As I first entered the museum art exhibit, I noticed the peaceful ambiance, the soft glow on the artwork, the fresh open space, and the bright walls of the museum that I absolutely loved. The openness of the wings is what appealed to me the most and how each artwork had special lighting to accent the work. The lighting was what I loved the most, it really allowed a nice atmosphere in the exhibit. In this picture, I am standing with the sculpture by Frank Stella, it is an abstract work that serves to portray a wonderful arrangement of shapes and colors. I love abstract art like this and having this as the beginning of my tour was a wonderful aspect to it. The tour itself was a very calming experience.
This art work is an oil painting on canvas by Jesus Guerrero Galvan. In this painting, there are two children depicted with bright smooth colors. The reason that this painting stood out to me above others was the sleek, realistic style the painter used to create this masterpiece. Out of all the other paintings that had a messy, creative, brush-stroke style of oil painting, this painting had a very smooth realism to it. It made me feel very good about how this artist wanted to express his uniqueness through realistic art. It made me realize that there are wonderful artists in the Hispanic society and rather than assuming that all master works came from Europe, there are prominent artists in other countries.
As I walked through the halls and wings of the museum, I came across this portrait of workers. This painting is made through tempera on plaster by Boardman Robinson and it depicts immigrant workers at an excavation site. This artist wanted to illustrate how hard immigrants had to work in his time period and wanted to show his heritage and value of hard work. I am an immigrant myself and one of my core values is diligence, persistence, change, and self-growth, all traits that are prominent in the immigrant population. I value the need to work hard to achieve one's dream and it made me feel proud to have gone through hardships as well as success so that I may improve myself and work harder to actualize my vision. This painting serves to prove the workmanship of Robinson's people as well as my people.
As I walked through the last parts of the exhibit, I encountered an Ancient Korea Wing. I am a native South Korean and seeing this made me feel very happy. This particular sculpture is the Buddha, or Bodhisattva from Ancient Korea, Joseon Dynasty Era. Although I am not Buddhist, I realized that this symbol gives people hope, wisdom, spirit, and enlightenment. As we all fight for a Good Life, this sculpture reminded me of how its purpose is the enable us to have the strength and wisdom to achieve our version of the Good Life through joy and livelihood. It also represents the theme of Embodying the Good Life and Celebrating the Good Life. All in all, the sculpture provides an appreciation for the spiritual and emotional aspects of many people's life.
Artworks Cited:
Zandvoort: 1981 by Frank Stella born 1936 Gift of Martin Z. Margulies
Dos Ninos: 1948 by Jesus Guerrero Galvan born 1910 Museum Purchase
Excavation: 1926 by Boardman Robinson born 1876 Gift of Kraushaar Galleries
Seated Bodhisattva: 17th Century from Joseon Dynasty Gift of Michael and Donna Singer