Melissa's Artistic Corner: Like It/ Don't Like It

As an imaginary curator, I created an exhibit that reflects my likes and dislikes through selecting various artworks from the Metropolitan Museum of Art. These pieces include Impressionistic and Post-Impressionistic paintings of flowers, 19^th Century English dresses, and European decorative china. I envision my exhibition to have a soft, delicate touch with the walls painted in a light cream color to highlight the paintings that would be hung. The china would be openly displayed on a light rectangular chestnut table. The dresses would be draped delicately over dress wire forms. My favorite piece in my exhibit is Monet’s “Bridge over a Pond of Water Lilies.” The soft hues are applied prominently to the canvas that gives a soft and somber tone to the painting. I’m particularly fond of flowers and I chose to display Monet’s “Chrysanthemums,” Van Gogh’s “Oleanders,” and Fantin-Latour’s “Summer Flowers.” In essence, all of them exude a quiet, elegant beauty. There’s also elegance in the two English dresses. These dresses remind me of what the characters would wear in Pride and Prejudice and Jane Eyre, which happen to be a couple of my favorite novels. Teacups are a slight obsession of mine when it comes to collecting items. I searched through the museum’s website to see if they had any teacups in their collection, and I found two separate ones that I really like. Teacups are simple objects, yet they are functional and are pleasing aesthetically.

While there are artworks I like, there are also a few I don’t like. Tom Friedman’s “Untitled” print resembles a drab piece of wallpaper. Emile Galle’s “Vase” is made out of glass but the dark color doesn’t compliment the design. I found this Roman “Wing Brooch” is simply unattractive with its plain jewel design. I also found a Greek statue, “Bronze foot in the form of a sphinx” that looks a bit frightening at a first glance. These pieces would not be featured in my exhibit.

Artworks I like: