Simply Beautiful: What my brain sounds like at an art museum

In order to knock off a lot of pictures from my travel posts I've decided to talk about the art museums that I went to separately. Because I am obsessed with going to museums and art history and the like. So watch out- here come a million paintings, none by me, and what I think about them.
And although one of the things I get most excited about in museums is when I see famous artworks that I've learned about in classes- this is mostly going to be focused on a million new things I saw.
And we're starting at the North Carolina Art Museum
And it's the longest post ever- so feel free to just skim through and look at the pictures.

Guess what medium this is. Photography? Wrong. Oil on canvas. Wowsa. The guy's got the most talent with details that I've ever seen.

Ben Burns- Swamp Mallows

There is something to be said of giant art- it takes over and creates a theme and a feeling for a room. Although this is a bunch of sticks put together- it feels so classy. I mean. Can't you tell by the business men standing around it?

This may have been one of my favorites. It's a collage of a bunch of things taken out of trash cans- like liquor bottle caps and gum wrappers. And they are all linked together as a sort of- even though we all live different lives, there are stories of people's whole lives that these pieces of junk have been a little part of. And then he links them all together. And it's huge.

El Anatsui- Lines that Link Humanity

As I was reading descriptions of paintings and artists statements, a lot of them were influenced by this guy- and then I found one of his works and I can see why. Holy color and movement and just beauty through simplicity.

Gerhard Richter- Station

Movement through the lines of a body- says it all. How could you ever expect this girl to be anything but a passionate dancer who shows emotion and art in one simple pose? You can't.

Alexamdar Archipenko- Blue Dancer

This painting I saw and my immediate thought was that if I was rich- I'd pay some serious money to have this in my house. The color- and such an elegant detailed gorgeous room with paint splotched on top of it as if to say- look! we the colors weren't always so intricate! We used to be simple- but look what we can do. Wow- I'm cheesy when it comes to art, but it really is something I just will go on for hours about if given the chance. So feel free to skip my personal descriptions if you're just here to enjoy the pictures.

Page H. Laughlin- Untitled (Mirror, Mirror)

Definitely a statement about society and women getting sucked into and molded into a life of trying to please others through physical appearance. "Why am I doing this?"

Alison Saar- Tippy Toes

Hi. This is made of spools of thread. That's all.

Devorah Sperber- After the Mona Lisa 2

Really powerful piece. My favorite of all his sculptures for sure. Caryatids are columns in the shape of women- in case you didn't know and were confused by his title. This one stuck me as the heartbreaking story of being crushed by expectations and no longer being able to pretend to be strong. It's like, even columns made of stone can't keep it together all the time, so it's okay if we humans must break down occasionally.

Auguste Rodin- Fallen Caryatid with a Stone

There just is something about religious painters who can capture emotion that they've only read about and imagined. To capture the emotion of a mother looking lovingly at her innocent and clueless little baby as she ponders his fate and enormous destiny to save the world, to be crucified, but in this moment he is still her little child.

Guido Reni- Madonna and Child

I was speechless by the beauty. And yet, his face and pose are so peaceful and calm, like he's just sleeping, he'll be right back.

Giuseppe Mazzuoli- Deposed Christ

Okay. Now welcome to the Art Institute of Chicago.

Few can match the emotion I felt when I saw Turner's Slave Ship in person. That longing to stand in front of a picture and cry and stare and feel until the museum people kick you out.
Well, I'm surprised to say that Rothko entered that level. Before seeing it in person I wasn't a fan of the simple color blocks. I mean really. But I still had the respect for him that I held for all expressionists just because I knew the time period it came out of. For those of you who don't- right after World War II...artists were sick of all the gore and reality and gruesome violence they were living in- instead they wanted to show beauty, but this could not be shown through anything happening in the world, so they went back to the basics of color and shape to show emotion. Rothko describes his style by saying something along the lines of- it's not meant to be looked at and and commented about the beautiful colors he uses, it's to be looked at and wept over. If you do not feel emotion while looking at it- you do not understand. But really you can never feel the emotion until you are standing right in front of it. No picture does justice.

Mark Rothko

And same goes for Polluck- except he has this added element of energy. It's like you can feel his energy of when he was flinging paint and color around. And it's so huge that it fills your whole field of vision and lets you escape the world into it's color and energy.

Jackson Polluck

Interesting and well done-probably inspired by Picasso. It's like you get to see her multiple personalities at once and you get to see her from different angles all at once.

Jean Metzinger- Woman with a Fan

Not usually a fan of his- but I saw this guy studying and painting it and I wanted to see what he saw in it. And it was actually pretty interesting. And then I turned around and saw him watching me- as if to gage different people's reactions to his favorite painting. I like artsy people.

Franz Marc- The Bewitched Mill

Gigantic painting that I don't understand but still fall in love with.

Francis Picabia- Edtaonisl (Ecclesiastic)

She is my favorite artsy person that I saw. I wouldn't mind one bit if I grew up to be her.

Usually not a fan of the Monets...but this one was cool. Because I am a fan of his gardens and I am a fan of painterly art and I do think he's a classic that made art discoveries that changed art, and I do love vague details making up a realistic looking whole

Claude Monet

And there's something exciting about walking into a room full of Monet's studies.

Speaking of little details creating an amazing whole...I thought this would be cool. But then it was cooler.

George Seurat- Sunday in the Park

And one more painting of Monet's that I decided I liked.

Claude Monet- Cliff Walk at Pourville

Wow- the ability to make their faces so soft and blurry and their hats looks so clear and bright and colorful. Two completely different textures.

Didn't catch the artist or name- but this is a blind flower girl right before the volcano that will destroy her whole city of Pompeii. She has no idea.

And then they had a whole Lichtenstein exhibit- which I loved. I like how he takes modern day objects and magnifies them and glorifies them to the level of art as if to say that every little thing has an element of art in it.