and childbirth, depicted as a pregnant hippopotamus standing on her hind legs as half human, half hippo.  The Egyptian god Seth, evil brother of Osiris was also depicted as a hippo because he was the “god of violence, storms, and destructive forces that made Egypt vulnerable.”  This object reflects many of the views in Egyptian culture as many pharaohs have brought tangible objects into their tombs to protect keep them prosperous in the afterlife.  For example they believed that if a sculptor were to bury the pharaoh’s fortune and a replica of his entire army with him in the tomb, he/she would continue to be wealthy and militarily strong in the afterlife.

I thought that the “Winged Lion” lamassu stood out to me the most at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, because of the naturalistic environment it was in.  While walking into the room, two symmetrical lamassi on either side made the area more regal to walk through.   The “Winged Lion” also intrigued me due to its immense sense of power within it.  This creature has the face of King Ashurnasirpal II and the body of a lion with the wings of a large bird or angel.  The mythical combination of generally powerful figures (a lion, the king, and the creature of flight) adds even more power to the sculpture along with the Alabaster medium that it is created out of.  This living rock sculpture stares right at you and transforms from human to mythical creature as you travel around the wall.

The “Winged Lion” lamassu was created in 883-859 B.C. during the reign of King Ashurnasirpal II and was a gift to the Metropolitan Museum of Art from John D. Rockefeller, Jr. in1932.  After being excavated from Northern Mesopotamia, this 10 foot 3 ½ inch tall structure was placed in front of gateways within the palace, leading right to the king’s throne. These lamassi were to protect and support the Assyrian palaces, towering over the passerby as they enter the small hallway. This lamassu is plays a poignant role in the Near Eastern, Assyrian culture because it shows one of the many ways that leaders in this time period displayed how much power and protection they had in their present time or afterlife.

I’ve been to the Metropolitan Museum of Art around two or three times by now, and the one thing that always amazed me were the Greek and Roman statues.  The amount of detail on a statue like “Ugolino and His Sons,” where the anxiety and desperation can be seen clearly on Ugolino’s face, is just extraordinary.  I can’t imagine how much time and effort was put into the statue to make the muscle structure, the tonality, and the expressions so lifelike.  On top of the amazing sculptures on the first floor, there were also a great number of paintings and pictures as well.  Though there was one stretch of paintings where the quality of the pieces were questionable (the term “art” is such a subjective term), many of the pictures were well done.  One of the paintings that really caught my eye was Salvador Dali’s “Crucifixion.”  It was well-drawn, but to tell the truth, the manner in which it is drawn is slightly haunting.  The “floating” effect of the picture left me a little uneasy for some reason.  Despite the long treks along the first floor, I enjoyed seeing different cultures mesh together in a grandiose gallery of art.  Just like I said with the Brooklyn Museum, the Metropolitan Museum of Art is a must-see for any tourist.

This headdress was worn by the “police” of African tribes, as well as those who attend funerals and other significant events or rituals.  The reason for covering the face is to invoke respect towards the one wearing the headdress.

The term “akonkromfi” means “praying mantis.”  This chair has very elaborate detail and a well-crafted design.  It was most likely used by someone of high stature, given the amount of work put into it.

My friends and I went to the Brooklyn Museum after school on a Tuesday afternoon.  The weather wasn’t particularly pretty that day, but it wasn’t too much of a hindrance.  We came into the museum and we were lucky enough to have a tour guide help us with our quandaries.  Our tour guide was a short, elderly woman who seemed genuinely interested in what she did, and that was to guide us through the various arts and crafts in the African section of the museum.  She started off by talking to us about an elephant made out of earthly materials, and talked about its influence as a power figure.  We continued along as she pointed out other things that she found most interesting, and that included chairs, masks, statues and staves.  She seemed very well practiced in her expertise with African history, and by the end of the tour, I was pleased with the amount of knowledge I gained about Africa.  Despite the vast distance between our generation and that of ancient African culture, there were a bunch of similar themes in things like power figures and spirituality.  Any tourist should definitely check out the Brooklyn Museum when he or she has the chance!

Autumn Rhythm by Jackson Pollock

Unlike the other paintings, Autumn Rhythm by Jackson Pollock has no significant meaning when painted. In fact, when Pollock first started painting this piece, he had no idea what he was doing. By laying the canvas on the floor, he introduced a new technique of art that would change the idea of abstract expressionism. He first dripped black paint everywhere on the canvas, then brown, then turquoise, and finally, white. By doing so, Pollock created a rhythm of different sensations and a contrasting depiction of the different lines. There were dark and light lines, straight and curved, horizontal and vertical, and lastly, thick and thin lines.

Autumn Rhythm is a perfect example that exemplifies the idea of accident and control. The dripping of the paint over the canvas was accidental. Pollock did not plan out the painting beforehand, yet the end-result of the painting turned out to be a masterpiece. When looking at the picture, the overlapping of the different lines make it hard to spot any mistakes.

What first attracted me to this painting was that it looked like a mess. Unlike the other paintings in that particular room, this painting did not have a central meaning. It was just black and white lines crossing one another everywhere on the canvas. The overlaps of the different lines, however, produced a melodic feeling. The name of the painting truly matches the essence of its beauty. At the beginning, I thought that Pollock planned the whole painting out, until I read the description. Although I was unable to capture a picture of it, there was a similar painting to this one, also by Jackson Pollock. That painting, unlike this one, displayed an array of different colors – green, blue, yellow, etc. This was the first time in which I have seen an art like Pollock’s.

The quality of the video is bad, but below is a footage of Jackson Pollock at work:

This exhibit showcases landscape design in odd shapes and sizes. The long installation on the wall and the egg shaped standing sculpture both contain living plants and wildlife within them. They represent two opposite extremes, on one hand they are full of nature and greens, yet on the other hand they are incased, giving off an inorganic feel.

This photograph seemed to really capture its subjects feeling. When I looked at the picture it was like i could feel the two mens emotions flowing from the paper. The photographer, Paul Strand, also depicted the filth and grime of Mexico as seen by the decrepit walls. The man squatting seems as though he is upset with the photographer while the man standing in the sombrero just appears confused. A desolate feeling comes forth from the photograph and a sense of depression can be felt.

This Roman Mosaic was found almost completely intact only recently in 1996 in Tel Aviv, Israel during a highway construction. The mosaic is comprised of animal scenes, most of which are violent, which fits perfectly with Roman culture.You can tell that an extreme amount of craftsmanship was put into the Mosaic. Each tiny square was hand painted and put together one by one to make the grand mosaic that served as a floor in a Roman household.

Dona Maria, the girl in this painting is actually only two years old. It is difficult to even tell since she is dressed up like an adult. Everything from her dress to her facial expressions scream maturity. At first glance  I thought she was just a midget. She also looks extremely unhappy in the painting, which could be because she would rather be playing with toys than all dolled up.

This painting features three young boys playing soldier, as the title suggests. It is interesting that children are the focus of the painting especially since the subject matter, war, is a harsh one. Looking at the painting it seems as though the middle child, presumably the oldest, is actually staring at you with a warning in his eyes. This painting was created right after the Civil War so war was on everyones minds. The children’s outfits are each in either red whit or blue, representing the colors of the American flag and the Union victory. 

Lines is a new exhibit at the MoMa which follows drawing throughout the 20th Century. This particular part of the exhibit featured a minimal aspect to drawing and lines in general. In-between the two fans is a black streamer which appears as a never ending line. The streamer stays in-between the two fans at all times making it seem like it is actually drawing.