national gallery essay.wps

8/7/2019 National Gallery Essay.wps

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-1 Personal reflections on the National Gallery of Art

1.On pp 1- 4 Diepeveen discusses the exterior and the interior of the museum.

First, walk outside around the two buildings that comprise the National Gallery of Art.Analyze the architecture of these buildings- its sense of stability, prestige, grandeur,

power, permanence , and glory that Diepeveed sees as the function of the classical styleof the museum architecture. Illustrate three of these terms with the description of an

image (you may also provide the actual image, but this is no substitute for your

descriptive connection to Diepeveen). Next , choose three interior elements he discusses,and analyze how they apply to the National Gallery.

In Art Museums- Organizers of Culture Chapter 1, Diepeveen starts by

discussing the typical patterns of art museums. He says there is an extraordinary

uniformity between museums- ideological, architectural, structural. Architecturally, theyare generally made of stone and built in neoclassical style, in precise symmetry, while

many times their entrances are marked by large pillars. This style goes all the way backinto history to the great civilizations of the past: the Egyptian temples , which inspired the

Greeks ,which in their turn inspired the Romans. Buildings following this pattern and

structure reflect to the outsider a spirit of prestige, grandeur, and stability. (Diepeveen,

Art Museums- Organizers of Culture,pp 2)When visiting the National Gallery of Art at the Smithsonian I noticed exact

similarities between Diepeveens description and the building in front of me. First of all,

the feeling of grandeur and greatness was conveyed by size: the Gallery was huge,extending on what seemed to be 4 blocks. The West building- which is the most

impressive, could be seeable almost all the way from the metro station. To complete thisview, as you walked by into Madison Street, you could see the Capitol Building right infront of the West Wing, built in the same style: neo-classical. On the entrance from

Madison Drive there are marble stairs all over the place, and squared symmetric

platforms with benches placed just as symmetrically around a round fountain and under ahuge tree. The round fountain and huge tree are present on each side of the immense

entrance door, at exact distances. Before the entrance door (or rather gate) there are large

stone pillars, which make you think you are in a Greek ancient temple. Everything is of

great symmetry. Hence, we already notice two similarities between Diepeveensdescription and the Gallery itself: massive stone building in perfect symmetry, and stone

pillars at the main entrance. Besides these two , one must also remark that the material of

the edifice is marble, which is another similarity. The Eastern building , although made ininteresting geometrical shapes, conveys the same grandeur, through its massive stone

construction.

Further on, Diepeveens says that around the construction of the museum there areneatly clipped, park like grounds that take the museum on a separate plan from the

daily life of the city. The only things that hint to the outside life are the advertising

banners on the walls of the exhibitions , which have a hyper tone designed to attract you.

(Diepeveen, Art Museums- Organizers of Culture,pp 2). In my study of the National


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Gallery I noticed the exact same things: around the Western building (which respects the

Neoclassical style) there were symmetrical squares of grass, flowers and neatly cut

bushes in Madison Drive, and a rectangular line of land with trees planted at equaldistances in front of the entrance from Pennsylvania Ave. They all tended to separate the

museum, to make it distinguished from the noisy streets around it. Also, on all sides of

the building, but particularly on the Madison Dr side there were large banners reading:In the Dark Room: Photographic Processes before the Digital Age-> West Building ,

National Gallery of Art- Sculpture Garden, Judith Leyster 1609-1660 -with picture,

The French Galleries - Main Floor Galleries ,or The Art of Power- Royal Armor and

Portraits from Imperial Spain- West Building. Hence, these are another two similarities

between the writers description and the design of the Gallery. On one side of the Eastern

building there is a beautiful garden which also includes symmetrical trees and bushes.

If you go inside an art museum, Diepeveens continues, the sound level dropsdramatically, and your steps echo on the marble floor - the echo of footsteps is another

indicator of grandeur. He also says that there are diverse spaces in museums not

designated to show art: a reception space (or central lobby), a cloak room, a gift shop, a

restaurant. He mentions that it is very difficult to move without a map through thelabyrinth hallways that often defy logic in their setting.

Again, I found his descriptions in tone with my own observations. Walking intothe National Gallery of Art past the control guards I suddenly became aware of the noise

made by my footsteps. The reception space was a round dome of incredible size and

height (which is also the center of the building , separating it in half), and as generally

every chamber or hallway was very tall and the floor made of stone, the echo effect wasvery real. However, before going to the East or West hallways, if you turned left just

when you entered the Gallery , you could see an Information stand, from where you

could get a map, programs of different tours of the day, and general information. On theright, passing the Founder Benefactors Room you could go to a dressing room and

leave your coat there. On the ground floor there was a small restaurant-caf and a gift

shop, but an even bigger such space was in the connecting passage between the East andWest buildings. Going into the West and East hallways, the setting was confusing due to

the fact that once in a particular gallery (like the Italian Renaissance) you could hardly

find your way out anymore. The rooms were labyrinthical , and entrances into and out ofthem were not in symmetrical places. Without a map it was hard to find your way or

respect the chronological order of the artifacts.

Diepeveens also mentions the multitude of discrete security mediums, such as

alarms, cameras, warning plaques, or stoic guards with vigilant eyes and good posture. Aswell , he says that many times connecting hallways are used as gallery space, for

presentation of art that is less important or structured. Indeed, in the museum I could see

intruding guards following my (and others) every step and subtle cameras and alarmsystems designed to protect the works from theft. On the hallways the system of security

was just as tight, as there were many sculptures presented there. For example, at the

entrance into the West Sculpture Hall there was a bronze statue of emperor KarolusQuintus Imperator Semper Augustus (Milanese, 1509- 1590, Samuel Kress Collection

1952).


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2.On pp 8 Diepeveens draws our attention to the artists and the art not included

in major museums and galleries. He returns to this theme again, on pp 28-30: make sure

u focus on both sections of this reading. As you explore the galleries and focus on the art,

notice which aspects of art are not represented. For example, which ethnic groups ,geographical locations, philosophies/ beliefs are missing or are barely visible? How is

work represented? And what about the creators of art? Whose art is missing? Keep a listas you move from section to section of the museum. At the conclusion of your visit ,

analyze what the National Gallery wants you to believe constitutes art.

What is not seen in an art museum? Diepeveens starts by mentioning the obvious

things :administrative offices, conservation labs, workshops, or vaults. Than, he moveson to the less noticeable aspects: no demographical proportion among the visitors (very

few poor, ethnic, religious, racial minorities) and types of works not presented

(anonymous work after the Renaissance, work by women before 20th century, work of

minorities; work that is not portable or durable and mass-productions.) On page 28 heexpands on this, saying that it is not a simple matter of quality to determine admission or

exclusion from the art canon. The two most important discriminations that influenced themaking of the canon in history were racism and sexism. These attitudes shaped society

and art much before the museum as an institution engaged in them. Women , observes

critic Linda Nochlin, have always been discouraged from being artists; when they did

dare to take upon this road they were not allowed to be members of an academy or topaint certain popular trends. The same happened to racial minorities.

Diepeveens expands further on the aesthetic vocabulary the Western canon

privileges- which includes certain materials like oil pant, bronze , or marble , andexcludes objects like quilts or mass production decorative objects. Hard to enter the

canon as well are objects that are ephemeral and non-collectible, such as Sarah Szes

1999 Many a Slip ,made of matchsticks, razor blades, fish hooks, cotton swabs, orgrass. Such a work can only be photographed, not displayed in the museum. Exceptions

to this rule are constituted by Avantgarde Art - art that challenges the premise of what

was previously considered Western Art. (Diepeveens, Art Museums: Organizers of

Culture ,pp 8, 28-30)

In my visit to the National Gallery of Art, I had to agree with Diepeveens on

many aspects. First of all, although I did see female portraits and sculptures, I havent

seen one work made by a female artist. I have also not seen any works made by ethnicalminorities such as blacks, Asians, Pakistanis, Mexicans, Indians or other such people. The

artifacts presented were organized as follows: in the West Building the West Sculpture

Hall focused Galleries 1-13 on Gothic and Ars Nova Italy, Galleries 17-28 on Spain andItaly of the 16th century, Gall 29-36 on 17th-18th cent Italy, Spain, France, Gall 35-41 on

Netherland and Germany in the 15-16th century, and Gall 42-50 on 17th century Dutch and

Flemish paintings. Than , in the East Sculpture Hall Gallery 52 focused on 18-19th

century Spain, Gall 53-56 on 18-19th century France, Gall 57-61 on British painting; from

62 to 71 the Galleries presented American art, Gall 72-79 presented a Special Exhibition

of armors and weapons from Imperial Spain, and Galleries 80-81 French art from the 19th

century. On the Ground Floor, passing the Garden Caf and Shop, Galleries G43 and G42


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presented decorated carpets from the Gothic era, while Galleries G1-G9, G20 and G41

displayed Chinese Porcelain (the only non-Western art presented in the gallery); than

Galleries G10-G13 and G39 showed Sculpture and Decorative Arts from the 17-18th

centuries. G14-G19 presented 14-15-16th century Sculpture, G23-G29 prints and

drawings, and G30-G34 photographs.

From this presentation of the Western building we notice that the greatest focus ison European- more precisely Italian and French- and national American art. As time

periods, we also notice that nothing before the Gothic Medieval era is mentioned. Also,

the preference is accorded to paintings, followed by sculpture; little room is left for othertypes of work. In the Eastern building Besides these aspects, I noticed that the visitors

present at the museum were generally middle class people- students or middle and senior

ages-, that could be white (for the most part), black or even Asian (although in lesser

numbers). Also, an observation that I made to my surprise was that a big percent ofvisitors were females.

Moreover, the art itself focused almost in exclusivity on white people: I found a

single artwork in the West Museum that presented a black person: Allegory of Africa,

sculpture made by Frederic- Auguste Bartholdi (French, 1834- 904). Also, with a fewexceptions, I havent seen portraits of poor, working people: the persons depicted in

artworks were middle-class or higher. The struggles of the working class, minorities orfeminism are left out from the history of art as the Gallery presents it. What the institution

does focus on is Canonic names such as Titian, Raphael, Rembrand, mythology, religion,

landscapes, and portraits of higher status people taken out of context. This is what is it

decided to present as history of art.

3.How is the art you encounter organized in the National Gallery? What

organizational concepts (chronology , geographical location, gifts of a particular donoretc) do you see in operation? How do these organizational concepts attempt to shape

your understanding , as a visitor, of what constitutes art (and history of art) ?Diepeveen

on pp 12-15 analyzes the limitations of chronology as one example of organizingprinciple. Conduct your own analysis of at least two other organizing principles you

notice.

Firstly, the Gallery is organized chronologically. It is confusing to walk around

from a Gallery to another and to get a general picture, but you can eventually do it if youfollow the chronology. Paintings are structured on periods- such as Gothic, Renaissance,

Impressionistic- and on years- generally one gallery would gather works from a half

century or even from a whole century. The sculpture gallery at the ground level is lessnumerous, and hence each gallery comprises larger periods of time, keeping nonetheless

a relatively structured chronology. The East building follows similar patterns, dividing

the 20th century into periods.This is in concordance with Diepeveens description from pages 12-15: museums,

he says, are not structured by gender, theme, subject, politics, but by chronology.

Chronology means progress, and that one art work developed from another. Organizing

by chronology means telling a story of the new and innovative; it means that Western


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history considers the most important artists the ones who started something new. The

Wests fixation on heroes is seeable even in art! This of course also means that some

forms of art are given priority over others. Textiles, folk art, ceramics, are excluded,because work that is not breaking new ground is de-valued. When museums such as the

Orsay in Paris try to break the standards and present a collection ofsimultaneity rather

than one ofcontinuity they are harshly judged. (Diepeveen, Art Museums- Organizers ofCulturepp 12-15)

The idea of new resultant from chronology felt very palpable to me in the

National Gallery. I walked into the Italian Galleries, and I found myself surrounded byGothic art depicted, one would say, from a Greek- Orthodox church (my denomination).

While my footsteps carried me to other galleries, I could see the , linearity, the

progression of the art presented. As I walked from an era to the other I was able to

develop a mental structure: the old always gave birth to the new, and the new in its turngave turn to something else. For example, I noticed that in almost all Italian galleries up

to late 17th century predominant were religious motives, and yet there was a huge

difference between the Byzantine flat paintings at the beginning and the realistic

tridimensional masterpieces from the 16th

centuries. As time went by , religious artbecame moresecular!

However, chronology is not the only criteria used in the museum. Works are alsostructured by their nationality. For example, the West Sculpture Hall contains mostly

Italian and Flemish works, while the East Sculpture Hall mostly French and American. In

the East building, most artists presented are American, and some are French. But an even

stronger criteria than nationality is the priority given to specific donors of the museum: inthe East building , for example, there are galleries that are named by their donors. The

Robert and Jane Meyerhoff collection and the Jasper Johns Collection are such

examples. In the West building, wherever it is possible paintings that had belonged to theMellon, Krass, or Widener families are displayed together. This last point proves that

besides artistic missions, the museum must also be preoccupied with keeping the wealthy

elites that sponsored it happy. Seen from this light, it appears to be a less democraticinstitution.

4. What information does the Gallery offer to visitors to help them understand the

art they are viewing? How does the information provide besides each piece of art helpyou (or not)? Why does the information about the art include information on how the art

was bought and who donated it? How does this information support and/or detract from

the educational mission of the gallery? What value does the information provide?

Scrolling through the Italian Galleries, I see a magnificent painting of a rathermelancholic girl with suave features and dignified posture. I get closer to it, and it reads:

Ginevra de Benci ,Leonardo da Vinci (Florentine 1452-1519), Alisa Mellon BruceFund 1967. The artwork is gloriously settled in the centre of the room , and the entirewall behind it is dedicated to its description: this is da Vincis only painting in America,

and the lady portrayed was the daughter of a distinct Florentine aristocrat ,much

appreciated for her beauty and grace. Not every painting in the Gallery has a descriptive

wall behind it, but almost every one has the placard that offers the names of the artwork


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and artist, the period and location of its making, and the name of its donor. For example ,

later on in Gallery 20 there is a superb painting on a religious theme, and the descriptive

placard beneath reads: Alba Madonna c 1510, Raphael (Umbrian 1483-1520) , Andrew

W Mellon Collection 1937.1.24 .

Indirectly , the museum is telling the visitor what it considers to be important

about the artwork and what it doesnt. Of course, important are the names of the art andthe creator, but not so important seems to be the name of the previous owner of the public

property. The fact that the Art Gallery chooses to mention this information is a mirror of

the forces that act upon the institution. Behind it are not just the Government, the largepublic, and the art academies, but also a couple of rich elites that sponsored it at some

given point. The museum owes them gratitude, and the honor to post their names in

public spaces. This takes me back to Ancient Rome, where the elites reward for public

service was honor and prestige. The information in itself departs from the educationalmission of the museum, but it encourages other wealthy persons to donate , to have their

names engraved for generations to see them. This information is offered at the expense

of other type of info, regarding perhaps the historical context of the work, or its original

use - but museums have long ago decided what is important for them to show and whatnot.

5. On pp 17 Diepeveen talks about the decontextualizing of art when it is

assembled in museums and galleries. What does he mean by the termdecontextualized? Find and explain three or more examples of the way in which the

National Gallery decontextualizes individual artworks and categories of art.

I am at the ground floor , in the G3 Gallery, where my eyes are luring onexpressive pieces of sculpture from the 18-19th century. A great deal of the gallery

contains works of the French Auguste Rodin (1840- 1917) : The kiss (made of bronze,a man and a woman in passionate kiss) , Le penseur(The Thinker), 1880 model ,cast

1901, bronze, The evil spirits, 1899, La France 1904, marble .Next comes French

Pierre- Eugene- Emile Hebert (1828- 1893) with a terrific sculpture named Amazonpreparing for battle 1882 . Impressing is also Edgar Degas (French 1834- 1917) withhis sculptures that present people in movement and dance , such as Study in the Vude of

the Little Dancer Aged 14 , 1879, bronze) . In a different gallery , with sculptures from

the 17th century, there is an impressive fountain in the middle , that reads Venus and

Cupid, by a follower of Giovanni Bologna. In the same room are many mythologicalfigures, and a statue of Ferdinand II de Medici, Grand Duke of Tuskani ,by Giovanni

Battista Foggini (Florence, 1652- 1725).

All of these works are expressive and beautiful, enchanting you with theirartistry, but they do not tell a story. The statue of the duke, for example , doesnt tell

anything about the political influence of his family in Florence, in fact nothing about who

he was. The fountain doesnt reveal its original use, why it had been built, or for whom.The moving figures of Edgar Degas (1834- 1917) might suggest for the history

knowledgeable person the popularity of ballet in France, all the way from the time of

Louis the XIVth , but if you dont know this information, the museum is not going to

provide it to you. The museum portraits art as separated from society

national gallery essay.wps

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