ART MUSEUM CRITIQUE

Use the following format for your museum critique; answers must be typed below the
questions and all questions must appear in full on your final copy. You can use this
document as your template. Pay careful attention to the required number of words for those
questions that have them. Failure to follow the instructions here and on your syllabus will
result in a substantially low grade. Minimal answers poorly written are a D grade or less.
Elaboration of points, excellent arguments, and good writing garner higher grades.
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Name_______________________________Class period/section___________________
1) Which museum did you visit? (check one) ___ Univ. of Utah ___ BYU
2) Describe at least one of the permanent collection exhibits on a theme, period,
geographic region, or topic) within the museum. {150 words}
There was a little section on the 1st floor which was the more permanent artwork that I
actually enjoyed. The section was based on the early and mid 1900s so they had a
range of art work showing times as early as World W ar 1 to the 1960s. the theme of
many was the american dream showing men at work and other good things such as
that. But there were others that showed a different side of the same period. For
example, one showed a crowded New York street full of people with hunched shoulders
in gray clothes completely ignoring a happy, inspirational sign above a church showing.
This showed that we can get too caught up in certain things or too depressed about
something that we fail to notice the beautiful things. Others showed other art of
immigrants arriving to the US with hopes and dreams while otherrs showed the side of
immigration to America which that was effected by the stock market crash which
brought a more negative yet real feel to that section of the exhibit. I like that it showed
all sides rather than just focusing on the good and ignoring the issues.
3) Give a brief, one paragraph description of a special, temporary exhibit (for help,
ask museum staff what these are; they are usually in one of the first rooms). {100
words}
My favorite part of my whole experience was one of the temporary exhibits downstairs.
It was just one medium sized room full of art from an artist named Rebecca Campbell.
Her description on the wall mentioned that her artwork contemplates the relationship
between the present and the past. They used the word Nostalgic artwork. I didnt read
the plaque of the artist until I had already walked around and looked at each piece and
when I read that it all made sense. Most of her art to me had that feel as if they were
flashbacks/good memories inside somebodys brain. I enjoyed one in particular called
Big Sister where the painter focuses on family relationships. It made me feel that my
memories im having now will someday be thought of while laughing when im old and
uglier. I think its cool how Rebecca was able to make her art look like memories without
me having read that that was her idea all along at the very end.

4) What do you think the museum administration and/or exhibit curators want you to
learn or gain from the exhibits you viewed? {100 word minimum}
I thought about this for a bit and I came to the conclusion that the main thing they want
viewers to get both a greater appreciation for art and history and other cultures as well
as be inspired by it. For example, I had 2 art pieces speak to me most. One was the art
explained above where everyone is walking with hunched shoulders looking at the
ground, ignoring the church sign made me feel like I really need to get off my phone and
the internet and look up and enjoy things. Other art pieces that I had no
interest/connection with may speak to others and inspire them to do things. I may be
wrong and it may sound cheesy but Im thinking that museums/artists want that we can
appreciate history and to be inspired.
5) What kind of information is provided about the works? Where might you look for
further information if you were interested? (Name three possibilities)
Each art piece had a description off to the side that gave the title of the artwork and a
slight paragraph of the artists history and idea for the painting. If I understand correctly,
to find further information if I were interested would be to first off, google search would
be the first step for somebody like me. I feel thats the ultimate way to gather information
these days. By doing so, I feel that would bring you to find more steps such as buying
books off amazon about the certain work or finding personal websites, or even history of
artist, or articles/interviews an artist. If its a style of art youre searching for then itd be
easy to find more art of the same style by just starting with a google search. You could
ask real life sources as well who may be more experienced in that field or checkout a
library.
6) Choose several works that particularly appealed to you. Explain why you were
drawn to these works. Comment on the subject, style, medium, time period, etc.
Who were the artists? What message do you think the artists were trying to
convey in the works you chose to discuss? This question must be answered in
its entirety. {This should be at least 500 words}
I feel I may have already answered these questions above so I may feel a little repetitive
right now and I hope thats ok. Maybe I can go more into depth with since we get to
have 500 words to explain. Rebecca Campbell continued to speak out to me through
another piece called Little Brother. Similar to Big Sister, Rebecca uses oil on a board
and makes focus of the art (usually people) black and white while the white background
slowly picks away at the boy in the painting. Because of the color and the white
background that overwhelms the figure of the boy, I get the feeling that it is a good
memory and that the boy in the picture is an old man reminiscing of the good ol days,
or maybe it was a photo chosen for the obituary of the boy who had grown old and frail.
We may never know, we just need to use our imagination. I dont know why, but in the
description of my other favorite piece Big Sister says that artists avoid emotional
painting scenes such as that with two girls laughing together to what seems like an
inside joke. I dont see why thats something that artists would want to avoid because

seeing that many people as memories, smiling and having a good time made me as
viewer feel better.
Another piece of art was done Maynard Dixon (1875-1946) was done with Gouache on
paper on 1941. The piece just shows two men walking somewhere unknown with just
some mattress pad things on their back with maybe a few belonging inside. The
description mentioned that when Dixon wrote this, World War 1 was raging which was
effecting numerous populations. Im not too familiar with history, but the rest of the piece
makes it up to us to figure out so I assumed that the two men are older because the
draft mustve taken the younger ones off to war. And because of the hardships of the
war, these two men are homeless and traveling from city to city making a living off what
they can. I feel homelessness is still a problem today and so I feel the picture in a way
provides awareness that so many people suffer from that whether its because of mental
illness, drug abuse, etc.
On the bottom floor there was a ginormous exhibit titled To Magnify the Lord. Jesus, or
one of his apostles were the center of just about every piece of art. However, there was
one painting that didnt have a single human soul inside it yet it spoke most to me than
the rest. It was painted by Ron Richmond with oil on canvas. In the religion I pertain to,
we hold the sacrament very sacredly. As we do what we are supposed to, we believe
that we can receive the remission of our sins weekly. Im explaining this because this
painting was not just the typical Last Supper. The piece just consisted of 3 bowls on a
stone table with sheet over it. In the first bowl was full of blood, the second with water
and the third was empty. this really helps our wheels start turning on what the
symbolism is that leads to remission and redemption thanks to Christs suffering. I dont
know why but I felt something with this art more than the multiple art pieces that
physically show Christs suffering.
7) How did the artworks you looked at relate to material we have discussed in
class? (They do relate in many ways, you just need to look for those
relationships). {Minimum of 150 words}
For example, in class we saw Christ depicted in many different versions. There was not
such a variety in this museum however there were some differences that I noticed. I
respect the beliefs of all religions but Jesus in the Catholic art seemed more sad and
they tended to focus more on him being crucified on the cross while the other artwork
seemed to make him more gentle and focus more on his suffering in the Gethsemane.
I noticed that on one of the pieces that showed a scene of the Native Americans about
to kill Jon Smith and all the male Indians had clothes on while the women did not. This
made me wonder whether this was an equality issue? Or simply just culture, or maybe
the artist just has no idea how they dressed in that era.
There was nothing about any other religion other than Christianity. Nor were there any
pieces with kissing. There was however a paining from the late 1700s of a man who
leaves America to go to England because of the revolutionary war. Its a portrait of a
very high class woman and above the description it has the fathers advice to his
daughter in the portrait which was If you happen to have any learning, keep it a
profound secret. I forget how the times were in England during this century but that
piece of advice that the father gives to the daughter makes me feel as if women in that

time maybe werent meant to be educated. So maybe the father encourages learning,
however, advises to keep it a secret for fear of ridicule. We have learned in class that
that has been the case at times whether its just part of their culture or whatever.
8) What was your personal reaction to this experience? Would you enjoy attending
this type of event again? Why or why not? {Minimum 100 words}
I am a fan of painting even though I am not very good, so it is sad to say that this may
have been the first time that I have been to a museum based on pure artwork.
Museums typically are not things that I go to often because according to me, they
appear to be less appealing than other activities that one could do. I cant say that I
LOVED the experience either but I would go to another museum again now that I have
a better idea of what to expect. I liked parts of it actually, which I assume is normal
because I doubt anyone loves every single piece in a museum. One thing I wish I had
when I went was a friend. I went alone but I feel itd be nicer and more fun to have
company so that you can actually talk about the pieces and compare the art with each
other rather than be alone and looking at it silently. I dont think the security guards in
every exhibit are paid enough to want to talk to me and give me their input on every
piece that I see. Overall, I was happy that 4-5 of those art pieces spoke out to me the
way they did.