When I was giving this assignment my initial thought was that I’ve been to the DIA so many times that there’s nothing new that I’ve not seen. Well I realized that I could not have been more incorrect. Prior to taking Humanities I simply enjoyed looking at art. Through my studies so far I’ve learned to truly appreciate art, the time it takes to design and create art and the thought process in involved with selection. I feel that my eyes were not truly seeing art they were merely looking at the art. Thru the same eyes I now see the beauty in colors, lighting, lines, contour, space, technique and so much more. One can never realize how amazing art is until one learns about art and learns to appreciate it.
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Martha and Mary Magdalene, by Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio painted about 1598. This was found in the European Inspired by Italia wing of the DIA. The approximate size of the painting is six feet. The medium chosen for this creation of art was oil and tempera on canvas. The title did not help me interpret what I was seeing in this painting as I had not read nor heard about such a story from childhood. When looking over the painting I noticed several things that appear to me to be of importance such as; the difference in clothing, the mirror, the flower, the box on the table, the reflection of light in the mirror, and the expressions on each face. The artist uses warm colors but chose to accentuate Mary’s status by using a deeper brighter red as well as a deeper green. This makes it seem as if Mary’s clothes may have cost more, or as if her taste had been more elegant or tasteful. This painting made we wonder what were these two talking about. Martha clearly by her clothing and hair appears to be the modest of the two. The artist uses light to allow your eyes to focus on Martha’s hands. She appears to be counting or trying to speak with her hands as well as her mouth. I felt that there was also a balance with the colors of their cloaks each side picks up on the other. The green draped over Mary’s arm and the green on Martha’s right arm. The use of light and the mirror makes you want to see what the reflection is. It makes you want to get into the painting and see what you can see in the mirror as well. When I researched the artist I found that he was a great artist in his time. For this painting my attention was drawn to the textured used for the in the He was known as an artist of open expression but used Christian religion, which opened the doors to be named one of the most renowned artists in his field.

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“The Crowing with Thorns”, by Valentin de Boulogne approximately created from between 1532 -1632. This piece of art appeared to be about five feet tall. The title does help interpret what you see because the area above Christ head is not as clear and could’ve been mistaken for his hair seeing as that it’s noted that his hair was like sheep’s wool. For many Christians this painting is just as moving then as it is now. This artist, like the last, chose to use oil on canvas for his medium. In my opinion Valentin de Boulogne nailed the use of light or lack of light, chiaroscuro, within this image. The light that is present appears to shine down on the front of Christ face, in a heavenly descent, all while being humiliated and taunted by guards. The artist also paints the Christ eyes looking more upward as oppose to forward almost as if the Christ was looking up and past his surroundings. The painting to me shows a sense of humbleness in the eyes as well as submission in his body language.

Christ is being prepared to be publically humiliated and shamed. Now it may be just all in my mind but there appears to be heaviness in his upper torso. That could be in part due to the artist painting what appears to be the guard pushing the Christ almost to the point of falling forward towards the other guard. I believe that the artist also incorporated tenebrism, when painting the guards. They guards are not as significant and thus using less light ensure that the attention is drawn to the center. When I look even closer I see that the artist also used lines to help flow the light into one direction. The artist is using a symbol by choosing to paint biblical images. While I was at the museum it was hard to angle the camera right to the correct flow of light. Many of the paintings I felt as though the museum had the lights directed n the wrong areas.

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I chose to go over a few weekends to complete the assignment and felt connected with, this painting “Cotopaxi”, by Frederick Church. Church painted this in approximately in 1826-1900. The medium for which he chose was oil on canvas. This piece is approximately seven feet long. The area of the museum that this was found was in the American Collection on the first floor just past the main Woodward entrance. Most of the staff there was very eager to assist me with locating all the pieces as I was very excited to take part in having an entire day to myself at the museum. This painting is what I consider a landscaping painting. I felt that this image was a bit sublime because I truly can’t imagine something of this magnitude. I was drawn to the textured used as the water feels still but fluid. The rocks appear hard and hot red. The white or light area appears to give a breath of coolness.

I loved the earth tones that Church used throughout this piece. Although the sun appears to be setting on one side there’s plenty of light peeking out from the other side. The water is calm and then is frantically flowing over the rocks and mountains in the middle. While the volcano’s smoke goes from black to grey to white as the wind blows to the right of the image. Church uses red to indicate the heat of the volcano. The things I see of importance would be the volcano, the sun, the water the smoke flowing to one side, the light and the burnt trees. I believe that Church wanted to show the beauty within the destruction of the volcano. Church was showing how something so beautiful can be consumed by nature and yet still be intertwined with nature to create a new beauty.

Overall I truly enjoyed my entire experience as it was breathtaking, like my first visit all over again. I had so many favorites. The next time I go, which will be soon, I will be taking two of my co-workers as neither has ever been and when I shared my pictures and my experience they were in awe. One of my team members didn’t even realize there was course that could be taken about art. I’ve just been truly enlightened by this course and hope to further my knowledge and experiences. Thank you again for giving us the opportunity.