Wadsworth Atheneneum Museum of Art

Hi again my fellow museum explorers! Because it wouldn’t be me if I wasn’t working right up until the end of the semester, I visited the Wadsworth Museum in Hartford yesterday after work. I was beyond thrilled to find cheap parking directly in front of the museum because I had a cranky/hungry post-school day six years old accompanying me. I liked the setup of the museum, it looked sleek and clean from the outside and the front desk was front and center making it easy to pay and just get going.  $5 for students, and free for the little one of course. I greatly enjoyed the staffs friendly demeanor and suggestions for kid-friendly(ish) areas.

                The museum, founded in 1844 holds over 50,000 different pieces of art, varying in mediums. Originally, the “Gothic Revival Wadsworth building of 1844, designed by the eminent architects Ithiel Town and Alexander Jackson Davis” (Wadsworth Athenaeum Museum of Art) was going to be a gallery, but was then finalized as an athenaeum. Unlike some other museums, the athenaeum holds a library, artifacts, and a dedication to learning and history.

                I initially thought the museum would hold a small amount of art, but to my surprise it was much larger inside. Sort of a maze o get around, varying from time period to time period. I started on the first floor, which had a very open floor plan with a large marble sculpture in the dead center. These are a few of the very first pieces I felt compelled to look at. The two are so different but each captivating in the detailed human characteristics, both are somewhat portrait style.

"Pavel Tchelitchew" by Constance Askew

"Portrait of Toks Adewtan (King of Glory)" by Kehinde Wiley

There was a contemporary art section, which I think dividing the work into categories is a major strength, especially for some with only a certain amount of time to visit. The maps were very helpful, as well as little alerts throughout the museum that stated when any of the content was violent/contained nudity as a heads up. Over the course, visiting the many museums I learned that I enjoy minimalist art and marble sculpture the most. So of course those pieces caught my eye right away.

"Kiruna" by Martin Puryear

"Western Sky (over New York City, February 25, 2004, 7am to 6pm, at one hour intervals) by Spencer Finch

                The art that resonated with me most during my experience was titled Eve Repentant (1858) by Edward Sheffield Bartholomew. Surprisingly the amazing artist was a dentist and practiced with here in Hartford Connecticut before following his dream of becoming an artist and then later a sculptor. His career wasn’t the longest, but he was successful in many of his art pieces. He died in 1858, and a majority of his works are located in the Wadsworth museum.

                The piece “Eve” is a large marble sculpture. It is of the famous eve, from the biblical story of Adam and Eve. The sculpture illustrated a partially nude Eve almost enwrapped in the serpent who is known for enticing Eve to take a bite of the forbidden fruit, against Gods wishes. I love the simplicity in the sculpture, it is in its rarest form just a women sitting on a rock glancing down at an apple and snake. Directly contrasting the simplicity, the small aspects are very detailed. The snake’s scales are very life-like with such great attention to the way the snake’s body lays out across the stones. This is a religious Art piece, and although I’m sure many similar have before and after it, it stands out in its sleek design. Below the large women are pictorials which I assume to be the overall story of Adam and Eve.

The room that housed the Eve sculpture had very tall walls totally covered with painting, I think the fullness of the room added to the beauty of the sculpture and allowed me to appreciate the marble work even more. Overall the museum was wonderful and I greatly enjoyed visiting it for the first time. There was a wide range of art, varying in artist, style, and time. I liked the collections of everyday items like animals/insects as well as cutlery and pots and pans. It was an enriching experience, one I plan to continue to partake in even after the course.

References

Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art. (2015). History. Retrieved from https://thewadsworth.org/about/history/

Evisum Inc. (2000). Virtual American Biographies. Retrieved from http://famousamericans.net/edwardsheffieldbartholomew/