Wadsworth Atheneum - Rebecca Samuels #1

My Trip to Wadsworth Atheneum

 The view from the museum

Behind the museum and Close-up

Another view from the museum and a Close-up

MY PAPER:

When I went to the Wadsworth Atheneum, I went with my father. As I approached the museum, I realized how big it really was. I stepped back to take a picture but couldn’t get everything in. Out front was a statue/monument of Nathan Hale. Right in my home state of Connecticut, Wadsworth Atheneum is the “Oldest public art museum in the United States” (Wadsworth). According to  1000museums.com, the building was designed in the Gothic Revival style by Ithiel Town and Alexander Jackson Davis and it was founded by Daniel Wadsworth in 1842. Today, the museum carries nearly 50,000 works of art (Wadsworth). On the first floor, the Atheneum’s exhibits include MATRIX 100: Claire Beckett, Colts & Quilts, Hudson River Collection, Renaissance to Romantic: European Art, European Art: 20^th Century, Contemporary Art, and Three Histories. This floor also includes the Auerbach Art Library and a gift shop. The second floor consists of American Decorative Arts and War Prizes. Last but not least, the 3^rd floor with History Painting, Contemporary Art, Connections Gallery, and Patti Smith’s Camera Solo.

My impression of the whole collection was pure amazement. I was raised in East Haven and as a kid I took frequent trips to the Peabody Museum. But unlike the Peabody Museum, the Wadsworth Atheneum consists of more things that interest me. Things that catch my eye are paintings, whether it is oil or acrylic, and photography. The things that do not catch my eye are silverware, jewelry, and old apparel. I believe that the Wadsworth Atheneum was more suited for me and my tastes. In contrast, the Peabody Museum has numerous fossils and contains more proof/history of our ancestors. Even though I missed about 2 rooms, I still left very relaxed and happy with my museum experience. There was a tour available but my father and I arrived after it started. Instead we took our time to see the whole museum by ourselves. It gave us more time to look at artwork and really capture the details of the museum.

One piece of artwork that amazed me was when I first walked into the museum. In the Renaissance to Romantic: European Art room, there was an enormous painting. I sat on the chair looking at this painting for at least twenty minutes. It was crazy to see how intricate the details were on this painting. Every single painting in this particular piece of art was in fact actual single paintings. The name of this painting is the “Interior of a Picture Gallery with the Collection of Cardinal Gonzaga.” This painting has a very accurate perspective with paintings in every possible crevice.

The artist I chose to focus on was Stanton Macdonald-Wright. This particular painting, "American Synchromy No. 1," is from the American Contemporary Art collection. It was painted by Macdonald-Wright with oil on canvas. This piece caught my eye because of the bright colors and the white oil paint right through it. It is very rare for me to see such a bright piece of artwork in museums. As I looked at it, it almost reminded me of a three dimensional picture—minus my 3D glasses. With all the bright colors present, it makes me feel very content. It makes me wonder how Stanton was feeling when he painted it or even what the person he painted was meant to be feeling. As I stood looking at artwork, it was interesting to try and get into the artist’s mind. Although there were many paintings in the museum that were bigger than me, this piece of art was about 2 and a half feet tall by 1 and a half wide (I’m estimating).

            On the plaque to the side of Stanton’s painting it dictates how Stanton Macdonald-Wright teamed up with Morgan Russell to establish Synchromism. This became a new movement in the modern art world. He says, “Synchromy… is to color what symphony is to sound. It means everything is done with color.” It was said that the warm colors—yellow, orange, and red, highlight the planes that are sticking out. The blues, greens, and purples (the cool colors), show receding planes to form the muscles of the figure’s body. MacDonald-Wright was born on July 8^th, 1890 in Charlottesville, Virginia (Wikipedia). He was named Stanton in honor of the women’s rights activist, Elizabeth Cady Stanton. At a young age, Stanton’s father secured him in private painting lessons (Wikipedia). He painted Abstract art and was influenced by Thomas Hart Benton.  Not only was Stanton a painter, but he was also became “The head of the Los Angeles Art Students leage…[and] became involved in local theater, serving as the director of the Santa Monica Theater Guild as well as directing plays, designing sets, and acting himself” (Wikipedia). After World War II, synchromism was born around the time that MacDonald-Wright became interested in Japanese art and Japanese culture.

FOR MY PAPER I TALKED ABOUT THESE PIECES OF ART:

This first painting is the "Interior of a Picture Gallery with the Collection of Cardinal Gonzaga" -- the first 7 pictures are all from the first painting, just close-ups to show detail. You can click on these pictures to see them bigger.

                                          Bottom Left                                              Center 

 Left Side

                                         Right Side                                             Bottom Left Center

Bottom Right

This next painting is Stanton Macdonald-Wright's "American Synchromy No. 1" -- these next 4 photos are all from the first photo but close-ups (to show the detail, since I picked him as my favorite work of art in my paper).  You can understand by looking at this painting, where Macdonald-Wright showed his Synchromy. Like I said in my paper, "'Synchromy… is to color what symphony is to sound. It means everything is done with color.' It was said that the warm colors—yellow, orange, and red, highlight the planes that are sticking out. The blues, greens, and purples (the cool colors), show receding planes to form the muscles of the figure’s body." In this painting, you can see that the cooler colors show shadows or places that should be farther back whereas the warmer colors show places on the painting that should be close up. You can click on these pictures to see them bigger.

The picture above is the plaque shown on the right of the painting in the museum.

                                            Arm (Elbow)                                          Face

Leg

For the rest of my Wadsworth Atheneum pictures, please click here
or just go to http://photobucket.com/mytriptothemuseum
they are both the same thing!