Wadsworth Antheneum (Hartford)

My first impression of this museum was complete awe. The outside of the building is completely historical looking. It definitely shouted museum, but not in a tacky way. My advise that I can offer, is to make sure you get a photo pass from the guards station (it is at the right and side when you first walk in) that way you don't have to walk all the way back like I did. I really enjoyed this museum and before I go into m findings I just want to take a moment to share with you some thing I enjoyed most about the museum. The Martin Luther King Legacy portion of the museum is definitely interesting and very moving. Unfortunately, you are not allowed to take pictures in this exhibit. There are many moving pieces and ones that are very painful to view, even if you are too young to have lived through that era (like myself.) There is one very vibrant painting of an African-American woman, but it is sort of like a collage of painted words to make her and I was extremely impressed by the amount of work and thought that had to go into this painting. I wish I could have taken a picture of this painting, but unfortunately I I can not. There are many moving pieces in this gallery, but that is just one of the many that touches my heart.

My adventure begins in the Huntington Gallery. There are many wonderful pieces in this first gallery, but the one that caught my attention first and just totally blew my mind. There is so much detail to this painting and there is just so much going on that I just can't imagine how anyone could do such a thing! It sets me back so much because I am not artistic at all!
This painting is described as Aesthetic Movement. This attitude, rather than style, of painting was used during the mid-late 1800s. It was used in America as well as England. This new 'attitude' painting brought about new inspiration to painters.

This portrait was done by an Englishman named William Holman Hunt. The title of this painting is The Lady of Shalott, 1866-1905. This painting is an oil on canvas, and even though the picture does no justice for it, it is amazingly breath taking. This painting was designed after a poem entitled the same, which was written by Alfred Lord Tennyson. The poem was based on King Arthur and the knights of the round table. Hunts interpretation of the poem was of moral warning. His painting is to describe the dangers of straying from duty and shows that the woman of Shalott is bound to her weave tapestries from mirror reflections. Out the window is Sir Lancelot. Once the mirror breaks, chaos and confusion take over and she is confined to her existence and her work now unravels.

Hunt is an artist of high moral purpose. The detailed amount of work only explains the portrait further. The real translation for the particular poem is young love in an imagination. Like I have stated before, the amount of time and all of the detail that went into this painting is absolutely phenomenal.

From the Huntington Gallery, I ventured further to the Morgan Great Hall. In this particular section of the museum there are many large wonderful paintings depicting the country's greatest battles of war with in itself. I chose the signing of the declaration because not only is it a great accomplishment that took place for our country, but one the signers, Lyman Hall, is the name of the high school I went to. We had a copy of the declaration hanging in our school, but I never took the time to read it. I believe that the Declaration of Independence is something we can all relate to.
The painting is by John Trumbull who is an American. The painting was created in 1832, which is quite some time after it was signed, which was 1776. He is well known for is eight paintings for the scenes of the American Revolution, which many are located in this particular hall. The original paintings can be found in Capital Building in DC. Trumbull went on to produce life like sizes in only four of the paintings and he was upset that he was not asked to complete the whole series, which Congress had asked for. It is stated on the plaques in the museum that Daniel Wadsworth purchased the five paintings and that they are displayed at the museum, but they don't seem life like. This could be my misinterpretation.

Continuing on with my high school 'themes', the next painting I came across was in the Faith and Fortune Gallery (I believe.) This is a painting of the Trojan Horse, our school mascot was the Trojans. The painter of this great masterpiece is Giovanni Domenico Tiepolo, who is a Venetian Italian. The painting was produced in 1773 and is an oil on canvas painting. Anyone who has taken Greek mythology knows the story of the Trojan Horse, and what a great plan that was. The story taking place in this painting was first told by Homer in the Odyssey. In the quest to conquer the city of Troy, the Greeks decided to end the differences with their enemies with this nifty trick. The men built this large wooden horse and then hid inside of it, and offered the horse as a gift to Troy. Once the gift as accepted and drug into the city, at night the soldiers came out and pillaged the city. This particular scene is the construction of the Trojan horse. This original piece is the only one surviving in a collection of three. It is believed that the paintings must have been created for a great palace. The three piece collection tells the story of the falling of Troy.

The next piece of work does not relate to my high school, at least not that I am aware of, lol. This piece like the first one takes my breath away. The amount of work, and detail in this painting is unbelievable. It is a painting that shows an art gallery with paintings covering the walls. Of course it is a flat canvas, but the artist is truly able to to create depth in this painting with the view down the hallway. This portrait is painted by Giovanni Paolo Panini who is a Roman Italian and was painted in 1749. The title of this painting is the Interior of a Picture Gallery with the Collection of Cardinal Silvio Valenti Gonzaga and is an oil on canvas.
The cardinal, who was originally from Mantua, lived in Rome and had a large collection of paintings. He is shown in the painting (almost like a Where's Waldo, just kidding) with an artist. They are inspecting a large copy of Raphael's Madonna of the Chair. This gallery is fictitious and does not depict the real paintings that the cardinal owned. The group on the left examines plans for the cardinals villa, which was built the same year as this painting. Records indicate that the cardinal owned nearly eight hundred pictures. Many that he owned were copies of famous works, but the others were original. When the cardinal passed away, some of the paintings were sent to the Torlonia collection and then to the Galleria Nazionale in Rome. Others went to auctions and can be found in galleries all over the world.

(Up close picture of paintings in the painting.)

I really enjoyed my trip to the Wadsworth Antheneum. It is my second museum visit (posts are not in order) and I enjoyed this museum a lot more than the Yale Art Gallery. Mostly because I don't care for contemporary art. I really encourage everyone to visit this museum as soon as they can and definitely take advantage of the Martin Luther King exhibit, because it is something worth seeing and is not going to be there forever.