The Wadsworth

The Met

The above pictures were taken outside of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. I went with my husband on Saturday. We decided to drive down and being the beautiful day that it was, we had a great time. This was his first time ever visiting an art gallery/museum and he enjoyed it. After visiting the various exhibits, I decided to focus on Modern Art, two artists in specific; Pablo Picasso and Fernand Leger. I will begin with Leger. He was born Joseph Fernand Henri Léger on February 4, 1881 in Basse-Normandie. He didn't begin to seriously paint until he was 25 years old. Throughout his career he experimented with different forms of painting, but is known for his works that are similar to Cubism, once called Tubism because of the emphasis on cylindrical forms. He had a long career of painting, filmmaking, sculpting and lecturing before he died at home in 1955.

This piece is titled "Three women in a garden". It was painted in 1922. In this piece you can see the tubular style that Leger was known for if you look at the arms of the woman. His pieces caught my eye because of the boldness of color and shape.

This piece is titled "Still Life". It was painted in 1929. This is another bold piece with a collage like feel to it. I think the orange was just enough color to make all the other parts of the piece stand out.

The piece to the right is titled "Woman with Cat". This is another example of the use of tubular shapes and contrasting colors. In first looking at Leger's work, I thought I was looking at Picasso's works. It so happened that Leger's works were hanging next to some of Picasso's work and that is where the idea for my paper came in. The two styles were so very similar to my eye.

Picasso's birth name is three sentences long, so I'll stick with the short version of Pablo Ruiz Picasso. He was born on October 25, 1881 in Spain. He was introduced to the world of painting by his father who was also an artist. Picasso is best known for co-founding Cubism (Cubism is a painting of a normal scene but painted so that it is viewed from multiple views while the positions of some of the parts are rotated or moved so that it is odd looking and scrambled). Picasso's works are broken down into different periods, with each period ranging from 2 to 5 years. Picasso's was quite the ladies' man, he was known to have several mistresses in addition to his wives. He was married twice and had four children by three women. Picasso died at home in 1973 while entertaining friends with his wife. His last words were "Drink to me, drink to my health, you know I can't drink any more."

This piece is titled "Mandolin, fruit bowl and plaster arm". It was painted in 1925. This piece was situated next to three of Leger's works and they all looked so similar. Again the bold lines, colors and shapes drew my attention to this and all of Picasso's pieces.

The piece to the right is titled "Girl Asleep at Table". It was painted in 1936. I like the black, whites and greys and the slight hint of color in the girls' hair and the stuffed animals eye.

This piece is titled "The Dreamer". It was painted in 1932. I have to say that this is my favorite of the Picasso pieces I saw at the museum. I had to step away and look at this piece a few times and saw something different each time. The bold lines, bright colors and use of imagery is great in this piece. And being a healthy female, I love the fact that the woman here is quite shapely herself.

I had a great time at the Met and look forward to another visit there someday, the next time I will bring my 10 yr old son, I think he will enjoy the experience. When we left, we saw a puppet show out front and bought handmade souvenirs for the kids, it was a great Museum Experience.

Yale British Art Gallery

This pieces I chose to photograpgh caught my eye because of the details used as well as color and the realness of the subjects.














































"Favourites, the property of H.R.H. Prince George of Cambridge"





Oil on Canvas


by: Sir Edwin Landseer



I liked the detail of this piece, everything is so well defined. I thought the seemingly animal comraderie was cute.


























"John Gubbins and his sister Mary Newton"
Oil on canvas
by: Robert Burnard

I liked the realism in this piece, the children look to be upset about posing for this one, the only one who looks to be smiling is the horse and maybe the dog.

""Academy by Lampllight"
Oil on Canvas
by: Joseph Wright of Derby



I liked the play of shadows and lighting in this piece.
























This shot was taken from the fourth floor window of the archway over High street.









"Portrait of Elderly Woman and a Girl"
Oil on Canvas
by: George Beare























"Inverary Pier, Loch Shira: Morning"
Oil on Canvas
by: J.M.W. Turner

I thought the colors in this piece make it look peaceful and serene. I can see the fog rising off the water as day breaks when I look at this one.

"Ann Wilson and her daughter Sybil"
Oil on Canvas
by: George Romney

I love the emotion of pure love emmitted by the mother in this piece, at least that was my first impression, after looking at it again, being a mother with a young child, she could just be dog tired.

Yale University Art Gallery

For my first visit I chose the Yale Art Gallery, because it is local and easy to get to with my infant daughter. This was her first trip to an art gallery. And my first time visiting in this building, the last time I went it was on the other side. I was awed by the handicap elevator/lift, it was so cool the way it worked. Okay enough about the unimportant stuff. Just a brief historical blurb on YUAG. It was founded in 1832 andthe oldest college art gallery in the United States. The gallery holds more than 100,000 pieces ranging in date from ancient times to present day. There are many permanent collections in the gallery including, but not limited to African art, Asian Art, Modern and Contemporary art and European art.

During my visit I found myself drawn to the African art collection. I have visited Africa and I really loved the different sculptures and tribal pieces that I saw while I was there. The specific form of African art that I chose to focus on this visit are the Masks. I took a African art course here at Albertus and had the opportunity to make my own mask out of clay and it looked nothing like the Masks that I saw in the gallery.

The ones that I liked the most are pictured throughout this post. In researching the masks I saw in the gallery, I learned that there are different tribes that live in the various African countries and each tribe has its own distinct form of mask making. Masks are used for many different reasons, ranging from funerals,circumcisions, marriage, birth and various other events that occur throughout one's life.
The mask to the left is a Mbuya mask from the Pende tribe which is found in Congo. It is made out of wood and fiber, and is 15 inches high. It dates back to the late 19th - early 20th century. Mbuya masks depict a wide range of characters, including the sorcerer, the chief, the clown, and various types of women. Mbuya masks play a major role in male initiation into manhood. This mask would have typically been danced (worn) by a young man after the completion of ritual circumcisions and initiation training. In looking at this piece, I love the details. It is the most realistic looking of all the masks that I saw in the collection. The hair looks as though it could real human hair. It has distinct feminine characteristics and seems as though it is a person asleep that will awake at any moment.

The piece below is quite large, about 77in. high. It is a Kpakologi Male mask with headdress made out of wood, feathers, textile, hide, cloth, fiber, pigment and metal. These types of masks are typically worn by the Loma or Kpelle tribes that can be found in Liberia and Guinea.

The piece to the right reminded me of Medusa.

Unfortunately in my excitement to get the picture,

I failed to write down specifics about the piece.

The final piece I would like to discuss caught my eye as I was about to leave the African art collection.
This piece is described as an animal figure mask from the Yaka tribe that is found in both Angola and Congo. This mask is made of wood and pigment. In doing research I found that the African term for such masks is nkisi. The nkisi masks traditionally have a long, exaggerated upward-hooked nose and an open mouth. This is a strange but common detail, and there is no decisive explanation for this nose. One source supposes that it is an allusion to the elephant's trunk. The handle under the chin was held by the dancer. I thought this piece was very detailed, from the shape of the ears and trunk, to the entricate markings of the teeth. I love the use of pigment in this piece, it is what really makes it stand out.

I truly enjoyed my visit and so did my daughter, she looked around from her stroller at the various displays and let out a few coos here and there. I look forward to our next museum adventure.

Schedule of Visits

I didn't realize I had to post this last week, I just re-read the calendar and saw it, so here goes:

3/28- Yale Art Gallery

4/4- British Art Gallery

4/11- Wadsworth Atheneum

4/18- Mattatuck

4/21- Metropolitan and MOMA