Museum Essay #2

Still Life with Books, 1870s-1880s
William Notman
Canadian, Born in Scotland
Albumen silver print from glass negative
The work is monochromatic. There are books stacked on a table. Some books are stacked horizontally at the foreground of the picture. Above those books are more books but they are standing upright and lined up next to each other. The spine of the books create horizontal lines. The books fade out in the back which makes me follow the lines down into the books lying horizontally. One of the books on the left side of the picture is open and glowing brightly. The two rows of books in the back are lined up in height order with the shortest books on the outside sides of the row.

Design for a Moon-lit Landscape, from the Magic Flute (act 2, scene 7) 1819(?)
Karl Friedrich Schinkel
German
Aquatint, printed in color, hand-colored with gouache
"Aquatint is an intaglio print making technique. Intaglio is the family of printing and print making techniques in which the image is cut into the surface so that ink would hold into the depth of the cut lines. Then paper would be pressed very hard onto the etched and inked image that when lifted, reveals the image. Gouache is a type of paint." (Internet)
The work has a lot of cool colors which give off a quiet atmosphere. The temple is low in value due to the moonlight. It contrasts the high value of the clouds and the water. The clouds are thin horizontal strips and converge at the moon. It looks like an ocean in the sky. The water is still and slightly glowing. There is a grave in the bottom right corner that gives off an ominous feeling. This scene could have possibly been about villains plotting or about death. It's suspiciously calm. The temple is centered in this work making it easily stand out to the viewer.

Autumn Landscape, 1923-1924
Louis Comfort Tiffany
New York City
Leaded Favrile glass
This work uses bright warm and cool colors like the transition from a warm summer to a cool winter. All the trees are tall with their leaves high up. The work is divided into three big sections. The tree with red leaves takes up the left side of the work. The right side has an almost symmetrically placed tree with yellow leaves. The middle has an open space to see through the trees to the horizon on the mountains. The open space is framed by the trees and the stream below it as if to emphasize the light in that spot.

The Guitar, ca. 1919
Henri Laurens
French
Painted terracotta
"Terracotta is a clay-based unglazed or glazed ceramic." (Internet)
The work is recognizable as a guitar even though it is clearly not one. It is a cubist sculpture of a guitar. The shapes are sharp and geometric and come together to form the shape of a guitar. It looks like it has the texture of wood at some parts. The part that clearly defines this piece as a guitar is the blue square in the middle with vertical lines and a circle. It does not have the true depth of a guitar but that image is so closely related with a guitar. The blue color is representing the darkness created by the hole in the same spot on a guitar.

Leda And The Swan, 1640-1650
Jacques Sarrazin
French (Paris)
Marble Statue
The statue is white due to the material used to make it. This statue is depicting the story in Greek Mythology where Zeus took the form of a swan and seduces Leda and she bears two of his children. In this sculpture Leda and the swan, Zeus, are staring at each other. There is a child at Leda's side with wings who is probably Zeus's child. Leda is holding Zeus in her arm while her other arm is near her child. The wrinkles in the sheet are emphasized by the shadows under them making it appear to be the texture of a blanket.











These works are in a museum because they each represent a major style, time period, and place. They each contribute something to world art history. These works allow us to see how style has changed in the world overtime.