A day to remember...

On my drive to Hartford to visit Wadsworth Atheneum. I ask myself
can the beauty of autumn leaves be preserved as art is preserved through time?

Just as the sun can transform the color of a leaf, what was the
inspiration for such artists as Picaso, Dali, Monet as colors transform
their work of art into masterpieces?

The Wadsworth Atheneum was founded in 1842. Noteworthy,
during the same year the United States recognized the independence
of Hawaii, a patent was issued for the sewing machine, and Connecticut
established the first public education system in the United States.

http://www.trivia-library.com/a/united-states-and-american-history-1842.htm
http://www.brainyhistory.com/years/1842.html

Decades later the Wadsworth museum continues to commission
architecture that expresses and embraces various art movement.
From the outside, the museum looks like a Medieval Castle.

The founder, Daniel Wadsworth, commission architects Alexander
Davis and Ithiel Town to design the museum.

They were influenced by the rebirth of the Gothic architectural style,which was rapidly growing popular in the early nineteenth century. The Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art reflects its founder's desire to create a civic center of learning and culture.

http://www.wadsworthatheneum.org/learn/museum-history.php

The inside of the Wadsworth Atheneum is amazing with winding stair cases, ultra high ceilings, and stained glass windows.

Each exhibit has its own unique style of color and lighting suitable for the artistic displays that were being showcased.

As I entered through the lobby, I made my way towards Avery Court where I was in awe of a particular piece of art created Salvador Dali.

Salvador Dali (1904-1989) was a famous Spanish surrealist artist and one of the most influential painters of the 20th century expressing the unconscious process of thought, dream and associated realities through his paintings and drawings.

The painting appropriately named ‘Apparition of a Face and Fruit Dish on a Beach’ was commission in 1938.

Dali, embraced the theories of Sigmund Freud, (best known for his Salvador Dali (1904-1989) was a famous Spanish surrealist artist and one of the most influential painters of the 20th century expressing the unconscious process of thought, dream and associated realities through
his paintings and drawings.

The multiple spectrum of imagery is fascinating. At a first glance they are four scenes in one: you can see an

Afgahan dog, a face, a table with a fruit dish in the middle and a desert lanscape looking out on the sea. Take a closer look, this painting combines multiple embedded images. Each image's contours fuse seamlessly into those of another, creating a heightened sense of visual drama meant to disturb the viewer. In the foreground, the sand turns into a table on which you can see a number of other different images. The ambiguity or uncertainty inside an image makes a new image appears. This is extended through out the composition.

The number of images seen through ones eyes
is only limited by the intellect of that individual
viewing the painting.










A movement in art and literature that flourished in the early twentieth century, Surrealism aimed at expressing imaginative dreams and visions free from consciousrational control, which is evident in Dali’s work. One thing that is not evident is the meaning behind this piece.

Dali once said , "Just because I don't know the meaning of my art, does not mean it has no meaning”.
http://www.3d-dali.com/dali_paintings_analysis_interpretation.htm

Therefore, its meaning is left to the interpretation of the observer.

Other interests of the day:

The ‘Six Sense’ commissioned in 1992 by

Robert Colescott. Colescott is known as an

incisive social commentator taking on taboos

in art, politics, race, money, and power.

His works often involve abstract

expressionism and the depiction of figures.

The images related to myth, parodies of

art history and the personal imperfections

of human nature and daily life.

http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761587556/robert_colescott.html

On Tuesday November 4, 2008,

America elected its first African

American president.

What progress we made since

the days of one of Abraham’s

Lincoln’s most famous letters.

Written during the heart of the

Civil War the letter was a response

to the editorial written by

Horace Greely, editor of the New York Tribune.

Greely’s editorial indicated that Lincoln's administration lacked direction

and resolve. The editorial favored immediate and unconditional emancipation.

Lincoln in his response stated that his main purpose was to preserve the Union, and, to achieve that goal, he was prepared to free none, some, or all of the slaves, depending on the circumstances.

A few months later, after Lincoln’s response was written, nearly twenty years later after the Wadsworth Atheneum museum was founded, the Lincoln’s signed the official ‘Emancipation Proclamation’ .

http://www.nps.gov/archive/anti/emancip.htm

Over One hundred and forty five years later, history was rewritten.

I end my journey with this piece. Reading Lincoln’s response to Horrace Greely puts art, and history into perspective.

Hundred years from now, the acceptance speech given by the President Elect

today may one day be viewed as art tomorrow.

Yale Art Gallery

As I began my stroll down Chapel Street toward the Yale Art Gallery on this magnificent fall afternoon,I was captivated by the building adjacent to the gallery, Gallery of Fine Arts. The building was designed in the early 1900s.

The architect Egerton Swartwout, had a vision of an art gallery that extended farther than any other building on Yale’s campus. The architectural design was influenced by Gothic Florentine constructions created during the thirteenth century. This is evident by the winged females symbolized in the bridge that connects this dwelling to one of New Haven’s most historic
buildings.

Completed in 1866, Street Hall designed by Peter Wight is known as one of the first art schools established at an American college.

http://www.swarthoutfamily.org/Famous/Egerton.htm

As I continued toward the gallery, I could not help noticing that the structure of the Yale Art Gallery does not conform to the Gothic style prominent around the university. The structure was completed in 1953 by one of the most influential architect of the mid 20th century, Louis Kahn.

http://www.designmuseum.org/design/louis-kahn

Entering the building, the use of space and light is evident by the layout of the open lobby that welcomed me in today. As I looked up, I saw the triangles that formed the ceilings. The lightning fixtures drop right below, giving an illusion that the ceiling is floating overhead.

As I visited each exhibit, the design of the fixtures appear to provide the right balance of lighting complimenting the natural light gleaming from the huge glass windows that surround a portion of the gallery.

One exhibit in particular drew my attention, the African Art exhibit. I was amazed how contrastingly different the layout of the exhibit. It exposed a balance of light, color, and space not demonstrated in the previous exhibits I visited.

The collection was given to the museum by Charles B. Benenson (1913-2004), a New York real estate developer and Yale alumnus. He was a prominent philanthropist that had a deep interest in African and Contemporary Art. Over three decades, he amassed one of the finest private collections of African art in the world.
http://www.yalealumnimagazine.com/issues/2004_09/benenson.html

What is noticeable about the exhibit is that it is undivided and left open. This is probably a result of the complex diversity found in the world’s second-largest continent. Africa is full of people, societies, and civilizations, each with its own unique visual culture. Trying to define its art strictly by region or culture would be difficult, which may be the reasoning behind the arrangement of the exhibit. This ensemble appears to illustrate a movement and narrative of religious and music ceremonies.

African used masks as a form of communication expressing ideas about nature, social organization, and spiritual domain. The African masks were often linked to a dance or song, usually used in tribal religious celebrations and worn during ceremonial dances. Dated back to the late 19th century, people of the ‘Suku’ tribe who originated from the Democratic Republic of Congo, often wore this mask to teach obedience and respect.

The mask is carved from a cylinder of hard wood and draped with a shoulder full of flowing fibers.

Continuing down the western coast of Africa; the people of the Republic of Sierra Leone was founded as a settlement for liberated slaves. For generations, the people of this nation prepared young women for adulthood, marriage, and motherhood by performing masquerades that featured carved wooden masks.

http://www.international.ucla.edu/africa

The masks adopt contemporary forms and materials in their physical appearance as depicted below. It appears to fuse spirituality and femininity.

The style of the two masks shows the aesthetic continuity of the Ibibio ancestors who were returned back to the country after they were released from slave ships that were captured in the 19th century.

Tiny masks like these were often miniature portraits of the owners who carried them. As in the full-sized masks, the miniatures masks were endowed in spiritual power and were often buried with their owners at death.

Continuing to observe and examine the exhibition, another noticeable difference was that some of the objects blend into a photographic background. The background depicts a performance of excitement, movement, and color. This allowed the exhibits to be viewed in three dimensional by portraying the wearer as a living sculpture.

My visit to the Yale Art Gallery provided me a sense of cultural enrichment. The African exhibit gave me insight to African history and culture.