Friday, June 1, 2012

Unity in the Metropolitan Museum of Art

Upon visiting the Metropolitan Museum of Art I had not the slightest idea of what type of works I was specifically looking for. I entered with an open mind hoping something would come to me. As it did. I’m a fan of portraits, but when viewing the collection in the Metropolitan I became a fan of group pictures. Something about seeing people working together, sharing the same space, just being united made me realize what I want my project to be about. Unity.

The first piece of work I saw was the “Marble sarcophagus with the contest between the Muses and the Sirens.” Apparently this piece is about the muses and the sirens having a musical competition where the muses are beating the sirens whom use their music to lure men. What captured me about this piece beside its obvious beauty is the way they all look connected. They all look interested in each other even though it is a competition they are in. They all seem interconnected and it glorifies the definition of unity.

The second piece I saw was the “Asmat Bis Poles.” This piece is another sculpture of the Asmat people representing those who have died. Each figure on the pole represents a person who has died and become ancestors. This really interested me because of the fact that even when their people die, they continue to celebrate them. Although we do that today in funerals, its never as big as a “memorial feast” and we almost never make sculptures of each other and present them to the community. This showed a very dedicated form of unity.

The last piece I will discuss is “The Family of Claude Terrasse.” Whether it was my hunger, or the fact that I was just on a picnic with my family the day before visiting the museum this piece definitely caught my eye. The way the family looks as if they are communicating and solely enjoying each others company, they define what a united family looks like. It reminded me of the fun I had with my family and how families seem to come together regardless of situations. Family being the first form of unity we experience and in this painting it shows.

Unity is important to me and to almost everyone else because nobody likes to be fully alone. We all need somebody; therefore my curator project will be based on the beauty that is unity.

"Marble sarcophagus with the contest between the Muses and the Sirens" 3rd quarter of 3rd century A.D. Greek and Roman Art. 

"Asmat People Bis Pole" Late 1950s. Arts of Africa, Oceania and the Americas

Pierre Bonnard. "The Family of Claude Terrasse." 1899. Modern and Contemporary Art

Perino del Vaga. "The Holy Family with the Infant Saint John the Baptist" ca. 1524-26. European Paintings

Emanuel Leutze. "Washington Crossing the Delaware." 1851. American Paintings and Sculptures

Seymour Joesph Guy. "The Contest for the Bouquet: The Family of Robert Gordon in their New York Dining-Room." 1866. American Paintings and Sculptures

Walker Evans. "Detail of Hands from "Proletarian Unity" Panel of Diego Rivera's Mural for the New Worker's School, New York City." July–August 1933. Photographs

Ercole or Giulio Cesare Procaccini. "Pietà." 17th century. Drawings and Prints.

Anne Goldthwaite. "The Green Sofa." 1930-40. American Paintings and Sculptures

John Gutmann "Final Examination, U.C. Berkeley, California." 1947. Photographs


John Gutmann. "Two Women in Love." 1937. Photographs


Paolo Veronese. "Mars and Venus United by Love." 1570s. European paintings


Morris Engel. "Coney Island, New York" 1941. Photographs


Edgar Degas. "The Dance Class." 1874. European Paintings.


Debbie Grossman. "The Fae and Doris Caudill Family Eating Dinner in Their Dugout." 2010. Photographs





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