Art Visit

On the afternoon of Sunday, April 13 2008, my family and I went on our very first ever visit to the Crocker Art Museum in Sacramento, California. We typically have not been a very “artsy” or cultural family in any way, so we weren’t really sure what to expect from our visit. The weather was absolutely perfect, and I had called ahead and discovered that if we made it before one o’clock we would all be admitted free! The combination of the weather and free admittance really set a nice tone for our afternoon together explorer this strange new world of art.
We gathered out front together to take pictures, and I was sure to have one taken of me in front of the Crocker Art Museum sign, as it was an important requirement of this Art Visit assignment. I was immediately taken by the beautiful and historical building which we were entering. I am a huge history buff, so was drawn in to explore the beginnings of this art museum. I had questions in my head like… who were the Crockers? What year was this museum started? At that time in our nation’s history, how rare would it have been to find an art museum in this part of the nation? And I wondered what the first pieces of art were, and if they were still on display today so I could view the same pieces that museum visitors for centuries before me had enjoyed.
I climbed the marble stairs and after I reached for the huge carved wooden door to come inside, I spent a few moments to examine the intricate carved patterns in the wood doors. The wood appeared to be a rich mahogany or oak, and they were very heavy! What a welcome! I entered the great entryway and immediately noticed the grand stairway to my immediate left and another down and to the right. A large, white marble Romanesque statue stood tall ahead and I wondered in amazement right off why we don’t do more things like this as a family more often? My eyes were searching to take in all I could and I was proud to be there among those who were connected to art and had come not as an assignment, but as enjoyment. I was happy to be there and knew that we were going to see great things that afternoon!
I picked up a map at the welcome desk and was surprised to see the many different rooms and forms of art that were listed. I was happy to see a room listed that was dedicated to Asian art, and thought that I might enjoy that very much.
The first area we visited was straight ahead, and that was the room displaying the art of Edward Deakin who was the featured artist. I did enjoy his work, but found that many of his pieces, especially the grapes, were almost too re-producible.
Next, we headed upstairs to the European art collection. I enjoyed coming up very close to the paintings! At first, I was a little hesitant to do so (I didn’t know if it was appropriate to do that and there were art docents all over the place watching our every move it seemed!) Then I saw that others were coming up very close to the paintings, and so I came close as well. One thing that I remember is that the paintings that were very large in scale were very impressive, yet coming up so close to the smaller pieces revealed so much more to me. I was able to see very closely the very fine details that went into painting figures and expressions, even little glimmers of light reflected in a person’s eye. I was more impressed with the smaller paintings, as they seemed more personal and full of detailed personality. But the large paintings were totally impressive in their own right, but they almost intimidated me and kept me at a distance, while the smaller pieces just called out an invitation to be breathed on.
I found my favorite piece in the European collection of paintings. It is called
“Madonna and Child with St. John the Baptist” and was painted in the 17th century by Italian artist Carlo Maratta. The painting is oil on canvas. I liked this painting because it portrays Jesus Christ as a chubby little infant who holds in His hand sin, symbolically depicted here as the apple. The apple he holds is hidden from view of his loving mother Mary and she peers down lovingly at her son. John the Baptist is shown as a young child peering over Mary’s shoulder. What I like so much about this piece is how Jesus is portrayed as a chubby baby, and it shows him literally as a healthy innocent child. Yet by Him holding the apple in His hand, it really sends a clear message to the viewer that He holds all sin and the power to block it in His hand.
After the second level, we proceeded to the third floor and saw the modern art. There was a brilliant aluminum piece that my children found to be very entertaining and interactive. The piece was a large piece of polished aluminum that had been polished in such a way that when you walked in front of it, in a left to right or right to left motion, in seemed to change in perspective as it reflected the light in different directions. That was a very fun and very colorful level to the museum. I appreciated the addition of these modern pieces, but they just didn’t speak to me in the same way that the older paintings and marble sculptures did.
Overall, I had a very fun time taking in all of the rich display of art pieces. After taking this class, I will never see art in the same way. I now have an “art vocabulary” and can put into words what I am looking at and am able to describe why it speaks to me or doesn’t. I know see art as a way of capturing a person or event in history and reflecting it into the future for others to take in.
My family and I will be back to the Crocker Art Museum and will think twice before passing up the opportunity to visit an art event in the future.