MUSEUM RESPONSE PAPER

Transcription

1 MUSEUM RESPONSE PAPER Judy Nguyen Modern to Contemporary Art and Design, Dr. Knotts 11 December

2 The Rocket (1909) Middleton Manigault ( ) Oil on canvas 2

3 Although Middleton Manigault died at a young age of 35 years, Manigault was a modern artist but he did not receive much fame due to his death at a young age. He explored many different art styles from realism to post- impressionism to cubism. His piece, The Rocket, caught my eye at my visit to the Columbus Art Museum. This modern piece was one of the few that Manigault left untouched since he destroyed 200 of his artworks before his death. This painting is a pointism painting that hung high on the wall and surrounded by other pieces of artworks but stood out the most due to its vibrant colors. Looking at the piece, I see that Manigault wanted the eyes to go straight to the middle section first. The explosion produces a large cloud of yellow smoke. Above the explosions are some bluish purple clouds. The explosions are part of a firework scene it seems. Hinting that this event took place probably in the nighttime so that the fireworks are more visible. Underneath the bluish purple clouds are red lines that are reflected from the red streams of paint on the side. Rising from the left side and the right side, there are red streams of smoke that shoot towards the top of the piece. I assume that the red streams are fireworks or red flares shot into the sky. There are a total of eleven red streams of smoke fired from the horizon. Below the explosions there is a body of water. The water must be a lake or a small port because I see a small long boat in the middle of the water. On the water is the reflection of the firework explosions. Mostly yellow in the center and red dots on the outside. On the horizon there are yellow dots that are placed across the horizon. The dots along the horizon represent the city or town lights. 3

4 Manigault used oils on canvas and had primary colors as his palette choice to paint with some white and black. He used warm colors long with the cool to emphasize the bright explosion in the dark. Manigault use pointism style to paint this piece. He also uses long paint strokes to show the action of the fireworks. The dots are large and small. His strokes are not consistent. Some strokes are vertical and some go horizontal. The strokes go with the direction of the space it is suppose to represent. The horizontal lines are mostly in the water. And the dots are more vertical in the sky. The dots and lines used in his style of painting emphasize the action of the fireworks exploding really well. Dots give the viewer a sense of action in this piece. I still find his choice of using oils interesting because he mostly used primary colors and did not seem to mix of blend colors together. In the boat, there are two to three figures. The silhouette of the boat is hard to decipher the number of people on the boat. People inside of the boat are watching the firework show. Manigault was born and raised in London, so I assume the scene is happening in a place in London or near. London does have bodies of water throughout the city. From the reflection of the explosion of the firework I can tell that the smoke or ashes will fall near or on the boat. Two of the red flares explode in both top corners. Explosions in the corners are smaller than one in the center. On the horizon on the left is an explosion about to happen. It goes same for the right side of the horizon. The firework seems to start but it is not as large as the other side. The explosion in the middle has 3 different types of smoke the Manigault painted. One kind is white with yellow outline. Another is orange with a red outline. The final smoke that he painted that stands out the most is the orange with hints of 4

5 bluish green dots. The bluish green probably means the smoke is translucent and the dark sky is visible through the smoke there. The liveliness of the painting caused by the vibrant colors and technique, caught my eye. It is a rather small piece of art compared to other pieces I saw at the museum. I admire paints since I am personally not skilled in that field of art. From afar I could see what the painting was about before even reading the title of the painting. I just think this is a good example of a modern piece of art. 5

6 Work Cited: - "MIDDLETON MANIGAULT: VISIONARY MODERNIST - Exhibition - Hollis Taggart Galleries." MIDDLETON MANIGAULT: VISIONARY MODERNIST - Exhibition - Hollis Taggart Galleries. Accessed December 08, manigault- visionary- modernist/the- rocket. 6