I went to Washington D.C. on March 20, 2011. I visited the Freer Gallery of Art and the Second Gallery I visited was the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery of Art.
The First Gallery that I visited was the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery. When we walked in, security greeted us and checked out backpacks. After passing through the security station, we turned the corner and walked down a grand weaving staircase that split in the middle, to wrap around the large piece of art hanging from the ceiling. This first piece of art that we witnessed stood 3 stories high and was the centerpiece of a fountain at the base of the 3 stories. It was a very tall skinny piece of black metal warped and bent to form swirling decadent spirals. Looking down from the top floor was an incredible vision. The black metal was such a contrasting medium from the blue tile fountain base. It seemed to almost devalue to piece artistically.
After walking down the staircase that split to wrap around the first piece of art we came into a dark room. This room contained statues of Idols from eastern religions. They were constructed from clay or concrete of some sort. Most were broken, or made to look broken. These idols would have been in temples to be worshiped and bowed down unto. Something I found very interesting was the fact that some of the idols didn’t have hands.
One of the other exhibits in this gallery was a pottery exhibit. It was particularly interesting to me because I took a pottery class in High school. It was interesting to see how these pots were almost flawless. They were very smooth, and the gallery had a hands-on window. We as viewers got to pick up pieces and feel the difference between them, weight, texture, and other differences. The exhibit had a large variety of pots, tea pots, cups, bowls, vases, and other assorted objects.
The Second Gallery I visited was The Freer Gallery of Art. This Gallery was mostly paintings until you got to the west wing. The first painting that I fell in love with, was the second in a set of three paintings. This painting was of a young woman sitting in a chair looking at a cello. It was peculiar because it was not as if she was playing the cello, but simply sitting there admiring it.
Once you moved into the main gallery, it held more and more pottery, artifacts, and sculptures. In one of the rooms, glass units lined the walls, Chinese room partitions were painted for each season depicting the change in one scene. These were absolutely beautiful pieces. There were small cushioned benches in this room, so I allowed myself to sit down and just gaze and the partitions for a while.
After leaving the partition room, standing in the main hallway was a massive wooden sculpture of a warrior. This sculpture was incredibly terrifying. I would not want to own this and keep this in the entranceway of my home. He was carved by hand and many different pieces of wood were combined to create this terrifying creature that stood approx.20 ft tall. The detail of this piece was incredible, and must have taken much time to complete.
After scrutinizing the devilish sculpture, we moved into my favorite room. This room contained pottery, but not average pottery. This room contained clear pottery. It was a very translucent material that formed these pots, bowls, and plates. They were gilded with beautiful intricate designs, and appeared to be extremely fragile. This room by far was my favorite room in the whole gallery. I stood amazed at the idea of translucent pottery.
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