Paper Example on Art Appreciation in Smithsonian American Art Museum

Introduction

The Smithsonian American Art Museum is the first national collection of art to be established in America which encompasses unparalleled inventory of the experience of the United States. This collection captures the imagination, character, and aspirations of American natives for three centuries. It houses artworks which demonstrate the fundamental characteristics of the cultural history and rich artistic of America which stretch from the colonial era up to date. Upon visiting the museum, viewers can observe different artworks which are strategically positioned in different sections depending on their distinct classification. Among the artworks, the most exceptional and remarkable that may catch the audience attention are the Madonna and Child, The Braceros, and The Westward the Course of Empire Takes Its Way.

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The Braceros is a painting artwork made by Domingo Ulloa in 1960. It is a painting on oil on Masonite as the main medium. The Braceros is a striking painting whose subjects are Mestizo employees standing outside their living section belonging to a big farm (Van der Linden & Garcia, 2016). When looked carefully, these workers portray individual faces which are filled with sadness. This is revealed by few eyes of those workers who have not hidden their eyes from the crowd or hats. Those standing in the front line are peering via a fence with barbed wire. All the workers are wearing hats and uniform shirts except the first two individuals on the front line (Snodgrass, 2011). This artwork was drawn during the Second World War when the artist Ulloa had returned to Los Angeles after serving in the United State Army. The painting stresses on the hard-edge abstraction and figurative expression which were among the city's trending art scene. The curved lines in the faces of the Mestizo workers demonstrate the artist's utilization of line. The line is the basis of every art which is a mark that is drawn on a surface. It can be employed to demonstrate a particular meaning such as emotions, movement, distance, and shape among others. In this painting, Ulloa draws curved lines on faces of the workers to reveal the emotions of sadness and dissatisfactions among his subjects. Additionally, the Mestizo workers' shirts depicted in the Braceros portrays the Ulloa use of color. Color is defined as a component utilized in creating an atmosphere or mood in an artwork. The beige and ivory color of workers' shirts and faces signifies their unification. The ivory color denotes to workers quietness while the beige signifies their unitedness and simplicity. The position of the workers near the fence demonstrates Ulloa's use of space as a formal element. Glatstein, J. (2016), defines shape as the section around and between objects. He decreases the space near the audience and his subjects to express the complicity of the view with the racial and class boundaries created by the picture plane and fence, studio art, and labor policy

The Madonna and Child is an artwork drawn by Peter Paul Rubens accomplished in 1615-1618 (Woollett & Van Suchtelen, 2006). It is a painting whose main medium is oil on the wood. When a viewer looks at this artwork, the first thing he will see is a child named Jesus standing on her mother's knees, the Virgin Mary, who is seated on a raised platform. In this sight, Virgin Mary moderately touches the foot of the child using her right hand while balancing the baby Jesus using the left hand while at the same time assisting the child to make a step. The child has bold hair with no clothes. Conversely, the Virgin Mary also has blond hair with an elegant dress with maroon, brown, and black details. The Madonna and Child painting were completed during the Italian Renaissance, an era that started in the fourteenth century and ended in the seventeenth century. This movement was stirred by the new concept of humanism which is characterized in Madonna and Child who reveal real-life individuals instead of idealized and stereotyped figures. This is because the concentration in this artwork is more on the humanity of Jesus Christ rather than on his divinity. Mary face and the Child's body are bright which reveals the artist use of color. Color is described as the perceptual and visual characteristics of an artwork and its depth, strength, and intensity which conveys the feel and purpose of the painting (Glatstein, 2016). Rubens uses a bright color on their faces to reflect happiness. The figure of the child also reveals the artist's utilization of form. Form denotes to the three-dimensional shape of a subject on an artwork. In the painting, the posture of the child and the way Mary holds him from the back emphasizes the three-dimension form.

The Westward the Course of Empire Takes Its Way (mural study, U.S. Capitol) is a painting made by Emanuel Gottlieb Leutze in 1861. It takes the medium of oil on canvas which is placed in the East Wing second floor of the Smithsonian American Art Museum. When one looks at the painting, one sees a cluster of travelers who are on a journey while catching the initial glimpse of their promised destination. Additionally, there are a group of frontiersmen who are leading the migrants while clearing their road to their destination. One can also see the journey's hardships which are stressed by a burial scene which is at the central summit base with some people injured (Sage, 2008). One can also tell there is a woman with a child who appears to be consoled by her husband who in turn is pointing to their final destination. The painting was made during the Civil War when Washington was celebrating the concept of Manifest Destiny, the period which endangered the republic. This is characterized by the surging crowd who are carrying firearms and riding on horses used during the Civil War as they settle at the edge of Pacific Ocean. The sunset illustrated in the painting reveals the Leutze's utilizing of color. Glatstein (2016), defines color as that which defines and differentiates space, form, shapes, and lines. The yellow color of the setting sun which is illuminating and uplifting is used to symbolize the confidence and success associated with these travelers as they approach their destination of the Promised Land. The sky, mountains, islands, and the ocean in the painting demonstrate Leutze's use of shape. The combination of these features gives the painting an organic shape.

Conclusion

When Madonna and Child, The Braceros, and The Westward the Course of Empire Takes Its Way artworks are observed by a viewer from a distance, their subjects are clearly observed. When one takes time on each artwork to study and analyzed it carefully, one can discover that although they are all classified as painting, they take different mediums. Additionally, it has also been discovered that they were drawn and completed by various artists, in different movements, styles, and eras. The artists have also used various formal elements such as color which has been discovered to convey different messages, for instance, happiness and unification. Therefore, to understand the meaning of various artworks on view in Smithsonian American Art Museum, an audience should take time to understand their history and analyze the artworks carefully using different formal elements.

References

Glatstein, J. (2016). Formal visual analysis: The elements & principles of composition. The Kennedy.

Sage, D. (2008). Framing space: A popular geopolitics of American manifest destiny in outer space. Geopolitics, 13(1), 27-53.

Snodgrass, M. (2011). Patronage and progress: The bracero program from the perspective of Mexico. Workers across the Americas: The transnational turn in labor history, 245-266.

Van der Linden, M. M., & Garcia, M. R. (2016). On Coerced Labor: Work and Compulsion After Chattel Slavery. Brill.

Woollett, A. T., & van Suchtelen, A. (Eds.). (2006). Rubens & Brueghel: a working friendship. Getty Publications.