Museum Research Paper on "the Elegant Salon"

Museum Research Paper on "The Elegant Salon"

The Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts introduced an exhibition entitled The Elegant Salon which showcased several different artworks from many different artists. This exhibition is a part of the European Academic Paintings in the Syracuse University Art collection. The curator of this exhibit was Domenic Iacono who developed and organized this collection of fine artworks. This collection was a part of the personal collection of Annie Walter, which was donated to the university in 1949, one year after her death

At first glance in seems that the curator has placed the beautiful artworks in no particular order, it seems as if the paintings were just placed on the walls of the gallery. But further examination discovers that the paintings are placed in groups according to particular genre scenes. The paintings are organized in a French style with a set of paintings to the left of a nameplate which describes the artist, title of the artwork, year the artwork was composed and other important facts about each of the paintings in that set group. The artworks in this exhibit symbolize the art acquired by Annie Walter Arents.

Although this exhibition is full of some of the most beautiful artworks I have ever seen, I feel that the exhibition was not done in a fashion to help the onlooker understand what and where the paintings mean and come from. I feel that the artworks did although display a historic significance. The artworks seem to be placed in a way of depicting different genres from many different cultures and lifestyles.

Two of the artworks that I thought were especially eye-catching were Jean-Leon Gerome's Woman of Cairo at her Door and the movie like scene of Jehan-Georges Viberts The Lesson in Deportment.

Of all of the paintings in this exhibit I point out the previous mentioned artworks because those were the two that I found myself mesmerized by the beauty and the artistic workmanship of the two paintings. I especially liked the paintings because you could see no brushwork in either of the two paintings; it almost seemed as if the paintings were actually taken by a camera. I really believe that these two artworks are two of the most beautiful paintings that I have ever seen in my life. I especially love the contrast between light and dark in Jean-Leon Gerome's