Tentative Schedule

Below is my tentative schedule of visits.

Week 1 (3/19-3/25) Preparation
Week 2 (3/26-4/1) Yale University Art Gallery
Week 3 (4/2-4/8) Yale Center for British Art
Week 4 (4/9-4/15) Wadsworth Atheneum
Week 5 (4/16-4/22) Metropolitan Museum of Art
Week 6 (4/23-4/29) Museum of Modern Art
Week 7 (4/30-5/6) Mattatuck Museum
Week 8 (5/7-5/11) Wrap-up

R.W.M.

Yale University Art Gallery

Richard McCoy
Albertus Magnus College

Yale University Art Gallery
3/17/2007
Focus: Room for Tourists
by Edward Hopper











This is the beginning to my trip to Yale Art Museum in beautiful downtown New Haven. The venture out was nothing out of my way since I live in Milford and commute to Albertus for classes. The added bonus to my trip as you can see was the snow! I took my trip on 3/17/07 (Happy St. Patrick's Day!), the day after that nasty unexpected snow storm. The snow along with all of the No Parking signs, made finding a parking space "fun".

I eventually found parking and began my slushy trek to the museum. On the way, to satisfy my craving for chocolate, I stopped at Starbucks. After having a delicious cafe mocha with 2% milk and extra mocha, and my espresso brownie, I found myself on the stairs of the Yale University Art Museum.


The first thing that caught my eye was the flag/banner raised high in front of the entry way, displaying the museum’s name and a picture of the founder, John Trumbull.

This piece entitled Flying Attendant is from the Asian Art area on the second floor. According to the painting’s description it was created sometime in the fourteenth century, so it was quite old. The person flying in the painting gave me a sense of freedom and also a calm and therapeutic feeling with the use of the piece's light colors. The use of light blue and brown could be compared to pastel colors and Easter. I found the use of these colors to symbolize change. Change because pastels and Easter mark the change of winter to spring.

The wings were quite detailed and I again felt a sense of freedom viewing this piece. I noticed that the attendant was giving what appeared to be a gift to something round (maybe the sun).

I took this picture in the spirit of my mom, the "house wife". My mom is an enthusiast when it comes to vacuums and owns about 6, all of which she uses. I found this piece in the American decorative arts section. I was a little surprised to see a vacuum on display but it set the tone for all of the other pieces in the area. This piece brought on a feeling of nostalgia and looking at photos of when my aunt and mother both grew up in the 1950's. I will be making a print of this and sending it to my mom as a nice gift. I am sure she'll get a kick out of it.

The piece that I chose that stood out the most in my opinion was Edward Hopper's Room for Tourists. When I first looked at it I noticed how much the house stood out from all of its surroundings. Everything else seems to be covered in night, but not the house. Although it was night and dark outside the house still radiated a feeling of "home". It felt inviting and comforting. I think that is why I was caught by its glow.

When reading the description of this piece, it mentioned that Edward Hopped visited a nearby boardinghouse in Massachusetts in order to gain a personable feeling to the house. When looking at this piece and other artwork from Hopper online, I noticed that he appears to capture art as it is happening and does not appear to take a stationary approach with his subjects. Although Room for Tourists is a painting of a house, an inanimate object, there is much life to this painting.

The lights inside the house show a symbol of life. The sign outside radiates a welcoming glow to whomever passes by wishing to stay the night. The neighborhood seems to be at peace with this house safeguarding the night.

When walking through the fourth floor of the museum, I was surprised to bump into a picture that incorporated Superman into it. I am a very big Superman fan so I found this very interesting. I find this to be a very cultural drawing with the drawings of skulls mixed in with a cartoon drawing of superman. Other than Superman and the word Kapow the painting itself is colorless. I thought the skulls represented death and Superman represented immortality or strength. The picture seems to depict a fight between life and death.

I had a very fun time at the Yale Art Gallery. I wish I knew about it sooner because I found it to be a very enjoyable and eventful outing. When wrapping up my tour I retrieved my belongings from the locker, grabbed my coat and purchased a post card of Room for Tourists. I look forward to going back here again someday.

Yale Art Museum

Pics of my trip to the Yale Art Museum will be up shortly.