Sendy Valles
Art 150
Dr. James Daichendt
Museum Paper # 1

Robert Duncan: Wallpaper Design 1952-1954 Art is the expression of creative skill and imagination. As I am preparing to finish this course I walk away with a greater appreciation for the art world. Art is all around, and we can all create majestic pieces we just need to express our inner most creative skill. As I visited the Art museums this semester my favorite of the two was the Pasadena Museum of California Art. The parking structure for the museum really sets up the individual for a treat! When I parked my car I spent about a half hour walking through the structure admiring all of the murals on the wall. My roommate actually accompanied me and we took a lot of pictures. It was really neat! What I love about this art museum is that you can really see the culture, of the art. The inside is an elegant white and the pieces featured are amazing. One piece in particular really stuck out to me. Robert Duncan made the piece, Wallpaper Design, in 1952-1954. While I was in the museum I read a little about Robert Duncan’s background, Interestingly enough, Robert Duncan was an American Poet, who traveled nation wide, before settling in San Francisco where he wrote his best book, “The opening of the field.” During his college years at Berkeley, Duncan was captivated by surreal art. Painter friends inspired him, to continue to make artwork using pencil, pen, and crayon. He also frequently illustrated his own books. The piece Wallpaper Design is a 20th century design, made up of very vibrant color schemes. This contemporary art piece seems so simple, and it can be hard to understand how someone could really judge its degree of difficulty. I appreciate pieces of art such as this one because before taking this class, my ignorance did not have allowed me to see past its simplicity. Our 8th reading reflection in this class was to watch three videos on contemporary art. That was my first time watching the process of creating contemporary art piece. These pieces may seem simple, however, artist spend hours and days, and sometimes months creating these pieces making sure they are made perfect at every angle. This particular piece reminds me of my childhood. It looks like a portrait made up of different colored candy. The colors are bright and vibrant. It is a happy piece of art that really livens up your mood. It’s made of up different tones of blues, yellows, pinks, orange, reds, and few black strips here and there to highlight the other colors. The art piece, Wallpaper Design, is made from wax crayon on paper that was mounted on a canvas. Duncan worked on this piece from 1952 to 1954. The piece was originally meant to cover an entire wall in his apartment. Duncan would pin up each section of his piece on the wall as he finished. The piece was not preplanned. According to the article, “Painting With Wax Crayons,” by Stockmar, there are charming effects that can be created when painting with wax crayons. Fro example, when wax crayons are layered on top of each other the color below shines through the one on top, producing mixed colors (Stockmar, 2014). Scraping, layering, and melting methods can also be applied for a different color effect (Stockmar, 2014). The smoother the paper being used is the denser the application of the wax crayon will be and grainier the paper the lighter the effect (Stockmar, 2014). This piece was created during a time when art was completely changing. This was a piece that could have been particularly questioned whether it was true art or not. It is a piece that looks as if a three-year-old could create it. Contemporary art breaks all the rules. Its free flowing, edgy, loud, distorted, and some can even say crazy. Contemporary art bends all the rules. That is why this piece is so amazing. Pieces like these are hard to understand because there is no emotion to really tie it to. However we can simply look at the color scheme to realize whether it is a happy or sad painting. In this case the bright colors really liven up the mood of the audience. It allows the audience to wonder off and make their own story out f it. Fro example, the piece reminds me of my childhood summers. It reminds of the ice cream truck that drove past my house every summer afternoon. It takes me back to the days I sat in my front yard and ate push pops with my brother. This piece is beautiful because it allows the audience to build its own story. Robert Duncan was simply looking to fill his wall with decorative wallpaper and ended up making a beautiful piece of art.

Works Cited
Stockmar. (2014). Painting With Crayons. Retrieved from http://212.79.59.11/download/anwafa_en.pdf

Pasadena Museum of California Art