tenebrism

tenebrism
Caravaggio, The Taking of Christ, 1602

Thursday, January 29, 2015

#8 The Met

Art is so fascinating, especially when you can walk through time how ever you choose. This makes for an unique way to enjoy art. The Met is my new favorite art museum sorry MoMA. On our last trip to the Met I saw some works from my favorite artist, Salvador Dali. Mr.Dali has a special place in my heart for many reasons one of these is apparent the moment you lay eyes on one of his paintings. 
First off this photo was not taken by me but it is a wonderful example of Dali's genius. His use of  shadows and highlights creates a surreal and realistic atmosphere. He uses illusions to trick the human eye into thinking that the objects that appear on the canvas are coming into the third dimension, into our reality. This ability to portray objects and landscapes is beautiful. Also one of the things that still gets me off guard every time I visit a museum is the scale of the pieces.

When reading about a piece the dimensions might make sense but when you actually meet the piece you might be surprised. For example on our last trip I happened to wander into the Romanesque/Gothic art section and stumbled upon a Duccio. Although the detail and skill he put into this painting are outstanding so is the scale. The piece was about 9'' by 9'' and at the same time another extravagant piece just behind it was almost 4 times the size. Both were great and getting to meet them in the real world was even better. And here I am again I've wandered into the wonderful world of art. The moral of the story today is that no matter how much art interests you just go out and learn something. Spend a few hours or a whole day midst portals to the past and maybe even future.   

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