Nelson Case

​The trip to the Nelson-Atkins Museum was an insightful and eye opening experience. It was my second trip to a large art museum, the first one being The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. Though I am not one you would call an art connoisseur, I do take interest in specific art pieces. I often find myself wondering what the artist was thinking about when painting or constructing a piece of work. I wonder what emotions they might have been going through or if someone unknown inspired them to create such things. Obviously sometimes such information is known but I am not sure I always believe it. I also speculate about the artist's families, and if any of them were as talented as the artists themselves, as if maybe it was inherited or something.

​The framings on the artwork were spectacular. I loved how they varied in sizes and décor. They seemed to be set up around the artwork in order to strengthen the piece, in the sense of quality wise. They were never too extravagant to take away from the original artworks beauty. Some of the frames themselves alone could have been works of art.

​The lighting on the artwork was also set up in a way to strengthen the pieces. It helped to emphasize little parts of the artwork that may not have been seen in regular low lighting. For example, the gold flakes in the paint on some pottery, or the gleam in a woman's eye on a painting.

​I felt like the museum was set up in a way to keep drawing you onto the next thing. The smaller paintings to the bigger ones, the bigger ones back to the small. The varying sizes kept your eyes onward moving, even in the case displays.

​The decorative pieces of art were something I really was not expecting. When we talked about it in class I was assuming they would be regular sculptures or something of that nature. I never pictured beautiful furniture or hand crafted pottery. I honestly was not aware that things along those lines were even considered pieces of artwork until this trip.

​Being able to view these artworks in person versus online in class completely changed my view as a whole. Having the ability to see all the fine details of a piece really allows you to have a much greater respect for what you are looking at. It helps you to notice how much time and effort must have been placed in order to perfect each tiny line in a painting, or curve in a bowl. It was amazing to see how much different something can look just by the media being used. For example, the Western oil paintings would have so much detail and bright popping color, while the Japanese ink/color paintings were precise, yet toned down.

​The sizing of the works definitely affects how you view a piece of artwork. I feel like I take more time trying to find the details in a larger piece of artwork than I do with a smaller piece. But I always seem to find more finely detailed pieces when looking at the smaller works. That may just be something playing in my mind but that is how it seems to go for me. You again take into account the amount