More Memories of Museum Visits

When I was typing this up on my other blog, I realized that I had enough material to create a full article for Hubpages. So here is the result. Also, think of this as a sequel to my previous article dedicated to (admittedly faded) memories of my museum travels.

When I was in my early twenties, I went to see the Dead Sea Scrolls exhibition at Discovery Place. It was a grand exhibition that recreated the environment and people who authored and housed the writings. In other words, before one actually saw the Scrolls, the museum had visitors go through scenes of cultural life during that era. I found myself fascinated by the pottery displays. As someone with experience in molding clay (took a ceramics class in high school), I could imagine the tools and hands that molded the jars. Suddenly, the past felt both a lot less far away and extremely familiar. The Scrolls themselves were under an interesting bit of preservation. They were inside boxes that lit up at various intervals so you could see the delicate Scrolls themselves.

During my years in graduate school, I belonged to an art history club and that club took day trips during the weekends. I and other students piled into a bus that drove us to museums in Georgia and Florida. When I was taken to Atlanta, Georgia, there were three major showcases of art. At the High Museum of Art, there were two exhibitions all about Chinese art and art from the Louvre, and the other (at the Atlantic Civic Center) was a blockbuster exhibition dedicated to Egyptian art. The Egyptian exhibition was a grand spectacle. The beginning of the exhibition had the visitors wait at these rather fake looking doors that opened up automatically after listening to a speech about Egypt as narrated by Harrison Ford. As a whole, that introduction was designed to remind you of the old time archeologists who explored Ancient Egypt's pyramids and other ruins. Once inside, visitors were greeted by a layout of black walls that accentuated Egyptian arts' immortal glamour. The sheer magnitude of ancient Egyptian history and art on display left me overwhelmed and frustrated, for I wanted to remember everything, but I could not. I do remember one artwork. A gold death mask. Now recent research helped me remember where this exhibition took place and helped me learn that the mask belonged to Psusennes I. The photos taken of the mask will never truly replicate this masterpiece's shimmering gold exterior. I remember wanting to stare at it forever.

Afterwards, I visited the High Museum of Art and it felt subdued and tasteful compared to the high grandeur found at the Egyptian exhibition. In that museum, they had two exhibitions dedicated to Chinese art and art donated from the Louvre. From what I remember, the Chinese exhibition had life-size warrior sculptures. In the Louvre showcase, I saw The Lady of Auxerre. I found her charming and unique in her abstract finery. I had to research to jog my memory and corroborate whether or not she was there. Amusingly, there was also one small room dedicated to art that was later confirmed as fakes.

Another (later) visit to the High led to me seeing Leonardo da Vinci's writings. As I looked at the pages now preserved in glass, I found myself realizing that I could read and understand his writings due to my practicing Italian and speaking (and reading) the language during my time in Italy. They also had his collaborations with Andrea del Verrocchio. Outside of the museum, the High had a sculpture of da Vinci's planned but never executed Sforza monument. I remember how immense the sculpture was. I do not think I even saw the whole thing, for it was also raining and foggy.

Another day trip took us to Florida's Gainesville Museum of Art. What I remember? The Gainesville had a Monet and a substantial collection of Korean art. They also had an exhibition of furniture from 1950s era Miami (I think). From what I remember, and I could be wrong, the text at the show explained that when these material goods were new, they was celebrated as the height of streamlined modernity. However, for me It felt plastic and artificial, right down to the use of material and color. I also went to the science museum nearby that had a room dedicated to butterflies. As butterflies fluttered around me in a room full of nature, I found myself thinking I was in a fantasy world.