The Metropolitan Museum of Art

The Met

Richard McCoy
Albertus Magnus College

Metropolitan Museum of Art
Trip Date: 04/28/07
Focus: Circus Sideshow
by Georges-Pierre Seurat

On Saturday 4/28/07 I visited the Metropolitan Museum of Art with friends. Luckily, I was able to attend the museum my friend Jess (an artist herself) and her boyfriend Phil. Since Jess was an artist and had visited the Met previously, was able to walk Phil and I around most of the areas while provide her feedback on some of the art on display. One of the areas that I absolutely had to see was the ancient Chinese art area. I have a keen interest in Chinese art and its culture because I have noticed that the culture shows a deep appreciation for rich historic values. Call me a traditionalist but in my opinion it is remarkable to see family and cultural values, beliefs and history withstand the test of time and flourish into future generations.


We began our tour and spent a good portion of the day in the Asian art area. The starting point for Asian art began in a very large room with a beautiful wall painting that almost covered the entire back wall. This elaborate wall painting was created sometime in the 13 century during the Yuan Dynasty (period Genghis Khan would become first Yuan Dynasty emperor).


This painting, created by water based pigment done on clay, is of The Buddha of Medicine. Buddha was seen as a being that has reached enlightenment or nirvana. In this wall painting Buddha is the center of painting with many different people surrounding him. This painting was a true marvel. Reading up on the 911 inspired painting Cycle of Terror by Graydon Perrish, and finding that Perrish's piece took 4 years to create due to its detail and size made me wonder how long an ancient piece of art like this would have taken to complete.


This is a picture of a ancient Chinese board game called Liubo. The statues that surround the board appear to be greatly into their game. Liubo (pronounced Lu-bow) in Chinese means six sticks, was created during the Han Dynasty (207 BC - 220 AD). The exact rules for Liubo can not be determined but have been said to be similar to chess.


A piece of ancient limestone. I would be really interested to understand what it reads. Made during the Tang Dynasty (618-907).





Photos of additional pieces from the Chinese art area.










The pictures below are a replica of a house built during the Ming Dynasty (1368 to 1644). This area was unbelievable. I couldn't believe how real it felt. I felt like was taken out of where I was in terms of time and location. True beauty.























While walking around the European paintings I walked into a phenomenal painting called The Bathing Pool by Robert Hubert (1733-1808). This painting had such a hidden approach to it which I found soothing. The trees surrounding the body of water gave a feeling of protection to the people using the pool. The ruins in the area look as if this was a place once of great worship and livelihood but has since been forgotten. The trees seem to hide all forms of light and keep others out except for this small group of bathers.



The painting that I chose for my focus was Goerges-Pierre Seurat's Circus Sideshow. Seurat who invented a type of artwork, called pointillism, uses it in Circus Sideshow. Pointillism is a style of painting in which small distinct colors create the impression of a wide selction of secondary colors (www.wikipedia.com). Seurat used a number of dark colors to capture the feeling of night (a first for Seurat while using oils). Before viewing this painting I knew of pointillism but I never knew its correct terminology or that it was a form of artwork. This piece shows a musician playing a tune in attempts to bring in more patrons for the circus show. It was a very nice piece that taught me the meaning of pointillism and some of Seurat's history.

Below are some additional photos from the Met.

At the Lapin Agile - Pablo Picasso



















Visiting the Met made for a very nice trip. I am already scheduling another trip to this museum within the next couple of months to go back.

As I mentioned earlier my friend Jess is an artist. She is an astounding painter and is just as good in photography. Here is a link to some of her artwork. Enjoy.

http://www.myspace.com/thruartisticeyes


Until we meet again classmates.

Rich



Resources

Liubo

http://history.chess.free.fr/liubo.htm

Wikipedia - Pointillism

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pointillism