BMA

Little Dancer, aged 14

Edgar Degas, French 1834-1917

This sculpture was made of bronze with fabric and had so much personality when I first came across this in the middle of the first room we arrived in at the Baltimore Museum of Art. I looked and studied it for awhile because of the confusion I found myself in. I danced for 16 years; ballet, pointe, tap, jazz, hip hop, contemporary, modern, etc. Being pretty familiar with the dance world, this little dancer was in third position, and I loved the worn out pointe shoes she had crossing up her ankles so delicately. I was really confused on her posture though to be completely honest. In ballet, a ballerina must show poise by having her stomach in, chest aligned with her buttocks which should be tucked under her waist properly. Her head was designed to make the back of her neck cringe, which is a huge red flag in dancing. So, I came to the conclusion that Edgar sculpted her in this manner to show innocence. She quite literally is a little dancer and if Edgar's intentions were to show that she was just a tiny girl with high hopes and dreams, then he most definitely succeeded. It's almost as if she looks like she's so proud of herself to even notice what more she has to learn in the world of ballet. My interest of this sculpture on a scale 1-3 I would say is a 3.

Skull 1976 

Andy Warhol

This painting was actually only made up of four of the skull heads shown in the Baltimore Museum of Art. The composition of these pieces is polymer paint and silk screen ink on canvas, done beautifully. What caught my eye was not that of the skull, but of each individual meaning of the paintings, forming one. I would like to call this pop art as anyone would since that is what Andy is pretty known for, but I believed that he actually saw each skull perform in a unique way. The color scheme is used was so cool and honest, it gave the viewer more of an insight saying these skulls all might be the same, but are interpreted in a different way each time you try to capture it. Maybe that's exactly what Andy did, try to capture the skull time after time and came up with a few that complimented each other so perfectly that they all had to be collaged into one to receive the genuine feeling Andy had at the moment in time. Even the shadows he gave he skull was done magnificently; it looks as if he drew a different skull each time! I actually have an art book in my room of all of Andy's works and maybe that is why this work caught my attention but either way, he is truly amazing. My interest of this painting on a scale of 1-3 would have to be a 1.

Manchester

Charles Sheeler

This work is done with oil on canvas. So Charles Sheeler was actually known for precisionism and when I first found this out, I loved what he made Manchester into. There really was not much I had to say about this painting, but more so it was what I felt. This painting made me feel content and in much awe because of how much life was shown when none was really shown at all, or at least that's how I perceived it because no one is shown here, besides the light. This painting looks pretty empty but my head wasn't when I was seeing it. It's almost as if the buildings, color and reflection of the light is what gives so much life to this painting. I also thought looking at this painting was like looking into a comic book of some sort with how it's set up and laid out. I believe Charles had a goal for this painting; to capture the beauty in a lovely city with just it's being instead of the liveliness in the city. I think he wanted to say, "hey look how beautiful this city is, especially when you think nothing's alive besides the architecture." Well, maybe not for Charles, but definitely for me. My interest in this painting on a scale of 1-3 would have to be a 2.