PMA Trip #1

 It took me awhile to choose what piece of art I wanted to write about because my parents were with me. They pretty much liked everything in the museum and were calling my over to ever painting in the entire place. My dad even liked that one painting with all the babies in the stream which is really quite creepy. The trip became more interesting when my parents and I ventured into Modern and Contemporary Gallery.  My mom scoffed at paintings that Jackson Pollock and Mark Rothko made and was very confused. However, she did enjoy a painting in the Dadaist section. It was Marcel Duchamp"s Portrait of Artist Father. She was drawn to it because she thought it looked like my grandfather. If she hadn't pointed it out i might have over looked it. It was in a small white room with about 9 other paintings of Duchamps' older work. (The room itself acted as a hallway into a larger room that housed Duchamp's most notable work such as the Wheel.) This painting was made in 1910 and is about 2 by 3 feet. I am glad my mom pointed it out to me because it really looks like my grandfather. It  also reminds me of Cezanne's work which fits in well to my Art History schedule because i am starting a research paper on him now. According to the placard, Duchamp went through many artistic phases and acknowledged that he had a Cezanne phase. He called this portrait, "a typical example of my cult of Cezanne mixed with filial love." It is similar to Cezanne because it has simple color planes. It also has a fluffy kind of texture to it. The application of the paint seems very light and carefree but the subject matter and color palette make this painting very serious. Dreary earth tones fill the palette. These colors put a sleepy affect on the man; a worn out over time tired. The colors also give the affect that he might be disappointed. There are many ways this painting can be interpreted. I say this because there is so much love and emotion in the man's face. A strong expression is achieved with only a few brush strokes. There is a lot of color thrown into his face like greens and reds. Duchamp does this often throughout the composition. An example is in the right sleeve and the pant leg.The green here is vibrant and acts as a nice highlight. Something I do not like about this painting is that his leg looks a little awkward. It looks like it is coming up very high towards his chest. I am also not sure if that leg look like it is resting on his other leg. His hand also seems odd to me. The way the man's right hand is turned all the way so that the viewer can see the wrist, makes him seem uncomfortable. Should the left hand have another finger? Maybe if these hand shapes were not so light I wouldn't question them as much but as they are they stand out. Another problem that has arisen in my mind is the clarity of edges. There is outlining with black going on. It does not really bother me because he does this everywhere and therefore owns it. In other words, it does not seem like carelessness. Part of me wonders though what it would look like if it were crisper and without all of the outlines. I think if this were done it would not seem so Cezanne but it would be interesting. Although the body is strange, the colors redeem the piece for me. I like all the dark value he uses in the suit. The light pastel chair behind him creates a halo that focuses you eye on him. I can learn alot from this by the way Duchamp handles his fabric of the chair and how he finds colors in light in shadow. Not many other people were talking about this piece. Perhaps it has to do with its placement. However, i do think it is important because it is very different from the art of Duchamp's in the next room. What that says I am not sure but I think it is a significant sign of the way art changes after the Dada movement goes into affect.