Essay #2

Raphael. Madonna and Child Enthroned with Saints, 1504

This oil and gold painting is both three-dimensional and flat as it is painted on an altarpiece. It is a representation of Madonna with baby Jesus surrounded by saints. An idealized painting since all the characters in it are given pure features without flaws. There are many rectangular shapes creating the bottom half of the throne, the frame following this same geometric pattern. There are seven characters in the lower section of the painting, all with boldly colored clothes. These characters are all highly detailed with line. Behind the presumed Madonna, there is a pattern on the back of her seat, as well as on the side rails of the throne. The background landscape behind these figures gives us a sense of depth. On the top half there’s three characters looking down on the scene, all with the same hyper idealized Raphael style.

Carlo Francesco Nuvolone. A Female Martyr Saint, ca. 1650

This piece is an idealized painting of an unknown saint. The artist makes use of the negative space to create contrast with the implied light on her face. The shadows lightly touching her left side makes her appear soft. She is wearing a faded red dress with areas that are blue and white.  On top of her golden hair flowing down her sides is some sort of white hairpiece with a blue striped pattern. Her left hand is holding a palm signifying that she is a martyr. The piece as whole is done with heavy brush strokes since they’re all clearly visible up close. 

William Theed The Elder. Thetis Transporting Arms for Achilles, 1804-12

A grandiose sculpture depicting Thetis, a sea nymph, carrying arms across the sea to her son Achilles. The carriage (which is some sort of shell) seems to be pulled by a merman creature with tentacles.  The complete sculpture is monochrome bronze and can be walked around presenting many new angles of this dramatic scene. Although both these characters are representational since they can be easily identified, they’re still idealized since they belong to mythology. The texture on this piece is highlighted by the detail. For example, you can see the curves in the merman’s hair and they pop out accordingly. 

Pablo Picasso. Head of a Woman, 1909

Picasso made around sixty artworks based on his lover Fernande Olivier. This piece is his first cubist sculpture based off of her. As with all cubist artwork, this piece is highly abstract showing different composition based on the angle it’s viewed from. Mouth, nose, eyes, all clearly identifiable, but it becomes chaotic after those key face features are noticed. The head is monochrome bronze and is tilted at an angle, giving some sense of movement. The lighting on this sculpture was odd; as the face always seemed darker than the rest regardless of what angle it was viewed from.  Texture here is very coarse and defined unlike most smooth sculptures. Maybe Picasso tried representing his lover’s faults within his work. 

Jean Dubuffet. Apartment Houses, Paris, 1946

Would you consider artwork done by the mentally ill to contain aesthetic value? Dubuffet tackled this question with his collection titled “art brut” (raw art). With these paintings he takes on a crude style and tries to represent what’s in the mind of the insane. This piece, consisting of not only oil, but also sand and charcoal on canvas has absolutely no order at all. It’s a consistent mess and that’s what makes it fantastic. We see four apartment houses, all side by side, with childlike painted figures all around. Colors used are all harshly applied browns along with a multitude of dark shades.  There’s texture used on every inch of the painting, everything pops out, characters are even scratched onto the canvas. Anguish overcomes while viewing this painting, something undetermined but surely painful. 

My experience at the MET was like no other. It was great viewing such a large selection of artwork in one place. I had been there several times before, but I had never really seen the art. Learning about aesthetics, visual elements, along with all the other elements incorporated into this cluster have really brought out a new vision. I believe these pieces are in the museum mainly because they’re fragments of human life. They represent a part of us, maybe not apparent, but they all show a little about ourselves in a way. They’re our historical story, not to mention most are priceless due to age. They inspire us to keep creating, to keep imagining, and to expand our mind.