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Running head: Gallery Visit and Display Critique
Museum Analysis: Gallery Visit and Display Critique
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The Moon Animal at Krannert Art Museum (KAM)
The goal of this visit was to identify a piece of art on display at the museum and critique its context in the exhibition space. The museum is a 48000 square feet of space building designed after the work of Ludwig Mies van der Rohe. The museum, although part of the University of Illinois College of Fine and Applied Arts, is open to the public. The museum has on display a collection of art from various periods in art from all over the world. These items vary from ancient Egypt to photography and film in the contemporary world. The museum compromises of nine galleries in total, including; the collection study area, bow gallery, Rosann Gelvin Noel Gallery, ancient Mediterranean gallery, Moore gallery of decorative arts, Encounters: The arts of Africa, trees gallery, ancient Andean arts gallery, and the KAM response wall.
My art piece of choice was the ‘Moon Animal’. This is a painting done by William Baziotes in the year 1950. This is an oil on canvas painting that was acquired by the Krannert Art Museum in the year 2019 from the Festival of Arts purchase Fund. This iconic painting is a part of the ‘Art Since 1948’ collection. The Art Since 1948 collection is in display at the Rosann Gelvin Noel Gallery in the main level of the Museum. The University of Illinois started making the ‘Art Since 1948’ collection in the year 1948. This predates even the museum itself as the museum was opened in the year 1961. ‘Art Since 1948’ is made up of sculptures, paintings, photography works and works on paper. The Krannert arts Museum owns most whereas the others are on loan from other places. This gallery is very easy to access as it’s in the main level of the museum. In case one is in a wheelchair, the gallery and the whole museum at large are accessible as the Kinkead Pavilion entrance of the museum located on Sixth Street has a ramp and automated doors. On top of that, inside the Bow Gallery, a spare wheelchair is available in case of additional assistance. Seated walkers are also available for guests upon request. The painting is related to other items in the gallery space through their themes, as all items in the gallery vary in media. There is also a chronological arrangement followed in this gallery. The Moon animal, as stated earlier, is a two-dimensional canvas oil painting. The painting measures 42 x 361/8 and thus does not occupy much space on the wall it is displayed on. On this same wall is the explanation of the ‘Art Since 1948’ collection that is right before this iconic painting. This narration gives details on the selection available in this gallery. There are several other art pieces such as photos and painting also in display. The painting is therefore not displayed as an individual section but as a subsection of the more extensive collection. However, the moon animal is the most dominant piece of art on display on this wall. This is not only due to it being the most significant item on this wall but also due to its colors. There are several items mounted close to this painting. These include; two post-war photographs taken after the end of World War II and an oil on canvas painting called the Porch done by Phillip Guston in 1947. The Arthur Osver painting done in the year 1947 named ‘chimneys and buildings is also placed nearby. We can clearly see that these items were placed next to each other due to their chronological order. The general arrangement of items on display in the whole museum is elegant and stylish. All the pieces on display are well organized with equal spacing between them. Krannert art Museum being quite large, allows for this. The Museum is usually visited by over 130,000 people every year and the human traffic at any given time can be quite high. However, the vast size of the museum prevents congestion.The frame on the painting appears to be relatively newer than the painting. It is thick and also broad. The piece sits perfectly in the frame and one would even say it’s the original frame. The gallery is homogenously lit but the painting also has a focused spotlight hanging from the ceiling. There are no windows nearby and the lighting is thus not interfered with. The spotlight effectively emphasizes the painting. The Gelvin Noel Gallery is very peaceful and quiet. There exist no music, background noise, or videos and recordings on this or other paintings in the wall where they hung. This allows one to internalize and examine the art pieces in peace. The Rosann Gelvin Noel Gallery has several walls within it where the paintings are hung. These walls divide the collection into themes. The area the moon animal is displayed appears to be like a hallway since it is between two walls. The walls are painted white and thus blend well with the painting. Right next to the painting is a plaque giving a description of the painting. This contains a brief history of the painting that gives one very informative knowledge of the painting.
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Class essay - WRT 201 0204
WRT 201 0204
March 20, 2021
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Sibling Relationship in Catcher In the Rye
Humans are social creatures who build connections with others and thrive as companionship increases. Catcher in the Rye, a novel by J.D. Salinger, describes two days in the life of 16-year-old Holden Caulfield, who experiences much frustration in his inability to form long-lasting connections. Holden Caulfield has major problems and Salinger creatively infused his work with varying themes. This novel is sophisticatedly written in a manner that allows us to see all the themes clearly. Throughout the novel Catcher In the Rye, there is a sense of delaying adulthood, Holden's inability to stay in focus in education, the inability to form relationships or stay in the same place all seem to tie to the idea of avoiding adult notions, such as responsibility. It also shows Holden’s struggle against growing up. Holden's enemy is the adult world and the cruelty and artificiality that it entails. Holden’s story is full of failed attempts such as lack of communications, messages never delivered, uncompleted phone calls and more (Sandock). The people he admires all represent or protect innocence. With all of these situations, Holden's siblings Phoebe, D.B., and Allie play key roles in developing our perceptions of the books themes. Each character gives a different sense of personality. Holden’s differing relationships with his siblings not only influence him but also gives him different attitudes throughout the story. The relationship between Holden and his little sister Phoebe is probably the most significant in the book. Phoebe is Holden's favorite person who can truly communicate with. Phoebe's perspective is amusing and refreshing, and she is also emotional and affectionate. She is ten years old, skinny, and has reddish hair similar to her deceased brother, Allie. Holden elaborates on the positive personality traits of his younger sister by mentioning that she is extremely intelligent and funny. Interestingly, Holden says, “I mean if you tell old Phoebe something, she knows exactly what the hell you're talking about” (Salinger, 37). Phoebe's ability to understand and connect with Holden is what he cherishes the most. Throughout the novel, Holden's immaturity and cynicism prevent him from developing authentic relationships with people his own age. Unlike the "phony" adults, Phoebe is genuine and innocent. In another saying, Phoebe is a representation of innocence in Holden's mind and the one person he loves unconditionally (Tolchin). Their relationship is different than others. It seems like Holden looks up the Phoebe in a way, even though he is the older sibling. Holden's affinity for Phoebe and Allie reflect his love for children and childhood in general. Holden feels like Phoebe can truly understand him, and he sees his younger sister as a genuine, compassionate person.The fact that Holden relates to Phoebe the most also reveals his immaturity. As an adolescent suffering from anxiety, Holden fears entering the world of adults and feels more comfortable around his younger sister. Phoebe represents to Holden the pure and ideal. However, Phoebe’s character is described from the standpoint of Holden, who is biased, unreliable narrator (Takeuchi). He chooses to view her in this way. However, Phoebe plays a larger role than just this. Phoebe is independent, straightforward, and a catalyst for Holden. She does not share his disenchantment with the world and scolds him for not liking anything. For2example, when she asks him if there is anything that he likes a lot, Holden struggles to answer. She calls her brother out on his depressive tendencies and glum outlook, and she pushes him to recognize his inability to answer her clearly. Although Holden cannot come up with a positive idea right away, he does eventually say he likes his younger brother, Allie. Phoebe angrily reminds him that their brother is dead. Phoebe is still only 10 years old and it is hard to expect her to understand Holden’s life. When he bares his soul to tell her of his dream of being "The Catcher in the Rye," she is quiet for a long time but then simply states, in reference to his expulsion, as he says in the book "Daddy's going to kill you," illustrating that despite their great friendship and connection. Although they both have totally different personalities, their relationship is so deep and strong.Allie, Holden's younger brother, died of leukemia when he was just eleven years old. Holden was thirteen at the time, and had to be hospitalized for breaking his hand while destroying every window in the garage. Allie's death causes Holden's descent into depression, where he hits rock bottom during the three days this novel takes place. Although Allie has been dead for about three years, he is a mystic presence in the book. Holden thinks of him often and speaks to him when things are darkest in his life. Allie is associated with the theme of death, but his role is not that simple. He also represents hope and the gifted innocence of childhood, which is tenuous and sometimes short-lived. Holden clearly loves his brother. Only two years apart in age, they were close friends. Holden, distraught over the loss of his brother, broke his hand punching the windows out of the garage of their summer home. Holden missed Allie's funeral because he was in the hospital, apparently for a psychiatric evaluation as well as for attention to his hand. It has thrown him into a deep depression (French). Holden reacts to Allie's death in a3way that alarms his parents about his mental health: “I was only thirteen, and they were going to have me psychoanalyzed and all, because I broke all the windows in the garage... It was a very stupid thing to do, I'll admit, but I hardly didn't even know I was doing it, and you didn't know Allie” (Salinger 21). Even when Holden gets depressed about events that, on the surface, aren't directly about Allie, the state of being depressed leads him to think about his dead brother. This suggests the root of all his depression is Allie's death and the survivor's guilt he feels over it.One of the first relationships that is mentioned in the story is Holden’s relationship with D.B., his brother. Throughout his childhood, it is obvious that Holden has idolized his older brother. Now that D.B. is a writer for Hollywood, Holden considers him a phony, and accuses him of prostituting himself by agreeing to work for the film industry. D.B.’s just one more phony in a world full of phonies. What really matters about D.B. is that he was in the war and was apparently quite traumatized by the whole thing. For Holden, Hollywood epitomizes everything he hates. It stands for all that's phony, fake, and insincere. He positively loathes the movies, and he isn't in the slightest bit impressed at his brother's becoming a screenwriter. More significantly, Holden wants to live life on his own terms, however difficult that is. His brother, like every adult he's ever come across, doesn't do that. He simply goes with the flow, acting the way that people expect him to, working for someone else, and doing their bidding. In other words, D.B. is no longer an individual in Holden's eyes, and Holden can't respect him for it. Because D.B.’s different life style doesn't fit with Holden's point of view, Holden doesn’t feel that D.B. understands him well. Thus, their relationship becomes toxic in a way that Holden reflects the reader through the novel.4Throughout J. D. Salinger's The Catcher in the Rye, it is a book about Holden Caulfield's crises and interactions with society (Dhasti). The way he talks about, or to each, gives the reader some idea of whether he thinks they are "phony" or normal. A few of his accounts make it more obvious than others to discover how he classifies each family member. From the very first page of the novel, Holden begins to refer to his parents as distant and generalizes both his father and mother frequently throughout his chronicle. One example is: "...my parents would have about two hemorrhages apiece if I told anything personal about them. They're quite touchy about anything like that, especially my father. They're nice and all - I'm not saying that - but they're also touchy as hell" (Salinger 1). Each relationship among siblings are different and special. He describes his relationship with his siblings in very different ways and expressions. For Phoebe, Holden describes her by saying “She was somebody you always felt like talking to on the phone.” For D.B. and Allie, Holden describes him by saying “My brother D.B. is the writer and all, and my brother Allie, the one that died, that I told you about, was a wizard.” He says that he is the stupid one of the four. Holden compares himself, it seems, in a negative way to his brothers and sister until the end of the novel. Each relationship embodies various attitude and approaches of Holden.
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