...In the National Gallery (A) In the following paper I’m going to analyse and interpret the short story ‘‘In the National Gallery’’ which is written by Doris Lessing and published in 2007. In the story we are introduced to the narrator who tells about a visit at the National Gallery. The narrator’s name and gender is unknown to the reader, In the beginning at the story we follow the narrator into an art gallery. The narrator’s intention was to sit in the middle of the room and spend an hour just looking at one single painting. This painting turns out to be the painting of a chestnut horse which is painted by George Stubbs. As the narrator describes the painting it was a huge painting of a big horse. ‘’And there it was, the Stubbs chestnut horse, that magnificent beast, all power and potency and from the central benches I could see it well’’ (L. 4 P. 1). The narrator expected that he/she would be alone in observing the painting, but soon an old man sat down at the other side at the bench. He was about sixty years old, well dressed, and seemed very interested in the painting. A few moments later he is joined by a younger man, who is evidently his student or younger family member. The old man starts to tell him about the panting in somehow this is annoying for the young man and he exclaiming that ‘’you can’t make a silk purse out of me, I keep telling you’’ (L.23 P.1). This shows us that the old man is trying to pass on some of his knowledge and experience, and trying to teach...
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...In the National Gallery ”In the National Gallery” is a short story by Doris Lessing form 2007. The themes in the story are that older are more patient than younger, a person can be attracted by another without showing it, and you must follow the time otherwise it can become ugly. The narrator is first person point of view “She was the boss girl in this group, even if nit officially a head girl or monitor” (page 3, line 43). The narrator has an objective sight, but the narrator reflects and interprets what he sees. Therefore gets the reader a subjective view on the text. Because it is his thoughts we read. “Her eyes focused, on the great brilliant horse, so close, towering there on the golden canvas, on his hind legs.” (page 4, line 102) The French girl did not say anything about the horse; therefore can the narrator not tell what the French girl thinks about the horse. We only get the narrator thoughts therefore the narrator becomes unreliable. Strubbs horse is a symbol of the older man. “But then a man sat down, on the other side of the bench’s arm and he leaned forward, elbows on knees, and locked hard at the horse” (Page 1, Line 19). Before had the horse an important role in the society. Every great leader in history has sat on a horseback, because it was a strong, powerful, and fast. Now we only use the horse as a hobby. When the older man was young he was a strong and marvellous man. He cut pick up a sixteen-year-old girl when he just where twelve years old. ”She...
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...In the National Gallery – by Doris Lessing Memories are a central and huge thing in people’s life. You cannot remember them all, but you can neither forget them all. Sometimes a smell, taste or a look at another thing can make them appear again. In the short story In the National Gallery written by Doris Lessing a memory of a childhood love appears in an older man’s head again. By seeing a girl, who looks like one of his further loves, he suddenly remembers how his love was. He suddenly remembers how it was to be ignored and not to be seen. The short story is a description of the man’s passion for his childhood love, which never really came out of sight and almost was killed by more than forty-eight years, until the French girl appears in the Gallery. Whether it is good that memories reappear, you have to find that out for yourself. In this quote: “My intention was simple” (line 1), it is very clear that the narrator is a 1st person narrator. The person uses her/his voice to describe what is happening at the National Gallery. The narrator acts passively through almost everything in the story, and the only situation were the narrator does more than just observe, is when the narrator talks with an older man about his first love, at the same time that the French girl sits alone on the bench. This is the only time in the short story where the narrator actually has a role in comprehension of what there will happen later. The old man gets attracted by the narrator to take action...
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...In the National Gallery Part A “In the National Gallery” is a novel by Doris Lessing. The novel deals with topics such as memories and love. In the novel we follow an unknown narrator who only intention is to spend a free hour looking at just a single picture. The choice falls on a George Stubbs painting of a chestnut horse. Our main character is drawn to the picture by its beauty, it is described as “that magnificent beast, all power and potency “. After short time an old man and a second younger person, which the narrator believes could be a younger brother, son or maybe a student, yet we do not know, sit beside our main character looking at the same picture. This can be seen in George Stubbs painting called “Whistlejacket” Whistlejacket was a famous and very successful racehorse. This success is what the old man wishes for his younger student. The old man starts talking to the other person about Stubbs with great passion, yet he does not seem very interested and keeps looking at his watch and out of nowhere the scene turns ugly as the young man says “You can’t make a silk purse out of me, I keep telling you” (l. 23) which refers to the proverb: “You can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear “ which means that you cannot improve something what is not very good to start with. The chestnut horse symbolizes strength, masculinity and power. It is possible that the older man would have teached the younger man something about these things – to grasp it while you...
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...AIn the National Gallery Memories are small pieces of our life stored and kept in our minds and hearts. We can use these memories to cast light over a day where there has only been darkness, to bring a smile up on our friends faces when they are feeling down, or even to learn from any mistakes we have made in the past. It is like a tool we use to overcome the present time, but some people dwell in the past and use it to hide from their present life, and it is here that problems occur. In the short story ”In the National Gallery” by Doris Lessing, from 2007, we follow the narrator, a person who is interested in art and would like to know more about it, to an art gallery “How much I would have liked to know as much as he did, and to share his passion for Stubbs and the horse, but only phrases reached me.” (P. 1, L. 15). The gender of the narrator is unknown to the reader, indicating that the narrator in the story could be Doris Lessing herself. The story is told through a first person narrative which makes the information we get very subjective, leading to the distortion of what is true or false, and making the reader rely on the narrator. The point of view of this story also makes the narrator very passive, as the narrator sits in the middle of the room and describes what is going on around him/her. The narrator is not important to the plot and the only time the narrator interacts with the other characters in the story, is when she talks to the older man. Though the narrator...
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...In The National Gallery ”In the National Gallery” is a short story written by Doris Lessing in 2007. The story is a about a person visiting in the National Gallery. The main character has decided to spend an hour looking at one special picture. At first the person is sitting quietly studying the picture, but then an elder man enter the room and sits next to the main character. After a little while another man sits down next to the older man, but the second man is younger. As they sit the elder man starts to tell the younger boy about the painting and the painter Stubbs. The main character can’t help but listen to the elder man and his knowledge about the painting and painter. As the two men has sit for a while the young man suddenly gets annoyed and snaps at the elder man and then leaves room afterwards. The elder man stays in his seat. The room gets filled with some young French schoolgirls; they are loud and noisy and get a lot of attraction from everyone in the room. But there is one girl that the main character especially observes. The main character notices that the man next to him/her is staring at the girl as well, but more as if she was really something special. The main character starts to analyse the girl and also see that there is something special about her. The girl suddenly leaves the rest of the group and sits down next to the man. At first she watch the picture but then falls asleep. The man and main character starts to talk about her. The man tells that the...
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...”In the National Gallery” Part A ”In the National Gallery” is a short story by Doris Lessing. Some people have already tried déjà vu, by looking at a picture or recognizable person, and it is also the case in this text. The story is also about the relationship between the younger and the older generation, and it shows which sort of respect and thoughts we have about each other. The unknown narrator sits on a bench in a museum, looking at a painting of a chestnut horse by George Stubbs. Suddenly an elderly man who “… was about sixty years old, well dressed, a well-presented man absorbed in his contemplation” sits down beside the narrator, and after a while a second man who “… was younger by a good bit” arrives. The elderly man begins to talk about Stubbs the painter, and about the painted horses. Quickly he becomes interrupted by the younger man, with the phrase: “You can’t make a silk purse out of me, I keep telling you”. This phrase is a metaphor, which might describe the younger man’s identification problems. In that case, the elderly man instructs the younger man, and he replies with a backlash. He protests because he does not want to be affected by anyone, which turns the scene ugly. After a while a group of French schoolgirls arrive. “They were not looking at it, or at any of the pictures, but talked so loudly and laughed, expecting attention, which they were giving”, this quote means that the girls do not show consideration to the adults who were concentrated on...
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...”In the National Gallery” is a short story written by Doris Lessing in 2007. The story is a about a person visiting in the National Gallery. The main character has decided to spend an hour looking at one special picture. At first the person is sitting quietly studying the picture, but then an elder man enter the room and sits next to the main character. After a little while another man sits down next to the older man, but the second man is younger. As they sit the elder man starts to tell the younger boy about the painting and the painter Stubbs. The main character can’t help but listen to the elder man and his knowledge about the painting and painter. As the two men has sit for a while the young man suddenly gets annoyed and snaps at the elder man and then leaves room afterwards. The elder man stays in his seat. The room gets filled with some young French schoolgirls; they are loud and noisy and get a lot of attraction from everyone in the room. But there is one girl that the main character especially observes. The main character notices that the man next to him/her is staring at the girl as well, but more as if she was really something special. The main character starts to analyse the girl and also see that there is something special about her. The girl suddenly leaves the rest of the group and sits down next to the man. At first she watch the picture but then falls asleep. The man and main character starts to talk about her. The man tells that the French girl looks just...
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...A. In this short story by Doris Lessing, we meet a young man, an individual from a group of schoolgirls, and most importantly, a man about the age of 60. The narrator, whose name and gender is not given, also plays a part in the story. The old man is described as well presented, and knows a lot about paintings, or at least George Stubbs’ chestnut horse. The narrator certainly has respect for the old man, and implies that if he spoke louder when telling about the painting, people would mistake him for an official guide. “How much I would have liked to know as much as he did, and to share his passion for Stubbs and the horse”. This shows that the old man is truly sharing his passion with his young acquaintance, who unfortunately does not want to sit through it. The narrator also has an important role. It is because of him/her we get to hear the old man’s story about his childhood love. However, it is not before he deems the narrator worth it, that he shares his story. “Now he looked properly at me, took me in, decided I was worthy to continue.” This shows that the old man finds the narrator more mature and interesting than the young man. One of the biggest themes is the different stages in life. When the old man was in love with a 16-year-old girl, just like the one who sleeps near him in the story, he was only 12, and it meant that they were in completely different stages of their lives. The age gap was too big, just like it is in the story, now that the man is 60 years...
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...Contrasts in the human-history presented at a museum When you go to a museum, you expect, or at least hope to be surprised and inspired by its exhibitions. To find meaning and to relate to a certain time-period in the history of the world will be the perfect result of a museum-visit. But as we are presented for in this 2007-short-story “In the National Gallery” by Doris Lessing, not just the art can make an impression on you. The sauntering people around you can get you just as entertained, and you might even be presented for the contrasts in the different generations over the ages. In the in media res opening we are presented to a first-person-narrator whose gender and appearance remains unknown throughout the story. She (or he) is spending a one hour break at a museum with a very clear and simple intent. The plan is to find a great painting centered in the middle of the room where she can sit and study it. But not just any painting (p. 1 lines 4): “It should be already known to me”, is how the text describes it, and indicates that we might be dealing with narrator who is playing safe. George Stubbs painting “Chestnut Horse” is the piece of art she ends up admiring. At first she is alone in the room, but then an elder (p. 1 lines 9) “well-presented” man joins her. He is sitting quietly and observing the painting until a younger boy, which relation to the man we are not presented for, takes the seat next to him. The man in his sixties starts telling the boy about the...
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...In the weekday we mostly never think about how it is impossible to prevent time to pass on. But it does, all the time. Just like the time history environment and existence changes. Doris Lessings short story “In the National Gallery” is a thought-provoking, fascinating and a little bit pessimistic short story about nostalgia, chances/experiences, age difference, the nuances and colours of life and passion. It is told by a first person narrator who is sitting in The National Gallery and observing some events taking place around her by an elderly well-presented man in the sixties and a French girl who is about sixteen years old. The main character in which eyes we experience the whole course of events, is sitting next to the old man on a bench by a remarkable picture of a red horse called “the Stubbs chestnut horse”, which is described as a magnificent beast with power and potency. This is where it starts as the old man is trying to teach a younger man about the paintings. The young man is restless and does not have the passion and time for studying art as the older man, and therefore he leaves the gallery. While sitting on the bench and admiring the painting, a French group of school girls enter the room and draws a lot of attention, especially the head of the group which is a sixteen years old French girl, describes as “a package to be admired.. with a pert little face.. she was an original, the ‘card’, the wit, perhaps even the buffoon”. The old man immediately gets spellbound...
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...I visited the National Gallery of Arts, Washington, DC, East Building. In the Small French Painting room French Impressionist and Post Impressionist Oil on paper, canvas, use of landscapes Jean Baptishe Camden Corot 1796-1875) greens and browns oil paintings Theodore Rosassea Panamaric View of the Idle de France 1830 Swiss Landscapes – Alexandrie Claawe 1830 Claude Mouet 1872 Auguste Reninor Gabriel Metsu oil on panel and oak Mostly about people, single portraits, old men and women doing simple things eating, writing holding a pipe, sick child The Artist as Prodical Son 1661 oil on panel Christ on the Cross 1664 oil on canvas the light shining on a lady who is kneeling at the cross to emphasize the hurt she is feeling seeing God on the cross. 3 people in the picture 1 man 2 women Modern Art Frank Stella, American 1936 Flin, Fion IV 1969 Polymer and fluorescent polymer paint on canvas Terry Winters – 1949 Bitmer, 1986 oil on linen Georgia O’Keefer 1887-1986 Jack in the Pulpit Nov 1930 oil on canvas Cubism Piet Mondrian – Dutch 1872-1944 Teablean No. IV Lozenge Composition with Red, Gray, Blue, Yellow and Black 1924/1925 Oil on canvas Max Weber -1881-19 Rush Hour NewYork 1915 Pablo Pisassco Nude Women 1910 oil on canvas Scuptor Head of a women 1909 bronze Modern and Contemparty Art Raskshaw Downes- Bird’s eye view of NY cont cent and contruction 1982 oil on canvas Henri Matisse cut outs collages of color paper for a book called Jazz ...
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...Time can manipulate and beautify even the harshest of memories. Love in particular is almost always better and more powerful in retrospect than when it actually happened. That one beautiful girl that broke your heart many years ago. Memories that are a part of you, and have helped shape you later in life. You have learned from them, drawn from the experiences and accepted how love, and indeed life, works. They have taught you to appreciate what you have, and know what you have lost. These are some of the topics put forward in the short story “In the National Gallery” by Doris Lessing. We follow the narrator (whose gender is unknown to the reader, though I will assume it is Doris Lessing and therefore refer to the narrator as “she”) into an art gallery. The intention is to sit in the middle of the room and spend an hour just looking at a single painting. This painting turns out to be a painting of a chestnut horse painted by George Stubbs. It is a huge painting of a big red horse. “And there it was, the Stubbs chestnut horse, that magnificent beast, all power and potency, and from the central benches I could see it well.” L. 4. The narrator assumed she would be all alone in observing the painting, but soon a man sits down near her. He is about sixty years old and seems very absorbed in the painting. Moments later he is joined by a younger man, who is evidently his student, or younger family member. He starts telling him about the painting, which results in the younger man exclaiming...
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...one of which must be 20th century/ early 21st century. Throughout history, galleries have exhibited creative architectural form at its best. In fact the architecture of many galleries can be considered to be a piece of art itself. Both,the Guggenheim Museum in New York, designed by Frank Lloyd Wright and the National Gallery in London, designed by William Wilkins, are essential buildings in architectural history. Despite being stylistically...
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...moma.org/ National Gallery of Art: http://www.nga.gov/ Museum of Fine Arts, Boston: http://www.mfa.org/ The Phillips Collection: http://www.phillipscollection.org/ The Art Institute of Chicago: http://www.artic.edu/aic/index.php Whitney Museum of American Art: http://www.whitney.org/ Guggenheim Museum New York: http://www.guggenheim.org/new_york_index.shtml Guggenheim Museum Bilbao: http://www.guggenheim-bilbao.es/ Smithsonian American Art Museum and the Renwick Gallery: http://americanart.si.edu/index3.cfm Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden: http://hirshhorn.si.edu/ Smithsonian Institution National Museum of African Art: http://www.nmafa.si.edu/voice.html Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery: http://www.asia.si.edu/ The National Portrait Gallery: http://www.npg.si.edu/ Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum: http://cooperhewitt.org/ National Museum of the American Indian: http://www.nmai.si.edu/ The Getty: http://www.getty.edu/ San Francisco Museum of Modern Art: http://www.sfmoma.org/ National Hispanic Cultural Center: http://www.nationalhispaniccenter.org/index.php American Visionary Art Museum: http://www.avam.org/ American Folk Art Museum: http://www.folkartmuseum.org/default.asp?id=886 National Museum of Mexican Art: http://www.nationalmuseumofmexicanart.org/ Global Museums The British Museum: http://www.thebritishmuseum.ac.uk/ Victorian and Albert Museum: http://www.vam.ac.uk/ Tate: http://www.tate.org.uk/ National Portrait Gallery:...
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