Long Title…but yesterday we went to the National Gallery. Upon entering I was sort of dreading it. I just don’t think art museums are my favorite to go to, but I will say I soon got excited. When I entered I saw many boring portraits and then decided to search up what famous painting were in this gallery. To my surprise it said Van Gogh’s Sunflower painting was being displayed in room forty- three. Back in February I saw The Starry Night at the MoMA in New York, so I was stoked. I was soon on a mission to find this painting, I’ve read so much about it in elementary. I found a map and went on my journey to find this room. It took a while because this gallery is so big, and most numbers of the rooms weren’t being displayed. This painting gives me so much joy; Van Gogh said that the reason he chose such bright yellows is because it reminds him of hope and friendship.
While exploring the room where Van Gogh’s painting were there were these two painting side by side of each other. They were each painted by the artist named Théo Van Rysselberghe. I was quickly drawn in by them since they looked like a similar style to A Sunday on La Grande Jatte by George Seurat. The simple brush dots is why I assumed they were by the same artist; I was shocked to find out they weren’t. They were both done with oil paints, which I can’t imagine how long it took them to dry. The first piece was called Coastal Scene which was done around the late 1880s. Rysselberghe was known for only painting coastal and boat scenes so most of his painting reflect his French Riviera summers . The second painting is where his style takes a turn. Taking Inspo from Seurat he starts using the same technique and moves to painting meadows and flowers instead of water. I thought that it was super cool to see up close how he uses solid colors more.
One last painting I want to talk about is, Christ Before the High Priest by Gerritt Van Honthorst. I remember Karl talking about Honthorst in our fundamentals of design class my sophomore year. When I walked pasted it I didn’t recognize it at first. I sat there staring at it for a good five minutes before I realized where I’ve seen it before. It also reminded me how excited Karl got about art and it really warmed my heart. It just felt like a good memory that I thought I would share. 8/10 Good Day!
Theatre in London U of A 