Tate Britain

Tate Britain is the first museum I have visited while in London. I have visited art museums back home, but I have not been to very many. I was amazed by some of the art work that was presented. I really appreciated the class discussion because it helped me see smaller details that I may not have realized on my own. I find it very interesting how everyone can have their own interpretation of an art piece and we will never know what the artist intended.

As we walked in the main entrance the first thing I noticed was the floor. Then it was pointed out that maybe it was set up this way to suggest that we need to find our way through a maze of artwork. It amazes me how such little details can carry so much meaning if you want it to.

This painting is called Sketch for ‘Hadleigh Castle’ by John Constable. This painting caught my eye because of the haziness and how dark it was compared to the other paintings in the room. It gave me an empty feeling that took me back to a sad time in my life when my brother passed away. When was researching about this painting I discovered that Constable started this after his wife passed away. It is supposed to represent his mood at the time which would be loneliness and destruction. The ruins of the Castle show what is left of him after such an important person was taken away from him. I can relate in a way to how he felt, and it brings more meaning to artwork presented.

This painting is called Ophelia by John Everett Millais. This painting shows the scene from Shakespeare’s Hamlet, when Ophelia falls into a stream and drowns. This scene is not shown on stage, so it can be represented in many ways. In fact, other artist have depicted this same scene in different ways. The background was painted before and Ophelia was added later. The model had to pose in a bath full of water for four months. The water was kept warm by lamps underneath and one time they went out which caused the model to get very sick from sitting in the cold water. Ophelia had a pained look on her face which is most likely because she drowned but I think part of it could be that she felt betrayed that Hamlet killed her father. It is amazing how such tragedy is surrounded by the beautiful landscape shown in this painting.

This sculpture is called Johanaan by Ronald Moody. It is believed that this sculpture is a form of John which refers to John the Baptist. Another belief is that the work Moody produced can combine many ethnic types to show a universal humanity. Before this curving was called Johanaan, which could be a misspelling of Yochanan or Johanan from the Hebrew Bible, it was called Alles. This is a German word that can mean all people. The structure took about a year to curve and Moody used the wood’s natural qualities to his advantage. I love looking at this piece because anyone can recognize him as someone they may know.

 

Bibliography:

Tate. “’Sketch for ‘Hadleigh Castle”, John Constable, C.1828-9.” Tate, Tate, www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/constable-sketch-for-hadleigh-castle-n04810.

Tate. “’Ophelia’, Sir John Everett Millais, Bt, 1851-2.” Tate, Tate, www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/millais-ophelia-n01506.

Tate. “The Story of Ophelia – Look Closer.” Tate, Tate, www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/millais-ophelia-n01506/story-ophelia.

Tate. “’Johanaan’, Ronald Moody, 1936.” Tate, Tate, www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/moody-johanaan-t06591.

(All Photos By Me)

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