Art Gallery Visit 1

A.) Which artworks make an impact or impression on me? Why?

#1)Thomas Cole

The Voyage of Life- Four Sketches

Childhood, Youth, Manhood, Old Age, 1842

These four small oil sketches were preliminary studies for Cole’s allegorical series The Voyage of life.  The series was commissioned by Samuel Ward of New York in 1842.  Cole combined landscape with poetic and religious sentiment in these paintings depicting the passage of a human life through four stages.  At this point in Cole’s career, he was profoundly influenced by Christian moral teachings, and expressed the idea that the purpose of art (Including landscapes) was to instruct and guide the viewer.

-This artwork made an impression on me because I enjoy studying about the different religions, as well as philosophy, and what better way to simplify life than to represent it in four stages.  I also really enjoyed the painting which was what first attracted me to it.  I then read about his intentions towards the viewer and then I revered it even more.  Overall this is one of my favorite paintings I saw.

#2)Jasper F. Cropsey

Dawn of Morning, Lake George

Oil on Canvas, 1868

Jasper Cropsey was at the height of his career in the 1860’s when Dawn of Morning, Lake George was painted.  This region was a popular destination for landscape artists as they explored north of the Hudson-Catskill area and sought wilderness subjects in the Adirondacks.  By the 1860’s Lake George was a well-traveled tourist spot quite different from the unspoiled landscape depicted here.

-This artwork impacted me because I like about 45 minutes away from Lake George and am in love with the beauty of the area.  I can only imagine what it must have looked like before its landscape was changed by humans.  I also saw a double rainbow on my way back from buffalo last spring so I thought it was cool to see a painting of one.

#3)Thomas Cole

Ruined Tower

Oil on Composition board, 1832-1836

Thomas Cole’s First European tour from 1829-1832 inspired new approaches to his composition technique and philosophy of art.  This painting of a ruined tower most likely done in Cole’s Catskill studio following his return from Italy, using sketches of Mediterranean coast towers made during his travels.  Cole may have also taken inspiration from English artist John Constables similarly composed painting, Hadleigh Castle.

-This artwork really impressed me.  I enjoyed how most of the painting had somewhat of a somber mood but then almost in the middle of it there was the sun trying to break through the clouds as if a sign of hope.  One thing I have always wanted to see has been a castle, or even a beach Tower that has survived all these years so that was another big reason I enjoyed this painting.

B.) Which artworks do I feel a connection with? Why?

#1)John Vanderlyn(1775-1852)

1802-1803

Oil on canvas, original gilt frame

Albany Institute Purchase

Vanderlyn, the grandson of the Hudson Valley limner, Pieter Vanderlyn, was born in Esopus(Kingston), New York.  After some training with Gilbert Stuart and five years of study in Paris, at the suggestion of his patron, Aaron Burr, Vanderlyn took a sketching trip to Niagara Falls in the autumn of 1801.  From his studies came this painting.  Although views of Niagara appeared as early as 1697, Vanderlyn was the first professionally trained artist to depict them in finished paintings.

-I feel a connection to this painting because of the fact that I attend school out in buffalo(like the rest of you) and I had not visited Niagara Falls until I had gone out there and when I did I was in awe of how big it was in person.  I also feel a connection to this painting because my mother grew up in the Kingston area and that is where this artist was born.

 #2)Asher B. Durand

Catskill Creek(Summer Afternoon)

Oil on Canvas, 1855

Durand’s landscape paintings are precise and carefully delineated compositions.  His trees, in particular, clearly reflect his training as an engraver. 

-I feel a connection with this painting because every time I go to my grandparent’s house, located in Ellenville NY, we drive next too and over this creek for a good amount of the trip.  So, I guess it is nice to see that what I get to see on my trip to my grandparent’s is/was beautiful enough for a famed artist to paint.

#3)Edward Lamson Henry

The First Railroad Train on the Mohawk and Hudson Road

Oil on Canvas, 1892-1893

E. L. Henry, a genre painter, specialized in recording important events in American history.  Employing meticulous research and life drawings, Henrys pictures documented the nostalgia for the past that was pervasive in late 19-th century America.  He studied art in New York, Philadelphia, and, in Paris, was a pupil of Gustave Courbet.  The First Railroad Train is Henry’s largest and most famous painting.  The picture records the official opening of the rail line between Albany and Schenectady on September 24, 1831, an event that inaugurated railroad construction in America.

-I feel a connection with this painting because this very significant event occurred about 10 mins from my house and it’s nice to feel that the area you grew up in and around is significant in some part of history.  If it were not for the railroads, the northeast and more importantly the nation, would not have prospered as it had.

C.) Which artworks would I like to know more about? Why?

#1) Le Chevalier Bayard

Baron Carlo Marochetti

Bronze Casting by Susse Freres

Signed on base “Marochetti”/ “Susse fres font-de bronze a Paris”

I really like the detail of this casting and these are the types of “sculptures” that I am interested in(as opposed to the ones displayed throughout the Buffalo State campus).  I would be interested in to how this type of work was made and if it is solid bronze or if it is hollow in the middle.  Plus I would like to know a little bit about the artists inspiration for making this statue/sculpture.

#2) Coffin Bottom

Late Dynastic to Early Ptolemaic period, 525-200 B.C

Albany Institute of History & Art.

This shallow base of a coffin depicts the goddess of the West, the protector of cemeteries.  In Ancient Egypt, burial grounds were usually located on the west bank of the Nile at the edge of the Sahara desert.

-Although some information was given about this piece, I am more interested on who this coffin was made for and what type of life he lived to have received such a beautiful coffin.  I suppose this type of work could have been common back in Ancient Egypt but I know a decent amount about Egyptian history and I don’t believe that a commoner would have received such an elaborate coffin.

#3)Osiris

Bronze

Late or Ptolemaic Period, 664-30 B.C

Albany Institute of History & Art

The conservation of Osiris has been made possible by Mr. Raymond Newkirk and Ms. Christy D’ Ambrosio

Osiris, the mythical first king of Egypt, was murdered by his brother Seth.  Osiris’s wife and sister, Isis, and her sister Nepthys reassembled his body, which Anubis then mummified.  Osiris was reborn spiritually in the next world, where he became the ruler of the underworld.

-What was given here was a description of the mythology behind Osiris, but I am curious to know where this statue came from.  I also am very impressed with the quality that the small statue is in and the attention to detail that was given by whoever had sculpted it.  I just really enjoyed this piece because its surreal to see something that was made by human hands from that long ago, and in that kind of condition.

Art Gallery Photos