Alaa Elsayed
Prof. Amarnick
ENG 12
Oct. 28, 2013

Juan Oh My What A Beauty!

The Metropolitan Museum of Art is one of the most well-known museums, not only in America, but in the whole world. Many people come to this great city just to visit this incredibly popular museum. The Metropolitan Museum of Art was founded in 1870 and is located in New York City’s Central Park. It is visited by more than 5 million people annually from all over the world. When I first knew about the assignment about meeting at the museum I was not very enthused. I am not much of an "artsy person”, nor do I like to visit museums, but I thought to myself that this may be an interesting way to see what all the hype was about. So on a good Friday morning, my friend and I decided to go to the Met. He had a similar project as me. Getting to the museum wasn’t quite a problem for us. On our ride on the 6 train we’ve witnessed a performer who was playing Spanish music on a guitar. This made the train ride go by so quickly. To be honest if it wasn’t for the GPS on my phone I think me and my friend wouldn’t have made it to the museum that easily. Finally, we arrived at the Metropolitan Museum! As I looked up at the museum I was amazed at how huge it was. It had wide, narrow steps where people were sitting down, either eating from the food stands or enjoying their time with their friends. When we got to the doors I couldn’t believe how crowded, noisy and beautiful it was in the lobby. About 5 minutes in, I finally found my professor Steve who told me to go pay what I wish for my ticket. So my friend and I paid only a dollar each and were greeted with a dirty look which made me laugh. Then my friend carried on his own to do what he had to do and I carried on with my professor to sign in for attendance. One work of art that I found very fascinating at the Met museum was the Juan De Pareja which basically summed up my whole exciting day. The first gallery that me, my professor and classmates went to was the Temple of Dendur. This is one of my favorite galleries that I visited while at the Met. I was so amused by the beautiful scenery of water when you get to the temple. There was about a 100 feet ceiling from the surface of where I was standing. There was so much beauty in this gallery. I was flabbergasted by all the hieroglyphics that were written on the walls of the Dendur temple. So many people were with their cameras out, taking pictures of the temple, the Egyptian pharaoh, sculptures and artifacts. There was a lady telling people not the touch the works of arts in that gallery. My favorite part about the room was the enormous glass windows to the right side of the temple where you’re able to see the beautiful trees of Central Park. I could only imagine how much more beautiful the scene of NY would be at night! Next stop was to the American Wing sculpture court gallery. This was another favorite gallery that I pretty much loved and enjoyed. The Farade of the Branch bank of the United States was an enormous house inside the wing. Once I got into the house I was really amazed at all of the old fancy furniture and valuable pieces of artwork that were hung up. In each room such as the living, dining, bed room had very unique art work as me and my fellow classmate were wondering and observing each room. We’ve met this guy who was watching the house that worked there. It was quite funny joking with him about us wanting to buy the whole bedroom and how much it would cost, made him laugh as well. After observing the house I’ve came to notice that there were so many nude Greek sculptures of gods/goddesses all around the gallery. This was really fascinating to just stand there for a moment and look at the beauty of each single sculpture. There was also this fancy fountain that grabbed my attention in the center of the wing. It was a frog and boy/duck fountain in water, with coins that were all from different countries. As I came across different beautiful paintings on display my classmates, professor and I come across meaningful paintings such as “Aristotole Contemplating a Bust of Homer”, “Young Women with a Water Pitcher” and some of Manet and Degas works which where artworks that were basically amusing in my eyes. My first impression on Rembrandt’s Aristotle was quite beautiful. I loved the lighting in the middle of the picture that makes Aristotle and the sculpture on his hand stand out. I believe what this painting means is that in the picture it refers to Aristotle's comparison of touch and sight as a means of acquiring knowledge which is quite shown in the way Aristotle is holding the sculptures head, he grazes upon it, stares at the skull as if they’re connected. My impression on the “Young Woman with a Water Pitcher” is quite intriguing. It’s a picture of a woman in an ideal home. Her head and elegant costume are covered by scarves, which with the silver-gilt basin and pitcher and the open window determine that it’s the beginning of the day. A string of pearls emerges from the jewelry box. Balanced shapes and colors in this picture enhance the mood and make the picture look appealing to a person who would possibly see it for their first time. My impressions on some of Manets and Degas works aren’t really in my favor. I found some artworks lame and not worth looking at that because it didn’t really grab my attention. I found that most works that Manet and Dega made was a bit dull and not that exciting because both their works have that similar type of style that I don’t like. As me, my fellow classmates and professor were on the 2nd floor of the American Wing sculpture court, we came across a fascinating piece of artwork called the Juan De Pareja which really grabbed my attention. I learned and read on my own and in my English class who Juan was. Juan de Pareja was a young black slave in 17th century Spain. He survived the plague and the capricious treatment of his original owners. He is then inherited by DiegoVelazquez. Juan de Pareja was Velázquez’s slave and assistant. He was born in Antequera, near Malaga. On November 23, 1650, the painter signed the official act of liberation of Juan, making him a free man. Based on the Hoving’s chapter on “Truth, Not Art” he quotes “All I could think of was that Velazquez must have loved this young man" (Hoving 256). Velazquez admired his slave Juan so much that it made him basically paint a portrait of Juan that is now one of the greatest art works displayed at the Metropolitan Museum. Juan agreed to stay with his master for another four years, but in fact he continued to live with him until Velázquez’s death. I finally got to see the Juan De Pareja in person; just looking at the picture of how it stands out from the rest of the room was so beautiful. The Juan De Pareja just showed something very powerful in my eyes. The way Juan’s position and how serious he was. Wherever you walk in the room you’ll see Juan’s eyes just follow you. He stares at you throughout the room with a serious face, which I found really fascinating. To me it reminded me of the Mona Lisa where if you look at the painting you’ll see that the Mona Lisa is staring at wherever you go. Looking at the picture reminded me of a person who looks very similar to Juan. His name is Katt Williams who is a standup comedian. So every time I looked at the portrait of Juan it just made me laugh just thinking of Katt Williams. Just looking at Juan’s face; you could tell that there’s something wrong. His mood was towards the angry and mad side. While looking at him it made me connect with a quote that I read from an article called “The Soul of Juan De Pareja” by Terence Clarke. "Velazquez's biographer Antonio Palomino writes that Velazquez would not allow Juan himself to paint because, he believed, art of the sort that Velazquez did was too great for a slave to undertake. He believed that such art should be reserved for free men. Juan apparently painted anyway, in secret, without the master’s knowledge"(Clarke 1). I best believe that Velazquez didn't want Juan to paint because he might of saw Juan's great talent in painting. Velazquez didn't want be the better painter so that works of his could be only sold and not of his slave’s. This is possibly a reason why I think Juan’s portraying anger and sadness from a slave who could’ve had more paintings made by him other than just The Calling of Saint Matthew. I really tend to think that the techniques in which Thomas Hoving and the Met Museum went about into getting the Juan De Pareja was really impressive in my point because both stories show how hard it took and how passionate the Met and Hoving had to get their hands on the Portrait of Juan De Pareja. Based on the article “Juan De Pareja” by Diego Velazquez, Diego quotes that “The Metropolitan Museum paid an enormous sum to acquire the portrait of Juan De Pareja by Velazquez. The decision to buy the picture was made because it is one of the finest works of art to come on the market in our time. It is among the most beautiful, most living portraits ever painted" (Rousseau 1). Velazquez could be seen as one of the greatest painters who ever lived. He’s done such a terrific job in portraying the emotions of how Juan feels in the Juan De Pareja. This portrays a huge history between Juan and Velazquez which puts a lot of meaning in such a portrait. This makes me understand why the Met paid so much just to acquire a beautiful piece of artwork like this. This also demonstrates why Thomas Hoving was so passionate and determined for the Juan De Pareja. Hoving basically knew about the art work he wants to get and how much it would mean to him. He did what he had to do for the artwork that he wanted. His mindset was based on a positive ego that nothing could hold him back without getting what he’s been determined and passionate to go for, the Juan De Pareja! Clarkes view of Velazquez is very different then both Rousseau and Hoving. I take Hoving’s and Rousseau’s side because the both have similar reasons which is an appreciation of the Juan De Pareja portrait. They both tend to view Velazquez as one of the greatest painters and are so passionate about his work of painting that he’s done with the Juan De Pareja to show the true meaning of how Juan’s emotions are being portrayed in the portrait.
To be honest, I had always thought that art museums were filled with old paintings by dead people, but I was completely wrong. As I walked through the MET, I was fascinated by what I saw. I was taken back by how big everything was and by the various galleries. Before even visiting the Met with my class and professor, my professor first showed the Juan De Pareja portrait in class I honestly thought it was boring and lame to look at. When I finally got to see it in person my whole opinion changed dramatically. The beauty you could see up close in person in a painting like this and how much meaningful it means. When you look at it, it is quite appealing to me now. I have to say, I had an awesome and interesting day at the Met. I look forward to more trips like this in the near future!