Spring 2012 Museum Experience: Paper # 2 Wadsworth in Hartford

I went to the Wadsworth Antheneum Museum with my almost 2-year-old daughter. This was by far my most enjoyable experience I have had so far. The building’s entrance is beautiful as you walk up to it. The first words out of my daughter’s mouth were, “Mommy! Castle!”, which is the perfect description. It truly looks like a castle.

When you enter, you are greeted with a long corridor with very high ceilings. There is a library to your left and the museum store to your right. The staff was very friendly and helpful. It was family day, so there were plenty of children and parents. The mood was very lively and fun with extra staff and a full museum at the opening hours. We went on a children’s tour, where I learned just as much as the kids would have. We also were able to roam ourselves, take part in special crafts for the kids and watch a dance performance.

The Wadsworth is the oldest public art museum in the United States. The museum was founded by Daniel Wadsworth, in 1842, Wadsworth wanted to a public facility devoted to the fine arts. There are 5 connected buildings in all and the entrance is the Gothic Revival Wadsworth building built in 1844. The architects for the front building were Ithel Town and Alexander Jackson Davis. Four other buildings were slowly added on, but they were used for other purposes and not affiliated with the Wadsworth. By 1969, all buildings were in use for the museum and opened to the public. This is the point where it reached the beginning focus of Daniel Wadsworth being solely for publics viewing and understanding of the fine arts.

The Wadsworth museum has almost 50,000 works of art from a time period of over 5,000 years. They have Greek and Roman antiques, European decorative arts, baroque, surrealist, landscapes, Impressionism from Europe and America, modern art, American colonial furniture, African American art, contemporary art and more. This museum is quite larger then the two New Haven museums and it was hard to see it all in one visit with all the other activities going on as well. The rooms seemed to take the form of the art, which created a great mood and cohesive personality. The museum was successful in creating theme within each gallery. Their largest special exhibit was by photographer Patti Smith called “Camera Solo.” It is the first exhibition of any of her works and is complimented with documentaries playing and interactive art making.

The piece I was drawn to was by William Holman Hunt. He was born in England in 1827 and was the founder of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood. This society sought to revitalize art by emphasizing the detailed observation of the natural world in a spirit of quasi-religious devotion. He liked painting naturalistic scenes, did a lot of religious paintings and many works based on poems. He is also known for his great attention to detail, vivid color, and elaborate symbolism.

The painting was ‘The Lady of Shallot’ made between 1890-1905. It is oil paints on canvas and is a scene from the poem by English poet Alfred Lord Tennyson. The poem is about a tragic heroine who records scenes and events in a woven tapestry about King Arthur. But because of a curse she is not allowed to look outside, once she does the tapestry unwinds and entangles her to her demise. Her hair is flying and so is all the string. You can see in the picture the elaborate details. You can feel the movement of string and hair. There is a vast amount of colors. I was drawn to it at first by the sheer size of the piece. It also stands out for the other works in the gallery because of the bright colors.

This museum visit was very fun and I encourage anyone with children to take part in the second Saturday family events. My daughter and I had a very fun and educational time. Not only did I enjoy myself, but also my daughter had a very cultured learning experience by learning about art, taking part in it and watching the beautiful performances.

Here are a few other pieces that we enjoyed on our visit: