Metropolitan Museum and the Indian Museum

In the Subway

Today was another day in the big city. After doing some blogs like every morning, we went to the closest subway station which was right outside Barnard College. Once in the subway station, we took train 1.  After getting off the train, we walked couple of blocks to a bus stop. While we walked to the bus stop, I was rapt by the beauty of the architecture around us. Even though I come to New York City often, I never stop liking the buildings and being impressed by them. I noticed many roof gardens on the buildings. This is definitely a great way to help the environment.

The bus took us to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The first section in the museum that I went to was American wing. In this section, I saw paintings done by Thomas Cole, Frederic Church, Robert S. Duncanson, Asher B. Durand and others. All these artists were part of the Hudson School of Painting. The pictures in the left show some of the painting done by students of the Hudson School of Painting.

The first painting was done by Asher Durand, who produced different works in response to the death of Thomas Cole. This painting is called The scene from Thanatopsis. The second painting was done by Robert Duncanson, a freeborn African American. This painting is a landscape with cows watering in a stream. In many of his paintings, Duncanson depicted how African Americans' lives were like. The third painting was done by Thomas Cole, who founded the Hudson School of Painting. His painting is called  the Titan's Goblet.

The Oxbow

The picture above shows one of the largest paintings of Thomas Cole. It is called the Oxbow. The painting shows the view from Mount Holyoke in Massachusetts. Cole was fascinated by this view and the wind. This is probably why the tree in the left of the painting seems to be hit by the strong breeze of a thunderstorm. While there is a thunderstorm in the left side of the painting, there is a calm scenery in the right side. Not everybody  put together two opposite things and make it shine. However, Thomas Cole did it. He juxtaposed calm and stormy sceneries.  This is definitely a great work.

I was intrigued by the painting in the picture above. This painting was done by Joseph Badget in 1760. It caught my attention because of the shape of the whole body, from top to bottom. The body seems to be disproportional to the head. In addition, the dress is too symmetrical. It looks the same to me in almost every angle. The person in the painting may look like a girl but it is actually a boy. This was Badget's three year old grandson, James. I could not believe that it was a boy. However, then I remembered the curator at Johnson Hall telling that children were dressed similar during the 1700s. Therefore, it was normal for a three year old boy to wear a dress which was probably made exclusively for him. This painting was very different from all the ones that I have seen and it really intrigued me.

Set of Tumblers

Donations of Russel Sage

After going through the paintings, we found the different items that Mrs. Russell Sage donated to the Metropolitan Museum. The set of Tumblers shown in the picture above was one of the gift of Mrs. Russell Sage. She also donated a jug, a bureau table, a fire screen and a dresser. All these items seemed of very good qualities. Clearly, Mrs Russell Sage wanted to be involved in the community. Her donations make her part of the Metropolitan Museum.

After we saw part of the museum, we went to lunch. I was very glad I followed the professors because they went to a Dali place which had really nice prices and the food was delicious. Now on, I will try to follow the professors since they are the one who know where the real food is at. After eating my delicious meal, I went to the national Museum of American Indians. I love learning about the people who lived in the New World before the Europeans arrived. I learned about the Iroquois in New York from Proffesor Andor's weekly readings. The Books the Hudson and the New York and the Ohio Country give good explanations about the Iroquois. Thanks to the weekly readings, I had some fresh knowledge about the American Indians before entering the museum. Being able to see their customs, their utensils and others stuff was a great experience.

Riffle Case

The picture above shows an Assiniboine rifle case which was decorated with beadwork and long fridge. The case was decorated by Indians of different groups.   This rifle case is an example of how Indians were obtaining new ideas not only from the Europeans but also from the other Indian groups.