Wadsworth Antheneum Museum of Art June 13, 2010

The visit to Wadsworth Antheneum on Sunday June 13, 2010.

It was surprising that the museum did not have a lot of visitors. We arrived at about 12:45pm and stayed to almost 4:30. I took a tour, with my wife, of the museum with approximately 8 other visitors.
I recommend taking a tour, because it is great to hear other persons perceptions of the paintings. Interacting with the people helps understand that there are many different ways to look at the art works.

Pablo Picasso
Spanish, 1881 - 1973

Still Life with Fish, 1923
Oil on canvas

The Philip L. Goodwin collection, 1958.220







Pablo Picasso
Spanish, 1881 - 1973

Woman of Algeries (after Delacroix), 1954
Oil on canvas

Gift of the Carey Walker Foundation, 1994,2.2






Picasso is a great artist, but his paintings are not my favorite. What is interesting about his artworks is that you need to take time and read into them in order to understand them. I was able to appreciate them more with while looking at them with the tour group. It is nice to have other people prospective on the art works. The art works are what is called cubism, which for me is hard to understand what the artist is trying to tell me.




Salvador Dali
Spanish, 1904-1989

Apparition of Face and Fruit-Dish on a Beach
1938
Oil on canvas

The Ella Gallup Summer and Mary-Catlin Summer Collection Fund, 1939.269






This painting I enjoyed do to it has many different images inside the painting. When you look at the painting you can see a dog, a face, the dogs collar is a bridge, a vase on a table, the table could be a beach, and I am sure their are more images in the painting.


Willem Claesz Heda
Dutch, 1594 - 1680

Still Life with Goblet, 1631
Oil on panel


You can tell from this painting that this table setting is of a wealthy family, because of the plates and the goblet.










Nicolaes Berchern
Dutch, 1620-1683

A Moer Offering a Parrot to a Lady, c 1660-70
Oil on canvas








Benjamin West
American, 1738-1820

Saul and the Witch of Endor, 1777

Oil on canvas









John Trumbull
American, 1756-1843

The Death of General Mercer at the Battle of Princeton, January 3, 1777, 1831

Oil on canvas

John Trumbull is going to be the artist that I will write my second paper on. I enjoyed his artworks on the battles of the United States fighting for independence. He also has a painting of the signing the Declaration of Independence.

Jeth and I visited the Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art on June 13, 2010. This was a Sunday afternoon and we found free parking on the streets of Hartford. The museum is located on 600 Main Street in Hartford. The museum is very easy to find by using either I-84 or I-91.

The Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art is America’s oldest public art museum. The museum opened in 1842. Daniel Wadsworth founded the Wadsworth Atheneum to share the excitement of art with the public. The fine arts were only available to the wealthy at this time and the acquired the arts for their one enjoyment. Daniel Wadsworth founded the museum so the public also could enjoy the fine arts (paintings, sculptures and antiques…).

Daniel Wadsworth (1771-1848) was an amateur painter, architect and scenic traveler. His father earned a fortune in trade, banking, and insurance and introduced Daniel to the arts and architecture of the royal courts of Europe. Daniel later married Faith Trumbull in 1794. Faith was the daughter of Jonathan Trumbull, the celebrated historical painter.

The Wadsworth museum was the first to lead the way in art collecting new art movements. It was the American museum to acquire works by Caravaggio, Frederic Church, Salvador Dali, Joan Miro, Piet Mondrian, Balthus, Joseph Cornell and many more. Today the museum holds Hudson River School landscapes, Old Master paintings, modernist masterpieces, Meissen and Severs porcelains, early American furniture and the MATRIX contemporary art.

I was surprised, again, this is a famous museum in downtown Hartford and the museum was relatively empty with patrons. Maybe a lot of people are like my wife and me and do not think about traveling to a museum in their free time to take in the history and appreciate the fine arts.

When we entered the museum a tour was just starting, so we decided to join the tour. I highly recommend taking these tours, because they give great insight about the artist and what is happing during the period the artist is making the art works. The tour guide also invites communication among the people taken the tour to give their opinions of the art works. It is fascinating to hear the different views of the art works and what people like and dislike about the art works. The tour is very in lightening and lasted about an hour and we viewed about 10 different artist.

When entering the museum the first area that you enter is the Renaissance to Romantic, which featured El Greco from The Prado. This gallery has European works from the mid-15^th to the mid-19^th centuries.Avery Court, which is to the left of Renaissance to Romantic, holds European Art of the 20^th Century and has three smaller galleries surrounding one corner of European Art of the late 19^th Century. This collection is from Western Europe.

The next gallery is Hudson River School Collection, which is to the right and behind Renaissance to Romantic gallery. This is my favorite collection of paintings. The paintings are all of fabulous landscapes. I was so fascinated with the paintings that I bought a book called “Hudson River School – Masterworks from the Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art”. One of the paintings that caught my eye was Coast Scene, Mount Desert, 1863 by F.E. Church. I thought about writing about him but decided on someone different. Now, when I enter a museum, I look to see if they have a Hudson River School Collection. I was surprised that Yale did not have a gallery set up. They told us that those paintings were in storage.

Another gallery we went into was a gallery of Contemporary Art. This is a collection of Mid-Century Abstraction, Pop Art, Contemporary Art and video. This section was helpful with the tour, because with these works of art it was nice hearing different prospective.

Three special galleries that were going on during our visit were Sol Lewitt, Matrix and High Water Marks: Art & Renewal After Katrina. Sol Lewitt is a Hartford-born artist (1928-2007). Sol Lewitt was a leader in art movements of Conceptualism and Minimalism. Justin Lowe/Matrix 159. There are four interconnected rooms with different environments to engage the individual, quite unique. High Water Marks: Art & Renewal After Katrina is a collection of black artist on how they documented the destruction of New Orleans from Katrina and how they are committed to its recovery. These paintings and art works of High Water Marks really do depict what those people went through.

The Artist that I chose to write about is John Trumbull. I enjoyed his paintings of the revolutionary war. John Trumbull (1756-1843) was born in Lebanon, Connecticut. He was the son of Governor Jonathon Trumbull. He served in the Continental Army early in the Revolutionary War as an aide to Washington. He resigned his commission in 1777 and devoted his time to painting. He went to London and studied under Benjamin West in 1780. He was imprisoned and finally deported on suspicion of treason. John went back to London in 1784 and with the suggestion of Benjamin West and the encouragement of Thomas Jefferson; he started painting scenes of national history. In 1784, in West studio, he painted Battle of Bunker Hill and Death of General Montgomery at Quebec which are at the Wadsworth. These two paintings are what gave me the idea to write about him. In his lifetime, he produced about 250 small paintings of the War of Independence and miniature portraits.

Trumbull sold a series of 28 paintings and 60 miniature portraits to Yale for annuity of $1000 in 1831. These paintings were originally kept at classical art gallery, designed by Trumbull on Yale’s old campus. I assume that these paintings are in storage, because they were not available for viewing at Yale Art gallery.

The John Trumbull birthplace in Lebanon Connecticut was declared a national Historic Landmark in 1965.

I would recommend on a museum visit to ask if any of John Trumbull’s painting are available for viewing. It is always nice to take in a part of American History, especially from someone who actually lived it.

www.WadsworthAtheneum.org

http://www.answers.com/topic/john-trumbull