The Wadsorth Atheneum Museum is th oldest public art museum in America. This was just one of the facts give to us by the Docent as she introduced everyone to the museum. Daniel Wadsworth wanted to shar art with everyone and he knew only the wealthy could afford to purchase it. Opening the museum would give everyone an opportunity to experience art. The name Atheneum is in honor of the Greek goddess of wisdom, Athena.
Our trip to the Wadsworth was on a Saturday morning in April. It was a very cold windy spring day. There were not many people at the musuem, maybe because it was early. The Water Lilies exhibit was being held at the time of our visit. I was familiar with Monet and have seen reproductions of his work. I was not as excited to see Monet as I was about being introduced to some other artists that I am not familiar. My opinion quickly changed as a result of my visit.
Jerry and I were greeted by a very interesting Docent. She approached her job with excitement and she was interested in spending our time together teaching us as much as she could about art. What a wonderful experience. We toured the museum with 8 other visitors. The Docent made the experience very interactive. She had us split into groups and asked us to describe how we felt about some pieces in the museum.
There was one piece that I was drawn to because of the amazing likeness to my youngest daughter, Sarah. I felt like the child was staring at me from across the room. The artist is John Singer Sargent and he was born in Italy. He is recognized as one of the foremost portraitist of his time. This portrait of Ruth Sears Bacon at age three was painted in Newport, Rhode Island in 1887. I just loved this painting.
The museum tour also introduced me to a collection from Salvatore Dali. I found the paintings very unusual. Although the pieces were unusual, I found myself intrigued about what may have been going through this man's head as he painted. I did not enjoy Dali as much as I did Monet.
As I mentioned earlier, I thought I would write about someone other than Monet because I entered into this visit thinking Monet was too mainstream for me. I thought I would select an artist less famous. However, the Water Lilies exhibit was amazing! The information available on Monet is overwhelming and for an artist I thought I was familiar, I quickly realized how very interesting a man he was. The exhibit included pieces of art but more importantly for me, it gave me a look into the life of Monet. In 1890 Monet purchased his house in Giverny and transformed the gardens which inspired this exhibit. Monet had over 100,000 plants replaced annually at his home in Giverny.
The exhibit included letters that Monet wrote describing his obsession with his paintings of his gardens. He gradually limited himself to his water garden and depicted tirelessly the Japanese Bridge and Water Lilies. There were so many pieces in this collection but two pieces really impressed me. They were his paintings of the Japanese Bridge. At the beginning of the exhibit there is a painting of a beautiful bridge. It had clarity, light pastel colors and a light airy feeling to it. As we passed through th exhibit I saw another painting of the Japanese Bridge that did not resemble the earilier painting. It was difficult to make out a bridge, the colors were darker with more primary colors. The first painting gave me a very light airy feeling where the second painting was heavy and gave me a stormy feeling. The years passed and the plantings had filled in the landscape. The stormy feel seemed to be a reflection of his obsession combined with his vision problems he experienced. Monet stayed in Giverny until his death.
Jerry and I were at the Wadsworth museum for hours. We agreed we would be back to the museum. We had a good introduction to the pieces in the museum but did not allow enough time and we regretted having to leave. Our drive home was spent entirely recapping our visit to the Wadsworth.
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