After reading the writings of Berger and Barnett, I believe that I had a better experience when I visited the MoMA this past Tuesday because the writings not only told me what to look for in paintings and how to look at them, but also that there are more ways than one to look at a painting, giving me the confidence to think of my own interpretation, rather than asking someone else for their interpretation or looking an expert’s thoughts up online.
Although there were so many amazing works of art at the Museum of Modern Art, the two that I have selected to analyze are Robert Rauschenberg’s Rebus, because it was the most intriguing painting at the museum and also my personal favorite, and Max Beckmann’s Departure, because it was the German Expressionist painting that stood out to me the most.
Robert Rauschenberg’s “Rebus”
Max Beckmann’s “Departure”
(John Wetmore, Blog A)
I found that my experience at the MoMA this Friday was very similar to what John described. After reading Berger and Barnet, I knew what I should be looking for in the artwork and how I should approach it. This gave me the confidence to form my opinion about the various works of art I saw, and to try to look at them from multiple perspectives. I believe that I felt much more comfortable during my visit to the MoMA because of what I read, especially being as I do not have much experience with art prior to this. However, even while approaching the art with an open mind, I would not say I necessarily enjoyed my time at the MoMA. I still felt as if I did not understand all of the artwork that I saw, and I often found myself questioning why some of the displays were there at all.
The two pieces that I have chosen to analyze are One: Number 31, 1950, by Jackson Pollock, and Woman, I, by Willem de Kooning. Both were abstract works that I found intriguing, and am curious to research to learn more about. Some of the things that I am looking forward to discovering are what the artists’ intentions for their works were, as well as what in particular caused these pieces to become so famous.