Corcoran Art Gallery Visit

These were some of the works of art that interested me in the gallery today.  I've found that as I've been visiting art galleries, that going on a tour (if available) is helpful to get me into the mindset of looking at all the different types of art, especially if it is more abstract.  I'll try to record my thoughts under each art piece about why I took a picture of that specific piece of art.

Private Silence/Public Violence, 1989, Robert Morris, American

This piece spoke to me as soon as I turned my head and saw it on the wall. The images were originally the most striking part of this painting, with the reflective quality--though even that is slightly off (look at the suit colors!)--and the more focused strokes on the bottom panel of the painting and the blurring and smudging on the top panel.  But then I looked at the words.  This painting is saying that when I keep my thoughts to myself, that could be the cause of public violence, I thought.  Wow.  What thoughts have I kept to myself that maybe I shouldn't have because if I'd said something it would have prevented someone from getting hurt in some way.  Unfortunately, I know that has happened with me at school; there were things going on at school and I had my own opinion and view of things. I voiced those thoughts in a private setting, but maybe if I had said something, then a lot less hurt would have happened to those involved.

The Veiled Nun, c. 1860, Guiseppe Croff, Italian

I just have a love of looking at transparent drapery in the medium of marble. It is fantastic, looks incredibly hard, and is beautiful.  Plus, the nun herself was pretty.

Indian Girl in a White Blanket, 1917, Robert Henri, American (portrait of Julianita, schoolgirl from a pueblo)

The frailty, youth, and beauty in this girl's face captured my attention. That was probably the point since it is the brightest spot on the canvas, with her body wrapped in a soft white blanket and the background in shadow.  While this photograph makes the red on the girl's face look like she was crying, it didn't look like that in real life. It looked more like she'd just woken up from a nap and her face was pink from sleeping.

Imagination, 1932, Oscar Bluemner, American
From the information card: "Bluemner's Imagination is a dreamlike amalgam of cultivated and rural landscapes, featuring an intensely red house and green foliage against a dark background.  In works such as this, the artist associated color with meaning and identified in particular with red, which to him represented masculinity, vitality, imagination, and the self.  Bluemner also likened viewing his paintings to listening to music, and instructed his audience to 'look at the space filled with colors and try to feel; do not insist on understanding what seems strange.'"

I tried to take the artist's advice on this one and found myself oddly moved by this painting. I'm not entirely sure why, but perhaps it is his use of color, with the monochromatic shades of red and green. It also may have appealed to my imagination because I painted something similar when I was in fifth grade during Masterworks on a small four by six inch canvas rectangle.

Into Bondage, 1936, Aaron Douglas, American

Unfortunately my camera and the lighting in the room does not allow you to see how blue this painting is. Anyone who knows me well, knows of my irrational love of blue.  That was what I loved first about this painting.  Second, I loved the multiple layers of meaning in this painting. This was one of the paintings pointed out to those of us on the tour, where we discussed how the star in this painting could reflect the North Star with the underground railroad, or for the ship's navigation leading the Africans into bondage, or hope for the main African in the painting.

Girl Fishing at San Vigilio, 1913, John Singer Sargent, American

I'm not going to say much on this painting except that the water is so lifelike, the dabs of white to indicate light on the woman are beautiful, and that I really liked this painting.

Mount Corcoran, c. 1876-1877, Albert Bierstadt, American

Niagra, 1857, Frederic Edwin Church, American

I've seen both of these paintings before in my art history class in high school. However, seeing them side-by-side in the gallery really showed the difference in the portrayal of water.  An interesting fact that I learned on the tour: Church was told early on in his painting career that his depiction of water was weak and unmoving.  He took that critique to heart and decided he would specialize in water.  The result? Niagra.  Talk about turning a weakness to a strength.

The House of Representatives, 1822-1823, Samuel F. B. Morse, American

Yes, it is true. Morse code inventor=painter.  Well, he started as a painter but this wasn't a big hit, so he turned to code instead.  Fun fact: When the time came to redecorate the House of Representatives wing after the fire in the fifties, this was the only documentation that existed about how it looked so they used it to redecorate.

The Sons of God Saw the Daughters of Men That They Were Fair, modeled by 1918; carved 1923, Daniel Chester French, American

From the bottom of the stairs when I saw this statue, I thought it would be a cupid sculpture. But then I went up the stairs and saw the inscription on the sculpture (the title) and started to chuckle.  Apparently, the daughters of men didn't think that the sons of God were as fair as they thought the daughters were? I wish I could have gotten a photo of the female's face, but I was forbidden to go past that point on the staircase. Again, I love marble.