Event Critique Art Museum

Use the following format for your museum critique; answers must be typed
below the questions and all questions must appear in full on your final copy. You
can use this document as your template. Pay careful attention to the required
number of words for those questions that have them. Failure to follow the
instructions here and on your syllabus will result in a substantially low grade.
Minimal answers poorly written are a D grade or less. Elaboration of points,
excellent arguments, and good writing garner higher grades.
**********************************
Name___Rachel Kelsch_____________
Class time period (not section number) _Tu&Th 8:30-9:50__
1) Which museum did you visit? (Check one) _X__ Univ. of Utah ___ BYU
2) In 150 words, describe at least one of the broad collections on a theme,
period, geographic region, or topic) within the museum.
One of the large collections of art at the Utah Museum of Fine Arts was the
European section. There were different sections of art based on the century it was created.
The first section was art from the 15th and 16th century, and almost all of the paintings in
that room were religious. The majority of them were oil paintings, and most of them
portrayed the Madonna and baby Jesus. The Madonna always had the same features like
wavy blonde hair, head tilted to one side, wore red and blue clothing, and usually had
some form of halo. The other centuries included in the collection were the 17th, 18th, 19th,
and 20th centuries. These other centuries artwork included many portraits of people of
varying ages, floral arrangements, some landscapes, parties, and other scenes. Most of the
pieces in the collection were paintings, especially oil on panel or another material, but
also included were candlesticks, chairs, tables, and other household items like clocks.
3) Give a brief, one paragraph (100 words) description of a special exhibit (ask
the curator what these are; they are usually in one of the first rooms):
The main special exhibit at the UMFA when I visited was called The British
Passion for Landscape- Masterpieces from National Museum Wales. There were dozens
of pieces of art, mostly paintings, from many different artists all throughout history. Some
of the earliest paintings I saw in this collection were created in the 1500-1600s. It was
really fascinating to me to see these pieces of art that are older than America. The
paintings were set up in a way that took you mostly linearly through time, and started
with paintings of castles and scenery, and progressed through a very different kind of
scenery during the Industrial Revolution. There were paintings of big cities and factories
as a landscape. Also included in the collection were very early photographs- from around
the 1880s that were surprisingly good quality for being such an early form of
photography.

4) What kind of information is provided about the works? Tell me three places
you might find more detailed information that doesnt include the web {hint:
ask a curator for help with this question}
Next to most of the pieces of art there was a plaque that included the name of the artwork, the
artists name and years of birth and death, the year (or approximate time period) that the art was
created, the medium used to create the art ,and there was usually a paragraph or two long description
as well. These descriptions often explained what was going on in the art or perhaps why the artist
would have created it.
According to the educator at the museum, other good ways to find information about the
pieces of art besides the internet include the educators office, emailing a member of the educator or
curator staff, the books that are placed in some of the exhibits, and the audio tours that you can
access by calling a number on your cell phone.
5) Choose several works that particularly appealed to you. Explain why you
were drawn to these works. Comment on the subject, style, medium, time
period, etc. Who were the artists?) This question must be answered in its
entirety. (This should be at least 500 words
While walking through the British Landscape collection, the first painting that
stood out from the others was one called Rocky Landscape with Herdsmen and Cattle by
Salvator Rosa. This piece stood out to me because most of the other paintings Id seen up
to that point were the classic fields, hills, and perhaps a castle or bridge kind of pieces.
They were beautiful, but they were all very similar. This piece, however, had much more
gray than green, and contained jagged rocky cliffs rather than the countryside. I also
really liked the shadows created by the cliffs. This piece was painted in the 1660s and is
in the pre-Romantic style. The medium is oil on canvas.
Another painting that stood out to me in a completely different way than the one
by Salvator Rosa was called From a Window at 45 Brook Street, London W.1 by Cedric
Morris. This painting was done in 1926 and was created by oil on canvas. The reason this
painting caught my eye more than others surrounding it was because it was done in a
more geometric style, and was much more colorful than most Id seen so far. The way all
the buildings fit together almost seemed puzzle-like. Another noticeable feature of this
painting is that it was done with a technique called impasto, which is where the artist
layers the pain on very thickly, and it gives the painting a lot of texture, which looks very
interesting from up-close. It can also change how the painting looks from a close distance
versus a further distance away.
Buildings in Naples by Thomas Jones was created by oil on paper in 1782. This
piece caught my eye because it was done in a much more modern style than most
paintings in that time. There are many sharp, clean, lines and most of the painting is made
up of rectangles; from the main building itself, to its windows, doors, and the windows of
the other buildings in the background. The building is also white and light gray in color,
as opposed to most of the buildings in the other paintings Id seen were a darker gray.
My favorite piece from the museum was actually not a painting, but it was the
Anthropoid coffin in the Egypt section of the museum. Ancient Egypt has always been so

fascinating to me, and I loved being able to see a real mummy coffin. This coffin was
made for a man named Padisur who lived and died in the 26th dynasty (664-525 BCE).
The coffin was constructed from wood, gesso (plaster) and pigment. There were designs
and hieroglyphs covering the entire thing, and many of the depictions had special
meanings. For instance, there were four gods on the abdomen section of the coffin that
are supposed to protect the main organs of the mummy for the afterlife.
In the Europe exhibit, in the 15th and 16th century section, there was a painting
titled The Annunciation by Master of Apollo and Daphne, who is said to have created the
piece during the early 16th century from oil on panel. The painting represents the
Madonna receiving the message from Angel Gabriel that she is to bear the Christ-child,
and what initially stood out to me was the fact that Gabriels wings were painted multiple
colors, almost like a rainbow. In all the other depictions of the same scene that Ive seen,
Gabriel has white wings. After reading the description, I found the piece even more
interesting because the description pointed out all the symbolism in the piece. For
instance, there were white flowers and white draperies in multiple parts of the room that
represented Marys purity.
6) How did the artworks you looked at relate to material we have discussed in
class? {They do relate in many ways, you just need to look for those
relationships} Minimum of 150 words.
While looking at the pieces of art and reading the descriptions at the
museum, I was reminded of a discussion we had at the beginning of the semester about
context and art and whether or not it was important. I personally found that context
helped me appreciate the art a lot more. There were multiple instances where I saw a
painting that seemed kind of unremarkable to me, but after reading the description, I was
able to appreciate it a lot more. My favorite time this happened was when I was looking
at a portrait of a woman done in Europe in the 17th or 18th century. It seemed the same as
any other portrait, but in the description, I read about how the painting was said to have
been of a countess, but after many years of being displayed with that title, it was
discovered that the subject was actually a princess. I thought that was an interesting story.
There were also many times in the different exhibits that I could see the
importance of religion and ideology to the cultures of the artists who created the works.
This was especially apparent because many of the works I saw were created for some
kind of after-death purpose. The Egyptian coffin, a Roman sarcophagus, a Greek funeral
vase, among other pieces all had depictions that represented the cultures beliefs about
what happened after death.
7) What was your personal reaction to this experience? Would you enjoy
attending this type of event again? Why or why not? {Minimum 100 words}
I thoroughly enjoyed my experience at the Utah Museum of Fine Arts and I plan to go back
soon to finish looking at the exhibits I didnt have time for during this visit and to see future special
exhibits. Ive been to other history and dinosaur museums, but it had been a really long time since
Ive been to an art museum, and when I was younger it was hard to get anything out of the trip, but
this time was much different. I enjoyed it because I was able to appreciate not only the actual artistic
methods that I have been learning about in my art class this semester, but I also loved seeing how
different countries portray similar things, and what different people decide to focus on. Im really

glad that we were given this assignment, and I would love it if I had more assignments like this in
other classes, where I was able to get out there and think and explore on my own.
Remember that I want to see reflective thinking on your part. Show me
you are aware of your limitations, your biases, etc. Show me that you
are thinking about your own responses and why you respond the way
you do.