Museum Art Exhibit Visit Summary Essay
The class invitation to the Museum Art exhibit could not have come at a better time; I had in the past missed out on a number of museum visits organized by friends and family. In particular I had always wanted to visit the Carnegie Museum of Art in Pittsburgh. I had time and time again heard my cousin who is a literature student in collage talk of the Carnegie Museum of Art as the best place to experience the convergence of art and literature. On the top of my checklist was the scaife gallery which was recommended as the key area of visit for this assignment. In my internet research on Carnegie Museum of Art’s from which I learned that scaife gallery had been facilitated by the scaife family and foundation and thus the name scaife gallery (Wilson, 2003).
I set to visit the museum on a Saturday in the company of my friend Jerry who was not so much interested in the activity like I was but first thing first, I was on a mission and so upon arriving we went straight to the scaife gallery where we soon found ourselves surrounded by white walls all around, the floor beneath us was also white in color. The gallery was quite expansive with people walking up and down the corridors and many others standing besides the white walls adorned with different kinds of artistic pieces. I must admit that the white color theme in the gallery gave the gallery an artistic ambience while at the same time making the art pieces on the wall as well as those placed on strategic places on the floor to stand out.
I do not recall any piece of art in the gallery that did not mesmerize me in one way or the other, I personally found it hard to believe that some of the art paintings in the galley were true paintings done by hand through the stroke of the brush, I even remember Jerry saying out loud that the pictures were software generated copies to the interjection of a gentleman standing besides us by reminding us that some of the pieces were produced way before computers were invented. While on the second floor Jerry and I could not help taking a pause to look at the intricate portrait of Mrs. Scaife in the lounge put up in her honor as one of the facilitators of the gallery. The portrait was done by E. Raymond Kinstler who was a teacher at the arts students’ league in New York. The layout and compartmentalization of the scaife gallery is very elaborate but at the same time making it easy for visitors and art lovers to maneuver through the many sections of the gallery, the museum also has very cautious staff that was ready and willing to assist visitors by offering information and direction to anyone in need of assistance.
Of all the art and paintings in the gallery the one that captivated me most was Claude Monet’s 1840 painting Nympheas painted on oil canvas. Spanning more than two meters wide the painting was as real as apicture can get, the color shades and contrast on the picture made it even hard to believe that the painting was actually done in the eighteen hundreds. This picture was acquired through the help of Mrs. Scaife and thus became part of the Carnegie Museum of ArtS. Another very impressive piece of art is Benjamin West’s painting of Venus lamenting the death of Adonis. The picture had a somewhat dark background to it and reminded me of Leonado da vinci’s painting of Monalisa in terms of the quality of the paint work. Just like Claude Monet’s painting, this painting was also done in the eighteen hundreds.
As a common factor in the two pieces of art mentioned above and in many others not mentioned here, I was particularly impressed with the quality of the paintings in relation to the times that this works of art were originally produced by the artists. Judging by the obvious fact that artists in those times did not have the technology and tools that the present 21st century artists enjoy I was therefore persuaded that these artists were creative geniuses in the field of art in that they produced pieces of art that not only outlived them but also looked perfect and exceptional in comparison to modern art. This is not to say that modern artists are incompetent in any way, it is just but the appreciation of exemplary pieces of art.
By the end of our tour of the scaife gallery I was completely aware of the power of art; it was like a journey through different parts of the world while still in the same building. As we walked out the gallery I once again glanced at the portrait of Mrs. Scaife and this time round I viewed it in a totally different light or perspective, I felt thankful and great full for the efforts of Mrs. Scaife’s generous contribution to the gallery. To me she indeed lives on through the gesture and the many pieces of art present in the gallery. At the end of it all we were glad that we had the chance to visit the museum. From scaife gallery we went to the natural history section of the museum only that this time Jerry was more interested than I was.
Reference
Wilson, B. E. (2003, July). Carnegie Online. Retrieved April 10, 2013,