Museum Visit to Metropolitan Museum of Art

Art Appreciation

Assignment 4: Museum Visit to Metropolitan Museum of Art

at 1:30 on June 18, 2008.

Date: June 18, 2008

I went to the Metropolitan Museum of Art looking to compare two pieces of art. The pieces of art that I chose are Last Self-Portrait and Adonis and Venus. I really liked Last Self-Portrait by Andy Warhol and the painting I disliked was Adonis and Venus by Peter Paul Rubens.

The piece of art that I would have liked to steal from the Metropolitan Museum of Art was Last Self-Portrait by Andy Warhol. This piece of art really stood out to me because while looking at it, it is really dark colors. The face covered by the army fatigue colors combined with a black background made the piece of art a little scary. Having the face covered by the green, gray and black made it seem like Andy Warhol was hiding something, or trying to hide from the viewers. The unity of the dark colors made this painting have a sense of balance because it did not mix with any light colors, and made his face seem hidden. I think the piece of art shows the viewer that everyone has a dark side and it is ok to show it.

The painting I disliked was Adonis and Venus. It is painted by Peter Paul Rubens. It is oil on canvas. This painting shows Adonis, or the soldier, leaving Venus. In the painting you can tell she does not want him to leave because she is holding his arm. Cupid is also holding Adonis leg. Cupid’s arrows are on the ground. I think this painting shows the viewer of a lover going away. Cupid is trying to keep them together, but the arrows are on the ground, and Cupid is not shooting them. Venus only has a white cloth on her lap, which might mean they just made love an now its time for him to go to war. Vivid colors are used in this painting. The painting shows all the details of the body features and the shadows from everything. The thing I disliked about this painting is that it is not modern. I would not want to have this painting hanging up in my home. But at the same time I feel this painting is extremely interesting and better off staying in a museum to be looked at.

Both of these art pieces are some what alike by in Last Self-Portrait the background was extremely dark, and in Adonis and Venus the forest in the background is painted in dark colors of