Yesterday, I visited the beautiful Metropolitan Museum of Art. This wasn't my first trip there, but I was really young when I went there for the first time, so it was wonderful to be able to go back there again and  take in everything the museum has to offer. There was so much to see and to enjoy, I honestly didn't even know where to start, but I knew I wanted to see as much as I possibly could. We begun in the Egyptian Art section, where we were amazed by the huge temple! We got to see the incredible wallpaper that displayed little photographs of all the artworks collected by the museum. Then we saw so many beautiful vases, clocks, picture frames, stained glass windows, etc. We kept walking and it led us to the American Art section. There was a building that was a replica of the White House, and outside of that was old fashioned lamps and nice water fountains. We then began looking at many beautiful paintings from a variety of artists. From Balthasar van der Ast, to Osias Beert the Elder, to Claude Monet (I really enjoyed many of his paintings), to Vincent van Gogh, to Pierre Bonnard, to Jackson Pollock, and so many more. We then went to the Modern Art section, which was the section I was most excited to visit! It was filled with so many wonderful works of art, and I loved and appreciated pretty much every single piece. The last room we visited before leaving the museum was the music room. I absolutely love music, so to see all the guitars, pianos, keyboards, flutes, violins, trumpets, bag pipes and more, was pretty awesome! Out of all the paintings and artists I saw yesterday, I chose six to show and discuss in this paper. Here they are...:)


My favorite painting - Autumn Rhythm (Number 30), 1950, by Jackson Pollock (American, 1912-1956)

I remember seeing this painting the very first time I went to this museum, and ever since then, it always stuck out in my mind. There's just something special about it, something unique and different. In 1945, Pollock began to develop a distinctive dripped/poured technique. He spun calligraphic lines of color directly onto raw canvas that lay unstretched on the floor. This painting is one of his largest of his classic "drip" paintings, and was purchased by the museum from Lee Krasner (Pollock's wife) the year after Pollock's death. I really love this painting because I just love all the abstract lines. And even though there isn't color in it, the black, gray, beige, and white splattered paint, compliments each other so well. I feel like this could be Pollock's way of expressing the fact that he's lost, or confused, or possibly even angry. Drawing, or painting, scribbles and lines, could be a good way to release anger, or tension. I just really love this piece of artwork, and in my opinion, it truly defines the purpose of the word abstract. 

Untitled - 1948, by Lee Krasner (American, 1908-1984) 

The second painting I chose to discuss is by Jackson Pollock's wife, Lee Krasner,  it is named "Untitled" and was done in 1948. I absolutely love this painting because like Jackson Pollock's paintings, it is very abstract, and has something very unique about it. From far away, it looks like millions of strings glued together, criss-crossed, under and over each other, etc. Once you get closer, you see that it's actually paint. You can actually see all the lines of paint, the way it was dripped onto the painting, and looking at it is truly wonderful. There was a lot of colors used in this painting. There was black, white, red, yellow, green, gray, and several different shades of blue. I feel like this painting is also a way of expressing anger, and confusion. The color choices aren't bright, there pretty dark, which could symbolize feeling sad inside as well. I love that it's named "Untitled", I feel that is a perfect name for this painting. I feel Krasner named it "Untitled" so she could leave the name, and understanding of the painting to anyone who views it. The viewer can interpret this painting in their own way, any way they want it to, and I love that about this painting. 

Canyon - 1959, by Robert Rauschenberg (American, 1925-2008) 

The third painting I chose to discuss is by Robert Rauschenberg, it is named Canyon, and was done in 1959. This painting was done with oil, pencil, paper, fabric, metal, cardboard box, printed paper, printed reproductions, photograph, wood, paint tube, and mirror on canvas with oil on bald eagle, string, and pillow. I absolutely loved this painting because it had something that no other painting I saw had, an eagle actually sticking out of the painting. The eagle is three dimensional, hanging from the bottom right of the painting. I'm honestly not sure if the eagle was real or not, but if it is, that's awesome! If you look closely in the middle of the painting, it looks like you can see half of the word canyon painted in gray. There's random splatters of black paint, that kind of look like a gun shot in a way, which I think could be symbolizing shooting the eagle. There's also a hint of red in the painting, which could symbolize blood. I feel like this is a very dark painting, but I love the concept, and the way it was done. 

Camille Monet - (1847-1879), in the Garden at Argenteuil, 1876, by Claude Monet (French, 1840-1926)

I looked at many different paintings by Claude Monet, but this one stuck out to me the most. One thing I absolutely love about Monet's paintings is the fact that when you look at them from far away, you get the whole clear view of the painting, but when you get closer and closer to the painting, you can see the   tiny brush strokes he painted, and it looks like tiny little dots everywhere. It's truly amazing the way he paints, he is a very talented and creative artist. I liked this painting the best because first off, I love how he painted his wife into it. I just love how he painted his wife walking in the garden, it shows a sense of beauty. I love the colors he used in this painting, all the blue's, green's, yellow's, etc. I love the darker green he used to paint the bush leaves too. I just love the simplicity of this painting, it's truly beautiful.


Roses - 1890, by Vincent Van Gogh (Dutch, 1853-1890)
The fifth painting I chose to discuss is Roses by Vincent van Gogh. In May, 1980, Van Gogh painted a group of four still lifes, to which both the museum's "Roses" and "Irises" belong. This painting is very elegant, classy, and has a unique simplicity to it. Most of Van Gogh's work was conceived as decorative ensembles. I saw both the paintings, Roses, and Irises. They're both incredibly beautiful, but I enjoyed the Roses one a bit more. My favorite flower is the rose, and I absolutely love the way he painted these beautiful white roses. Some of the petals have a hint of blue, which I enjoy very much. I love how he painted a huge bouqet of flowers, and a very simple vase. I feel the vase enforces the simplicity of the painting. I feel like it could be saying that something beautiful can be simple, it doesn't need to be extravagant to be beautiful. I also love how he painted some of the petals on the table, the ones that have fallen off. In a way, I feel like that could be symbolizing death, and how all good things must come to an end eventually. It's amazing how such a beautiful painting, could possibly have a sad meaning behind it. Either way, I loved this painting, and think it's gorgeous.


Coney Island - 1914, by Joseph Stella (American, born in Italy, 1877-1946)
The last painting I chose to discuss is called Coney Island by Joseph Stella. Joseph Stella based a series of paintings on the electric lights and energetic crowds of Brooklyn's Coney Island. When he went to Italy and France, he became strongly influenced by Italian Futurism, which celebrated the speed and dynamism of modern life. One of the main reasons I chose this painting is because I absolutely love the unique circular shape of it. It's rare that you find a painting in the shape of a circle, and when I saw this painting, I knew there was something very special, and unique, and different about it. I love that it's bold, and daring, and it's not afraid to stand out and be different. When I saw the name of this painting, I thought it fit absolutely perfectly. When you see this painting, and think of it's name, you realize it fits so well together. Coney Island is fun, and loud, and energetic, and crazy, and colorful, and so much more that this painting expresses so well. I love all the different colors, the blue's, the pink's, the yellow's, the green's, etc. And I absolutely love all the different shapes, you can see all sorts of colorful triangles. Also, I actually see the shapes of leaves in some parts. I just love how it represents everything that is abstract. It is a very beautiful piece of art, definitely one of my favorites at the museum.