Michael C. Carlos

This was my best museum visit to date. Everything was beautiful. From th emoment I was able to view the structure to the exhibits inside. The High museum is very modern, but plain. It has very high ceilings as it is four stories high. The wadsworth is very old, but classy. The exhibits were not as valuable, but it was a memorable experience. The Michael C. Carlos museum is a totally different experience. I really feel like I learned alot about the art world. Michael C. Carlos Museum of Emory University is a beautiful museum. The architecture itself is very pleasing to the eye. The building that is it housed in was designed by the world renowned artist Michael Graves. Not knowing who Michael Graves was I had to do a little research. Michael Graves is a famous American architect that has designed beautiful structures throughout the United States. In addition he has a household product line that is sold out of Target. The Michael C. Carlos is listed as one of his famous structures. Michael C. Carlos is an Atlanta philanthropist. He donated an estimated twenty million dollars to the museum that bears his name.When you look at the structure you can see the connection that it has throughout history. The exterior has a strong African motif. If you stand in front of the museum you can see pyramid shapes on each side. When walking through entrance you are again reminded Asia. They have the flair of a Bali House or a pavilion in Asia. Everything is asymmetric. The stone is different shades of tan. There are perfectly square windows on the lower level and rectangular windows on the upper level. I guess that is enough about the exterior I will move on to the exhibit. The Michael C. Carlos museum offers collections in ancient Egyptian and Nubian art, Ancient near art, Art of ancient Americas, Asian art, Greek and Roman art, Sub-Saharan African and works of art on paper. Additionally, they have special art exhibits, lectures and receptions throughout the year. Upon entering the building you have the option of utilizing an MP3 player to listen to experts talk about the exhibitions.There was so much to choose from, I decided to start my journey in the art of ancient Americas.

I was captivated by the wood work. It wasn’t what I expected. My first stop was the Rosales Zoned graved female effigy. Period IV, 300 B.C-A.D. The effigy is ceramic, but you have to look really close. At first glance, I thought it was made of wood. The statue is brown and black, it is very hard to tell that it is a female. The statue is on her knees. The face is stern. The facial features are very harsh. The nose and mouth are large is size. In all honesty the only way to tell that this is a female is the fact they she has breasts and a necklace painted around her neck. This artwork is known as the Guanacaste-Nicoya style. The documentation indicates that some of the black spots used to be red, but changed due to oxygenation.

The next statue is the Paccha en Quecha. This is an odd looking clay statue that was used to assist with farming and potting plants. It has a long brown point with a hook attached near the middle. It looks as if they are held together by some type of foil. On top of the hook is a small object that looks like flower pot. The flower pot is tan with a design going up the side and around the neck where the opening is. The pattern is multi colored. Attached to the pot is an ear of corn. In all honesty I had to read the documentation to determine exactly what that piece was. This hook was used to during the corn season.

A little ways down the hall I spotted a pair of Earspools as known as earrings. They are absolutely beautiful and don’t look as if they belong with the other items in the collection. They are very large in size and possible very heavy. The design in the earrings is very detailed. The earrings are gold. The background is water, a boat with sails. There are two birds at the very top. They are facing each other with there beaks facing downward. You can make out the people in the water. There are clearly diving for something of importance. There are shells that are lying around the bottom, they resemble flowers. There a little bumps that outline the earrings. This is clearly an important event. The earrings that signify the importance are just phenomenal. These earrings are priceless. I am certain of that.I didn’t plan on looking at the Ancient Egyptian Art, but a couple was discussing a coffin being part of the exhibit. Based on the conversation, I couldn’t resist. Honestly, I was a little nervous. I didn’t know what to expect. I cannot put the Coffin of Lady Tahat into words that will do it justice. The Coffin actually resembles a lady. The details are right in line with what you hear about Africans. She has a narrow face with wide eyes. She has a lot of hair. There are designs that resemble kente cloth in her hair. The top design reminds you of a crown. It has a star in the middle with more of the kente cloth design going around her head. She has on earrings that are too big for her narrow face. The earrings have the same design as that on top of her head. Her neck is long and thin and her hair hangs perfectly around it. Her body has distinct symbols and figures throughout. It appears that she has an important symbol in the middle of her chest. The outline looks like a bird with his wings spread wide. Her arms are folded across the lower part of her stomach. It almost seems out of proportion. Her fingers are detailed as they lay flat. The Coffin is very big, but the woman was very petite based on her face and hands. This Coffin is a must see. Every inch of the coffin is pained with some type of design of scenery. Even though I know this coffin is hundreds of years in age it looks like it was recently built. It is hard to describe without pictures. This is a great family outing, if you are ever in the Atlanta area.

Tubman African American Museum

The Tubman African Art Museum is located in Macon, GA. I stumbled upon this museum when I went to Macon to visit one of my clients, Technicon Engineering. The vision for the museum was created by, Father Richard Keil, pastor of the Saint Peter Claver Catholic Church. He purchased a vacant warehouse with the hopes of building a museum that was dedicated the African American history and culture. Together the church members along with high school faculty and students and other supporters they were able to open their doors as the Harriet Tubman Center for Spiritual and Cultural Awareness in 1985. The center was named in honor of the late Harriet Tubman who was known for helping to free slaves during the Civil war by utilizing the Underground Railroad system. The center has grown tremendously over the years. Through its expansion they have also changed the name to “Tubman African American Museum to better reflect the organization’s mission to educate people about African American art, history and culture.” “http://www.tubmanmuseum.com/geninfo/history.htm. The Tubman center has a strong focus on teaching. They have after school programs, workshops and outreach programs. The Center truly appears to be living up to its name. The history is unbelievable.
What is most impressive is the fact they display exhibitions for the world renown as local talent.

Their current exhibit is called Folk Art. The exhibit displays artwork that is created by individuals that do not have a formal art education. All of the artists are African American and the southeast part of the country. You would not believe what they see as art and use to create their designs, sculptures or paintings. I am looking at artwork made from tree trunks and branches, aluminum pieces, wall paper and other every day items that they used to express themselves.

The piece that I found most enlightening is by an artists name Jeffery Daniels; the sculpture is called “Vision”. I am not sure what to make of the sculpture. The center of the sculpture is a tree trunk. The trunk is flanked by a yellow light bulb, a crushed can, several toothpicks and some small purple things. Not exactly sure that they are. I know this doesn’t sound attractive, but based on the name it is truly a vision. When you look at the sculpture it reminds you of a colorful summer day. It is a very playful piece that is full of life.

I am glad that I stopped to view their current exhibition. They current quarters are very cramped so they don’t have many exhibits on display. Their workshops and art classes are held offsite, but the good news is that they have a 49,000 square foot building in process. I checked it out on their website and the building is fantastic. I will make it a point to come back and visit the new location. Unfortunately, i don't have any pictures as this was an impropmtu visit, however, i strongly encourage you to visit their website at http://www.tubmanmuseum.com/newbuilding/

High Museum Louvre Atlanta: Kings as Collectors

The High Museum was founded in 1905 as the Atlanta art association. It is considered to be the premiere museum in the southeast corridor. Their first permanent home was donated by Mrs. Joseph M. High, hence the name High Museum. This museum has evolved tremendously over the years. In 1955 the museum moved to a brick house. Several years later they formed the Arts Alliance Memorial after 122 patrons were killed in a plane crash. In the early 1980’s Coca Cola and Robert W. Woodruff offered 7Million dollars to expand the museum. In 1983 the structure was complete. Richard Meier was the designer. Due to unprecedented growth the museum required yet another expansion, which is where we are today. The new High Museum opened its doors in November of 2005. The exterior of the building is absolutely beautiful. The complex is made up of three separate buildings. The main building is four stories high and has a different exhibit
On each floor. The interior is very plain. The walls are high and white. All the color resides in the artwork that is displayed throughout. The last time I visited this museum I went to see the European Art Collection between 14th and 19th century. This visit I came to see the Louvre Atlanta: Kings as Collectors. This exhibit is housed in a smaller building that is adjacent to the main building. This exhibit will be displayed though September 2, 2007.

The Louvre exhibit will showcase works of art from the French royal collection. Various pieces of this collection will be displayed over the next three years. The first exhibit will display more than 30 pieces of artwork that were assembled during King’s Louis XIV and Louis XVI. As I walked through the exhibit I was fascinated by the “Et in Arcadia”, by Nicolas Poussin’s. I must say that the painting did not disappoint me. As I was walking in everyone was focused on this painting. Nicolas Poussin was a French painter, in the French baroque style. “His work features clarity, logic, order and favors line over color.” This them holds true in “Et in Arcadia”. This picture is very concise. There are four Shepherd’s perched around a tomb. They have a biblical sense of mortality. The detail in this picture is unbelievable. You can make out distinct features in each Shepherd. The clothing is very specific to the time. Three of the Shepherd’s are bare foot. One is wearing blue sandals. The scenery surrounding the men is also very detailed. Every aspect of this painting exhibits logic. You can clearly understand exactly what is going. No need to guess. The dirt, mountains, clouds in the sky and trees make everything come to life. The tombstone looks aged. I asked myself is the tombstone out of place? Everything else looks so peaceful, yet the tombstone is a major part of the painting. You can see the wear and tear to in the tomb. The setting is serene. The writing on the tomb is a Latin phrase that translates to “Even in Arcadia, there I am”. Baroque that was primarily associated with the religious tensions within Western Christianity: division on Roman Catholicism and Protestantism. Baroque that was developed mainly in Flemish countries emphasis realism of everyday life. It has been seen in works of Rembrandt and Vermeer. "http://www.huntfor.com/arthistory/c17th-mid19th/baroque.htm"

This painting is truly the focal point of the exhibit. The artwork is reminiscent of the era in which it was drawn. While you can infer quite a few things about this picture. The artist is very thoughtful and logical is the message that he is trying to portray.

Genevieve A Genevieve Arnold Retrospective

I visited the Museum of Contemporary Art of Georgia (MOCA, GA) . They are currently showing an exhibit on the late artist Genevieve Arnold. Genevieve was well known for being a contemporary artist whose work consisted of romantic visions, intended to trigger a sense of nostalgia.

Please take a look at my report and let me know what you think.


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A Genevieve Arnold Retrospective MOCA, GA

The Museum of Contemporary Art of Georgia (MOCA, ga) is located on Peachtree Street in Atlanta GA. The building is made of light gray stucco. Very contemporary in nature; high vaulted ceilings, while walls and gray stone floors. I found it very interesting that there are other companies that are housed in the same building. I guess financially that is a big help. MOCA, ga is the first of its kind to feature the work of artists from Georgia. They feature exhibits of artists that were born and raised here as well as artists that completed most of their work in the great state of Georgia. The contemporary style of this museum is not very welcoming. The ambience is sterile. Nothing inviting except the artwork that hangs on the wall.

The featured artist today is Genevieve Arnold. The name of her exhibit is “A Genevieve Arnold Retrospective” Genevieve Arnold was a highly respected artist, curator and arts administrator. She dedicated her talents to contemporary arts and an avid supporter of other artists that resided in Georgia. She was born and raised in Covington, GA 1928 and died in Atlanta, GA 2005, she received her BFA from the Atlanta College of Art in 1951 and continued to further her education by taking classes at Emory University and Georgia State University. The exhibit spans her 50 year career.

Landscape, oil on canvas painting, which is part of the Collection of John Howard and Company, Atlanta, GA is an asymmetric painting that appears to run off the canvas. The painting is very bright. When I take a step a back I am reminded a sunset, with rainbow caused by the leftover rain. In this painting she uses various shades of orange, purple, gray, green, pink, yellow, black maroon and light blue. It also appears to be textured. I cannot be sure but it looks as if she may have glued canvas on top of canvas to give the painting a textured look. It also looks as if she made erase marks as she was working through the details to get to the final result. The picture is divided in sections. The left side begins with a bright orange color that fades as it goes downward. Then she introduces several shades of purple and finally green. Throughout the section there are straight lines that appear to highlight the changing of the colors. The main section of the painting is primarily green with faint hints of pink, yellow, blue and purple. Again, lines are drawn to separate the changes in color. The last section is re-introduces the oranges and purples. You can see a shapes in the background a circle and a rectangle at the very bottom. There is no beginning or ending to this painting. The painting is very inviting. You are forced to do a double take to make sure that you don’t miss anything that this painting has to offer.

Many of her paintings were bland in nature. A lot of brush strokes, but nothing that jumps out and grabs you. A perfect example of thisis the Miletus: Thales, Anaximenes, Anaximander. It was drawn on Mixed media canvas. It looks like swirls of paint. No particiular design. If you looks closely it looks like an animal in the background It consists of brown, grays and white paint. This was indicative of her style. Genevieve's designs were 100% authenticate based on her mood at the time. I thoroughly enjoyed The Landscape painting. It gives you a sense that the artist was very thoughtful. She out a lot of time and effort into her work and recognized that no one was perfect.

Wadsworth Atheneum

I visited the Wadsworth Atheneum Museum this morning. They had 3 exhibits on display and I chose to visit the Soul Food African American Cooking and Creative exhibit. Not sure what to expect I was pleasantly surprised.

The first picture is called the Cakewalk. The picture was drawn during 1850’s. The artist is unidentified. The portrait is of two enslave couples doing a dance called the cakewalk. The photo is very detailed in color. It captures the essence of what slaves used to wear. The woman on the left side is wearing a rose colored dress with black shoes. She is bent over in the heat of the dance. The gentlemen dancing next to her is has his eyes focused on her. He is wearing a long tan coat with brown pants that don’t quite reach his ankles. Hi shoes are weathered, but he appears to be enjoying the dance. The lady next to him is in full swing. She is looking down as she moves to the beat. She is wearing a long blue dress that is hiked up to her knee. The gentlemen on the right is wearing a full suit. He has his hat in one hand and a cane in the other. The cakewalk became so popular that some plantation owners would award the best dancers. They would get dressed in their best, hats, suits and canes to perform the dance. The winners would receive hoecake or molasses candy.

The next photo is the advertisement for the sale of slaves. It is called Cotton and Rice Negroes. It is a bill of sale that describes each slave. It provides the name, age and occupation. It also explains the sale process. You pay a partial amount now and the balance by a bond bearing interest. It looks like it is printed on some sort of rice paper. Louis De Saussure was a scientist who owned several plantations in Beaufort South Carolina. He kept detailed records of the slaves that he purchased and sold.


The next display are African spoons. Theses are spoons from the early 1900’s but are still
In used today. They are wooden spoons. One has a twisted wooden handle with darker colored wood as the trim. The middle spoon has a single handle with a dark wooden trim.
The last spoon is much thinner than the first two but bears the same resemblance. The spoons were created in America, but closely resemble what was used in Africa


The next picture is titled Golly don’t I like chicken. It was drawn in 1909 by WH Grant. This picture is of a young that has a wide grin that expresses his love of chicken. He has a dark complexion with curly hair and a mouth full of teeth. This is a stereotype of the love that African American’s have for chicken.


The next picture is of paper bags that have a picture of different black people. The display is an example of how Black people used to pass in order to get ahead after slavery abolished. Paper bag is often a noun used to describe the color of African American. I took two different pictures of the display so that you can see how people had to change their identity in order to fit into a society that didn’t welcome them.


The last picture is a classic. It is a quilt that contains pictures of family members at dinner time. You will see mother’s father’s grandmother’s grandfather’s aunt’s uncles, brother and sisters. Dinner time in the Black community is the most important meal of the day. Not only was a formal meal prepared, it was a time to hand down stories from past generations. They would share information that was not past down in history books, they would make sure that the younger generation received knowledge that would help them as they reached adulthood. These moments were very precious. The quilt is very bright. It is full of the color red that is representative of the blood, sweat and tears they the family has endured.


That was my trip to the Wadsworth Atheneum Museum. I was pleasantly surprised and thoroughly enjoyed my visit.

High Museum

High Museum First Trip to the Museum
High Museum [Photo]Today I visited the High Museum in downtown Atlanta. the trip was very enlightening. There were quite a few exhibits to chose from. I decided to view the European Art Collection between 14th century and the 19th century. After that tour I decided to visited the American art section, but didn't enjoy the artwork half as much as I enjoyed the European artwork.

I will discuss the piece of American artwork that caught my eye. This piece of artwork is called "Coming to the Parson". The artist John Rodgers 1829-1904. This piece is made of plaster. It depicts a couple standing in front of the parson. The couple appears to be in formal attire. The woman is wearing a veil on the top of her head. She is holding hands with her mate, who appears to be wearing a formal wear. The parson is sitting down looking the paper holding a newspaper in his left hand and his eyes focused on the couple. There is a small cat by his side and another one nestled by the gentlemen. The gentlemen also appears to be clutching something. I am not sure what, but it resembles a purse. There is truly a wonderful sense of detail in this piece of artwork.

The next piece of artwork that fascinated was Madonna & Child with 6 Saints. The artist is Tomasso del Mazz0, Italian 1350-1415. This painting is absolutely exquisite. The color scheme is brilliant, making the epicture come alive. Madonna is looking adoringly at her child. The child is sitting in Madonna's lap and Madonna is holding with his back with her right arm and gripping his foot with her left. They are centered in a blue and red oval that has a layer of stars and what appears to be cherubs. They cherubs alternate in the red and blue color scheme. Everyone in the painting has a gold halo over their head. Madonna and child are heavenly as a small group of clouds rests beneath them. There are 6 Saints in this picture. 3 Saints are positioned n each side of Madonna & Child. The tallest Saint on the right is wearing a beautifully painted robe and is holding a plant in his hand. The next Saint is standing and is holding a bible in his right hand and a staff in his left hand. The third Saint is kneeling witha rod in his hand. The 3 Saints on the left are in similar positions. The first one is standing with his left hand over his heart and a branch in his right hand. The next Saint appears to be female and is flanked by two snakes. She is also holding a basket. The last Saint on the left is kneeling as if acknowledging royalty.

The next piece is called Eternal Spring. The artist is Augustine Rodin, French 1840-1917. This is a bronze statue of a man woman is a passionate embrace. They appear to be lusting heavily for one another. The detail is just enough for you to guess at the body parts. Not alot going on, but it was the only piece that depicted a man and woman relationship.

The next photo is of Saint Andrew. This picture is from the workshop of Tilman Reimenschneider. He is a German artist. This is a veneer or bronze statue of St. Andrew. The artwork is very detailed St Andrew is depicted in a saintly manner. He is holding a bible in his left hand a staff or rod in his right hand. He is looking downward as if he were speaking to worshippers. His sandals are reminiscent of Moses in the Ten Commandments. He has long hair with a curly long beard. He has long curly hair and is wearing a wrap like garment.

The last piece of artwork was created by German born cabinet maker. This John couch and chair are apart of the Virginia Carroll Crawford collection. This piece of artwork needs to be seen in person. The upholstery is absolutely beautiful. I know that it was created in the 1800's, but it looks as if it belongs in modern times. The wood has is hand carved with intricate designs throughout. The matching chair is an exact replica, just a smaller version. The couch looks so comfortable that I actually wanted to sit on it. This couch was made prior to industrialization so everything was done by hand.