valencia

This past week was our first real travel break. A group of us went to Valencia, Spain- it was absolutely and breathtakingly beautiful! Not to mention, it was very fun being there. One thing that I noticed was the different forms of architecture in Spain compared to Oxford. Oxford has lots of Gothic style architecture. The buildings and cathedrals in Oxford each have a very detailed style, the windows, the steeples, the stained glass and immense detail in every corner. The Gothic style was used in the early art of medieval western europe in the 12th to the 14th centuries. 

The Spanish architecture was very different. It seemed as if the Spanish architects were more acknowledging the earlier Renaissance period of architecture. I really enjoyed looking at all the beautiful buildings, especially the Capital buildings and government owned ones. Also, one thing that I adored about Spain was all the amazing wood carved doors. Each door looked like it had taken long periods of time to specially embellish every door with extreme detail. Also, the colors of buildings were different in Spain. Many had Spanish tile on the side of the building with painted blue and bright yellow. The buildings were custard color yellow which brought a happiness to the city along with the bright reds and deep blues that were the trimmings of many of the buildings. The Spanish architecture seems to be more funky and fun to me than the very traditional style that is found in Oxford. 

The Tate

This past weekend we went to the Tate Modern Museum of Art. I have never been to a modern museum, so I enjoyed this very much. In many ways the art is so different. They stylistic elements, the colors, even the subject topics vary from art that you find in the Ashmolean or National Gallery. It was amazing to see paintings by Henri Mattise, Mark Rothko, and Pablo Picasso. I enjoyed looking at the cubism style. One piece that I particularly liked was a woman sketch of Picasso. The sketch was black and white. He depicted the woman in a manner that he saw her. She was beautiful, but not in a realistic way. She looked intelligent by the way he showed her sitting upright in her chair with her hands crossed gently on her knees. This picture is obviously not an exact replica of what the young woman looked like, but it was Picasso's way of seeing her through a different scope. It seems to me that through modern art, an artist has more of an opportunity to show his or her emotions and the picture that crosses through their brain onto the paper or medium they are using. The art is what it is. I feel as if there is more emotion in many of the pieces in modern art because the artists leave the pieces open for interpretation. It is in many ways more vulnerable. 

But what does it mean?

I have been thinking lately about what exactly art means to me. While I am a person of very little knowledge on the subject, I am still interested and in many ways it moves me. For me personally, it is the little things in a painting or a work that allow me to gain insight such as the color, the immense detail embedded to the work, or the meaning, symbolism and thought that is being poured out. 

In the Ashmolean Museum there was a particular painting that stood out to me. It was nothing special or by a renown artist. To be honest, I do not even remember who painted the picture. On the contrary, it is a special painting because it helped me to see from a new angle. It was a picture of the priests in the temple talking and studying together when Jesus went as a little boy during the Passover. Mary and Joseph are in the corner of the frame with frantic expressions upon their faces looking for desperately for their lost son. 

The priests hardly even take notice of the parents in the corner. They are gathered round in a circle, surrounding books and in depth conversation. One man has his back turned away from the audience, which I liked, because it gives the audience the idea and feel that they are looking in on this narrative story. This painting also prompted me to thinking what it would be like to sit around with the priests of this time, to hear what they had to say and learn from them. Better yet, what would it be like to sit around with Jesus, the Son of God as a priest and realize that you didn't have it all together. We, thankfully, have the opportunity and invitation to sit and talk with Jesus everyday. But what would it be like to sit in a room with Him, hearing his voice, looking into his eyes, touching his skin, having him wash your feet. 

To me, this is why art is so amazing. I have thought about these things before, but never have I had a visual image of what this might be like. Reading and thinking something are very different from seeing it. I love this painting because it made these ideas come to life in a beautiful visual form. 

London- My New Favorite City!

This past weekend our class went to London, it was absolutely amazing! (London is by far my new favorite city to ever visit.) We went to the British Museum and the National Gallery. I enjoyed many things in each museum, but my favorite part of the day was walking through and seeing the beautiful paintings in the National Gallery. It was exciting to see the impressionist section of the gallery, filled with works by Degas, Manet, Monet, Renior and many other distinguished artists I was overtaken with thought. One painting that I was most impressed by was "The Ambassadors" by Holbein. This is a painting that I had studied in Art 100 with Dan McGregor, and is much larger than I imagined it to be. I remember learning about it in class, and to be completely honest it was not my favorite painting. However, when I was face to face with the large canvas- full of intricate detail, vibrant color, symbolism and history, my opinion changed about the portrait. I loved the green background with the velvet looking curtain. The eminent men in the painting are wealthy ambassadors from France to England, wearing fine clothing. They stand next to a shelf filled with books, musical instruments, compasses, a globe and absurdly below their feet lies a distorted skull that can only be made out when one stands directly to the right of the painting. This may be a metaphor by the artist on death or some interpret it as "mortality". While this is just a picture, it gives great insight to the men and history of this time. I stood there and thought to myself that these would be very interesting men to have a meaningful conversation, filled with knowledge and wisdom. I wondered what they were like when they lived. They obviously were well educated for the position and occupation that they held during this time period. Although there were thousands of other paintings in the magnificent gallery, this is one that most stands out in my mind.