Tuesday, June 4, 2013

The Curator - The MET

Project #5 / Field Trip Reaction #6
The Metropolitan Museum Of Art


           18th century furniture pieces at the Metropolitan Museum of Art



         The Metropolitan Museum of Art from NYC is one of the greatest museums of the world. Its permanent collection contains more than two million works of art. From this two million, I chose for this presentation ten that really impressed me. I liked very much the fully furnished hotel rooms from around 18th century.
        You can find a whole wing only with these big rooms. Some of them are dining rooms, living rooms and also bedrooms. I was amazed of the detail of the furniture. You can see that all the pieces looked complex and had their unique design. I selected tree rooms that really impressed me and I will start with a dining room from a hotel in the Cours d’Albert, Bordeaux, France. This is a small dining room with red furniture. Hanging in the middle of the room you can see candle chandelier. And under the chandelier it is a small table set up for breakfast. In the background surprised me to find a sculpture of a woman. The next room that attracted my attention was this bedroom with a huge bed. Is this big bed like 4 or 5 feet high and has a canopy close to the ceiling. This is a room from the Hotel Lauzun. A chandelier is present also over here with some crystals hanging from. And the last but not least is a very fancy living room from the Hotel Varengeville. The room has high ceilings and a very sparkling chandelier. The room has a table in the middle and is surrounded by arm chairs. On the back wall is a huge mirror with a fireplace under.

        I can talk about many others but this three attracted my attention the most. All rooms are from hotels or castles from around the world (mostly France) and the complexity of them is amazing.


The Rooms

Room from a hotel in the Cours d'Albret, Bordeaux 
Carving attributed to Barthélemy Cabirol (1732–1786)

Date: ca. 1785, with later additions

Accession Number: 43.158.1
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Boiserie from the Hôtel Lauzun

Date: ca. 1770, with one modern panel

Accession Number: 1976.91.1
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------Boiserie from the Hôtel de Varengeville

Date: ca. 1736–52, with later additions

Accession Number: 63.228.1.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------Dining room from Lansdowne House
After a design by Robert Adam (British, Kirclady, Scotland 1728–1792 London)

Date: 1766–69

Accession Number: 32.12
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Dining room from Kirtlington Park
John Sanderson

Date: 1748

Accession Number: 32.53.1
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------Boudoir from the Hotel de Crillon
Pierre-Adrien Paris (1747–1819)

Date: ca. 1777–80

Accession Number: 44.128
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------Grand Salon from the Hôtel de Tessé

Contracted by Louis Le Tellier (ca. 1700–1785)

Date: 1768–72, with later additions

Accession Number: 42.203.1
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------Boiserie from the Palais Paar, 30 Wollzeile, Vienna, Austria
Designed by architect Isidor Canevale (1730–1786)

Date: ca. 1765–72, with later additions

Accession Number: 63.229.1
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Tapestry Room from Croome Court
Room after a design by Robert Adam (British, Kirclady, Scotland 1728–1792 London)

Date: 1763–71

Accession Number: 58.75.1–.22
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Boiserie from the Hôtel de Cabris, Grasse

Date: ca. 1774, with later additions

Accession Number: 1972.276.1
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boi·se·rie

  [bwah-zuh-ree]  Show IPA
noun
sculptured paneling, especially that of French architecture in the 18th century.

Tuesday, May 28, 2013

Field Trip #5

                                  Lower East Side Galleries

        The location of a gallery is not that important but I feel it has a power on the work of art. After visiting the galleries from Chelsea, I had the opportunity to visit the Lower East Side galleries as well. The difference is not that big, both being related with great works of art, but is noticeable.

        The galleries from Lower East Side seem to show a different kind of work than those in Chelsea and most of them are different in their own way. For example the first gallery I visited was “Joe Sheftel” and I saw some nonconformist paintings made of some ripped material and put nicely together and also just some canvases without a frame hanged on the walls of the gallery. This was a pretty unique way of creating art. The next gallery I visited was also a bookstore. The name of the gallery is “The Strange Loop” and is a bookstore combined with a gallery creating all this new idea about viewing art. This creative idea I couldn’t find in Chelsea. The most interesting way of presenting art I founded in a basement. I know it sounds weird but when I visited “Stephan Stoyanov Gallery” I was surprised to discover this basement. Beside the unique way, the gallery had different rooms in the basement, surrounded by pipes and bricks projecting all these designs and moving images. Again, these kind of art I couldn’t find in Chelsea, even though the first floor of this gallery has regular canvas paintings. I can go on and on because every single gallery I visited has a unique way of presenting art. On the other hand, in Chelsea, most of the galleries present paintings.

             Talking about collectors, I find it hard to see people actual buying these works of art from Lower East Side galleries. I mean some of them are actually hard to see presented in a different environment. You can find art that you can buy but is equally found with the one you can’t buy. And when I say you can’t buy I am saying that the work of art it’s a little bit weird and maybe the buyer needs to buy the same. For a change in Chelsea I found that only people with money buy those works of art, maybe because of the price or maybe because of the sophistication. I think also the surrounding area has something to do with the type of art because you can compare the two neighborhoods and see the differences. You can see that Lower East Side is dirty and more crowded than Chelsea and also what type of institutions or buildings are around. In Chelsea you have elite private schools and offices of multi billionaire corporations, institutions that you can’t find in Lower East Side. And because of surroundings you can look down on a piece of art or up, but not all the time because your aesthetic viewing of a work of art can kick in and can change your perspective.

            To sum up, a work of art if is good, doesn’t matter where it is shown. But in some cases the surrounding area can help. The variety of art is so big and people have their own and different opinion that they can like a kind of art that others they can’t and vice versa. Lower East Side was one example of diversity of art and I recommend to everybody to visit the galleries at least a few times because there are so many.


Tuesday, May 14, 2013

Public Art

Field Trip #4


         New York is the place of opportunity. This is the place where your dreams can come true no matter where are you from. The culture in and around this great city is huge. And to emphasize on Art, this city has the most important Art Museums in the world with the most beautiful works of art that ever existed. Also the city has great shows on Broadway, operas, theaters and many other Art attractions. Beside the Art preserved in museums, New York City has a big variety of Public Art, starting from Manhattan and going over all 5 boroughs of the metropolis.

         One piece of Art that really impresses me is the “Charging Bull” that is located in Bowling Green Park near Wall Street in Manhattan. This is a bronze sculpture of a huge bull by Arturo Di Modica and was finished in 1989. I feel that the artist tries to communicate with this piece different feelings that are related with power and money and by size and anger succeeds. Maybe that is the way the sculpture was installed next to Wall Street, the Financial District of America to show that American Financial System has power like a bull. Even though United States had a few critical financial crises, every time the country reborn from ashes and they grew bigger and angrier. And because is in this famous area, the sculpture had the opportunity to become a famous work of art.

      Moreover, you can’t say that this piece of art is a detriment of the area, on the contrary is a benefit and adds more power to the surroundings. In my perception I think would be different if I were to see it in a private gallery because here I make the connections with the financial area. Only by knowing where you are, the bull can be seen like a financial symbol.

          To sum up, this beautiful bronze sculpture of the bull is a landmark of New York City. Besides the financial feeling that piece of art has, beauty is also present. Sometimes you have to wait in line for a few good minutes just to take a picture with the bull. That shows how famous the bull is for the tourists also.

Arturo Di Modica     

"Charging Bull"
Bronze
Dec. 1989                               
   

Tuesday, April 30, 2013

Chelsea Galleries Reaction

Field Trip #5


       Recently I visited the art marketplace of NYC and I had the opportunity to see some great works of art. I found very interesting how the whole neighborhood of Chelsea is full of galleries at every corner. What impressed me was the fact that I bumped into art related with my culture, because here, far from my country Romania, I don’t see it that often. Overall, I liked some works of art and I disliked others.

        First, I will tell you what I didn’t like and why. In the first Gallery I went, I was surprised that anybody lost time to create something like that. This was Anton Kern’s Gallery at 20th street. Between April 12 and May 18, 2013, the works of art of Richard Hughes are displayed. Exactly after you get in, you can see this huge works of art in a big room with high ceilings. The room looked like an image of Hurricane Sandy. In the room were these big broke poles hanging. One piece was titled “Pedestrian (Sketchy Freddy)” and it looked like a human’s legs. This is supposed to be architectural art, but I can’t see the beauty in it. A different work of art of Richard Hughes that I didn’t like was “Neapolitanz”. The piece was made of 3 painted polystyrene boards connected with each other. Again, I can’t see the beauty in this piece, as well the quality. And thinking that was for sale, made me think that taste in art is very diverse.

        After this unhappy experience, I bumped into my culture. We went to Yossi Milo Gallery on Tenth av. and I was surprised to see something similar with old Romanian costumes. This gallery was presenting Charles Freger’s exhibition of color photographs from eighteen European countries. The costumes represent changing the season, festivals and holidays. One that impressed me was “Cerbul” because brought back memories from childhood. In the photo was this costume of a stag that I used to dress up and I was going at people’s houses singing carols on New Year’s Eve. A different picture that I liked because of the same reason was “Ursul”. This is a costume of a bear and usually people go and sing carols around the Christmas holidays in large group accompanied by a person dressed like that. Usually the other people play musical instruments.

       To sum up, the galleries are very diverse and you can find works of art that you like and also that you don’t like. Besides the pictures of the costumes i found also a few interesting paintings in a different gallery so I invite everybody to check them out.

RICHARD HUGHES                     Charles Freger

"Pedestrian (Sketchy Freddy)"2013             "Cerbul" , 2010-2011

"Neapolitanz" 2013                                          "Ursul" , 201-2011






Tuesday, April 16, 2013

Illustrate a Story

Project # 3
    

 I chose this story because is about humanity. New Orleans police officer David Duplantier tells his wife, Melissa Eugene, about patrolling in New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina. How you can see in the illustration , the city was on fire and flooded. Hurricane Katrina was one of the worst hurricane ever. The police officer tells his wife how is one image in his mind that hunts him until this day. He saw a woman with a small child and she was asking for help, asking were are the doctors. And the police officer couldn't help her . 

                                         David Duplantier and Melissa Eugene | StoryCorps



Tuesday, April 9, 2013

Design in Our Lives

Field trip 3

                Design has a real impact on our lives . But most of us , we try to use design in different ways . You can use it in fashion , culinary , architectural and many other departments . Also some objects can be classified by their functionality . The study of functionality in design is called Ergonomics . It derives from two Greek words : ergon , meaning work , and nomoi , meaning natural laws , to create a word that means science of work and a person’s relationship to that work .

                On my second trip to MOMA NYC , I visited the Architecture and Design Galleries from the third floor . I was astonished by two piece of art , with great design and high functionality . One of them is part of an architectural design . Was the presentation of the “ Bibliothèque  Nationale de France “ from Paris that was designed by Henri Labrouste . The high ceiling , the architectural design , the paintings and the big windows combined together are fabulous and I consider that this building has high functionality and makes it very ergonomic . The other work of art that surprised me in a good way was a solar system panel  called “ GROW “ , design by Samuel Cabot Cochran and Benjamin Wheeler Howes  from SMIT Sustainably Minded Interactive Technology USA . Is practically a hybrid-energy delivery device that generates solar and wind power . I find the idea very ergonomic and I think this piece of art has high functionality .

                  However , I was surprised to see some pieces of art with low functionality but with great design . What caught my attention was “ Earthquake Proof Table “ by several designers from Israel . It’s a steel and birch plywood table . Was design for earthquakes , changing the regular tables design to be able to resist under the toughest circumstances . Beside the great design , I think has a low functionality . Especially in this country where earthquakes are not so common  , and if they occur the magnitude is low . To  be more ergonomic , the table can be used on a daily basis in Japan where is not a single day without an earthquake . Another interesting design I found on Martin’s Ruiz de Azua  work of art , “ Basic House “ . This piece is a house made of extra-light material and folds like a handkerchief . Can be practical if used like a shelter  by homeless people  . Is not that popular , probably because has low functionality . Is not that comfortable either , and in case of bad weather , this is not a solution . I don’t think  you can make this work of art more ergonomic because of the low quality and if you try to add other materials , you will change it completely , transforming the basic house in a more complex one .

              How I said before , design is not directly related with the functionality . Can be some objects with a gorgeous design , but with no functionality . Or you can see objects that lack in design and very ergonomic . The fact that design and functionality are not related doesn’t mean that you can’t find a great work of art , very ergonomic and with a great design . This proves that the art and design can work together  and in most of the cases the results are tremendous .

               This trip made me see some objects through their functionality and to compare them with others . Low functionality objects can be improved , and transformed  in the most ergonomic object they can be , with or without a beautiful design  . Despite that , I will try to make my life easy and surround myself  with objects that have high functionality .


High Functionality
Bibliotheque National de France , Paris -             Grow
Henri Labrouste                                               Samuel Cabot Cochran;Benjamin Wheeler 
Arhitecture                                                         Recycle and reclaimed materials
1868                                                                   2005

Low Functionality
Earthquake Proof Table                             -   Basic House
Ido Bruno; Arthur Brutter ;                                Martin Ruiz de Azua 
Steel and birch plywood                                  Polyester
2010                                                                  1999