SPSU ARTS 2001 Guide for visit to the High Museum of Art, Louvre Exhibit Fall 2006
(High Museum, 1280 Peachtree St., Atlanta, 30309, 404-733-4400; www.High.org)
Assignment: Visit the High Museum of Art, view art, answer questions/activities and type a report.
Objective to see special Louvre exhibit and comment on it, then view rest of High-Atrium Gallery with 20th
Century Contemporary Art and then the Stent wing with many historical periods. In addition view 2nd floor
of Wieland Pavillian Special Exhibiton of Morris Lewis. Use the suggested tour guide outline-there are
some questions for specific art works -try to answer if time.
** You must bring some verification that you visited: ticket, sticker, photo of yourself at the
Museum.**
Time: 2+hours, allow a minimum of 2 hours to visit the High. (A 2 hr. visit is just a highlight, quick survey
of the collection and special exhibitions. In-depth viewing will require additional time and is
recommended.)
Suggested visit schedule: (45min to 1 hr. at Louvre (Chambers Wing); 15 min in Wieland Pavilion
Contemporary Art; 45 min. in Stent Family Wing; 15 minutes 2nd floor of Wieland Morris Lewis Exhibit. )
Suggested Route:
- Start in on Lobby Level of Weiland Pavilion
- view Louvre Atlanta: Faces of History & Myth in the entry of Anne Cox Chambers Wing 1st floor
- view Louvre Atlanta: The King’s Drawing Room in Galleries 214-216 on second level
- view Louvre Atlanta: Kings as Collectors in Galleries 422-424 on Skyway level
Cross over bridge from Anne Cox Chambers Wing to Skyway Level of Weiland Pavilion and tour galleries
411-421.
Cross over bridge from Skyway Level of Weiland Pavilion (near Gallery 412) to Skyway Level of Stent
Family Wing
floor,
- Starting on the 4th floor, view galleries on each floor; use ramp to get to each lower level, 3rd
floor, then Robinson Atrium.
2nd
- Visit Green Family Learning Gallery on Lobby Level of Stent Family Wing
- Walk back to Lobby Level of Wieland Pavilion; go to 2nd floor to view Morris Lewis Special Exhibition;
take elevator to visit Lower Level of Weiland Pavilion (African Art, photography, works on paper)
What to do at the museum: (Note: These are basic guidelines that could be followed for any museum.)
Gather information to answer the specific writing assignment questions. (Another sheet)
Look at all the artworks. You will be drawn to artworks based on your interests and preferences. You
will need to pay special attention to the wall texts and a few specific artworks, which will be identified.
Read the Introductory Wall Texts (IWT): Provides broad overview of an exhibition. This is at the
entrance of an exhibition, also at the beginning of a collection or special section of a gallery.
Read the Secondary Wall Texts; Provides general information for artworks in a gallery or section.
The Secondary Texts are usually at the entrance to a gallery or are between galleries/rooms. (Read
through them (quickly is ok) to find out why the artworks have been arranged or hung together, and what
the art works are about, such as themes, subject matter, technique, time period, time created etc).
Look at labels for individual artworks. Provides information on the specific artwork. They will
include; artist, title, date, medium, and sometimes more background or detailed information regarding that
specific artwork and/or the artist. An individual artwork label is next to an artwork usually to right just
below eye level.
Read labels that are specifically identified in assignment. Read others per your interest and available
time.
Look carefully at the artworks. Notice things about them that you can only see in real life looking
at the original artwork. Move closer to (but not closer than 3 feet) and back away from individual
artworks. Look at artworks from across the gallery/room; scan a gallery to notice relationships between
the images, notice size and scale and what “Pops” out from a distance, etc.
****Notice such things as: photographs: clarity, details, contrast, values, gloss; Paintings: brush
strokes- the way the paint has been applied, thick or thin, wide or narrow, texture or none; light source,
highlights, shadows, reflection on the canvas; colors-palette selection, darks, lights, dull, bright, primary,
pastel etc; Subject matter-image itself; image-clarity, close-up and from farther away how does the
artwork change to the viewer; picture plane- 2-D vs. 3-D quality, depth, perspective; size-scale of
artwork. Sculpture and 3-D: height, depth, width, type material(s), surface texture(s), proportions, scale,
etc.)
Notice similarities with art works & time periods in the SPSU Arts 2001 curriculum, textbooks,
classroom presentations etc.
Walk through the galleries to view the High’s Permanent Collection primarily American Art form 19th
cent to 20th C. Many of the artists featured are in the texts and will be discussed during the class.
Seeing original artwork created by them will help you. Some galleries have different types of artworks
from the same time period displayed together, paintings, sculpture and decorative arts- (furniture,
ceramics, silver, glass etc.)
Museum Visit Outline: Take notes/write on this paper at museum in pencil only- then
Type Report 12 pt., sequence information as requested by part and number
Attach museum admission sticker to report, top right corner. Attach photo.
Date visited__________
Student:
Due
Class Time: 10 or 11
[On time___Late___date___Points___Grade____]
Self guided Tour for ARTS 2001 Fall 2006:
Part I Exterior: Notice the sculptures and buildings.
1. Sifly Piazza Sculptures. Bronze Shade by Rodin, House 111 by Lichtenstein.
What is your impression of, what do you think about House III?_(colors, scale,
relationship to other buildings,)
2. The architect for the 1983 High, now the Stent Wing was Richard Meier. The
Architect Renzo Piano designed a master plan for the Woodruff Arts Center that
included the new Chambers Wing and Wieland Pavilion. Where do you see
repetition and/or pattern in these buildings?
Part II: Entrance: Lobby Level of Wieland Pavilion
Enter building; get a permit for a pencil and (if you brought one) a camera permit from
the security desk. (There are free headphones/audio guide for the Louvre exhibit.
Try to use them on your visit- but note that the assignment may be done without
audio guide –just read the wall text and labels on the wall.)
Look at sculpture outside the lobby, Balzac/Petanque by Oldenburg & van Bruggen,
(Peaches & Pears)
Part III: (45 min in Louvre Special Exhibition.) Use Audio Guide. Select a few artworks
to look at read/listen more closely. Try to select at least one from each section. Be sure
to view the works by three “Masters” Raphael, Rembrant and Valezques at the center of
the Skyway level. *(You may do an expanded report on this exhibition for extra credit)
Start in Anne Cox Chambers Wing Lobby - view Louvre Atlanta: Faces of History &
Myth in lobby, The King’s Drawing Room in Galleries 214-216 on second level and
Kings as Collectors in Galleries 422-424 on Skyway level
Enter the Lobby, read Title wall and Introductory Wall Text. Who organized the
exhibition? _____________
*Identify an artwork on one of the three levels that you liked or found interesting and
explain why.
Title
Date
Medium
Subject
Description
Why selected
What are your reactions to A. the works by the three “Masters” and B. the Louvre
Atlanta exhibition in general? (One paragraph)
Part IV (15 minutes) Cross bridge to Skyway Level Weiland Pavilion, Galleries 411420, 20th Century Art- (notice artworks colors, size, scale and how you respond to them)
A few artworks have information cards by them, called A Closer Look, to help explain
the artworks.
In Gallery 413, find the artwork by Keifer. What is the surface like?
Look at Untitled by Tony Smith in Gallery 412. What do you notice first?
In Wieland Pavilion, look at the ceiling and skylights. How does the natural light,
height, gallery size and space between artworks effect the way you view the art, and
the way you feel in the space?
Cross the bridge from Gallery 412 to enter the Stent Family Wing. (45 minutes - 15
minutes per floor) in original Meiers Building. The Galleries include works from the
High’s Permanent collection, fine and decorative arts including furniture are displayed
by time periods and/or styles and chronological time line.
Part V Stent Family Wing Skyway Level: Start in Gallery 401, walk through Galleries
401 to 410. Notice folk art in 406-409, sculpture & Craig artwork in 410.
Part VI Stent Family Wing 3rd Floor: - American Art, Mid to Late –19th Century
Walk through Galleries 301 to 310. On this floor notice the subject matter for the
artworks: Portrait, Religion/Mythology, and Scenes from everyday life-Genre, Historical
Events, Landscape, Still life. Try to identify the time period, and /or styles.
Go to Gallery 303 Look on a nearby wall for a painting by Carlsen, c 1926. What is
the title?_________
Continue to Gallery 306. Try the fun activity of “cropping” or “framing” a
photograph. Look at the original by Steiglitz, Winter-5th Avenue, 1892. (AML Text pg
153, used “Straight’, undoctored photography). Photos focus is derived from what is
kept and what is eliminated.
Go to Gallery 307. Enter to the right; on the long the outer walls are portraits. Look
at the artworks and notice the way they were composed and the different styles of
the artists who created them. Look at the brushstrokes, some paintings have wide
and bold others not very noticeable. Find the Portrait of Anne by Bellows (a little
blond haired girl in a blue dress). What is the artist’s first name?____
Part VII Stent Family Wing 2nd Floor: Permanent Collection Galleries - European Art,
14th –16th Centuries
Walk through Galleries 201 – 210.
Look to the left of the entranceway to Gallery 201, there are examples of Byzantine
style (Characteristics include the use of gold leaf, almond eyes, and appearing flat
with no depth). Look to the right of the entranceway Italian Renaissance. Find the
artwork with green drapery by Bellini, Madonna and Child. Date it was painted?
Look at the far wall directly across from the entrance at the artwork by Nicholas
Tournier, The Denial of Saint Peter, C. 1630. The artwork has characteristics similar
to the Baroque artist Caravaggio who was known for his innovative use of light as
“spotlights”.
Between Gallery 202 and 203 are sculptures. Notice the material/medium made
of/from.
Gallery 204 Neo-Classicism to Impressionism. In the center area Corot has two
paintings on the same wall that represent nature as it appears so it is called
Realism. Monet’s painting Houses of Parliament in the Fog is an example of an
Impressionist painting. Impressionism paintings incorporate looser more visible
brushstrokes with softer colors than Realism. Stand about 3 feet in front of the
painting then slowly back up, watch the painting ‘come into focus’. What year was
‘Fog’ painted in?____
On the outside back wall is a painting Port of London, by Luce. He was a follower of
Seurat and it is painted in a Pointillist style. They portrayed scenes from everyday
life using small dots of pure color.
Gallery 205 American Art, 18th to Mid 19th Centuries. On the wall straight ahead
and just to the left find a portrait of a woman by John Singleton Copley. He is
considered one of America’s finest portrait painters. Compare this to other portraits
in the room.
Part VIII: Return to Wieland Pavilion
Walk down the ramp to the atrium, stop in the Greene Family Education Center Gallery
if you have time.
Go to the Lobby Level of Wieland, Go to the 2nd floor to view the Morris Lewis Exhibit
then take elevator down to Lower Level of Wieland. Visit Galleries 100-102, recent
gifts, photography, Works on Paper, African Collection.
Part IX: Personal Observations and Reflections; Identify during visit, write up
immediately after.(Type answers/explanation in a few sentences.)
What artwork anyplace in the museum caught your eye? Made you stop and look,
question, think. Artist:
Title
Medium
year made
Subject matter
Description:
Where was it located? Floor and section
What was your immediate reaction when you first saw it?
a.Why did you select it?
b.What did you find interesting?
c.How did it make you feel? Be specific:
What was the artwork you liked the best?
Artist
Medium
Title
year
Location in Museum
Description.
Why did you select this artwork?
One word or phrase to describe the Museum experience?
Would you recommend the museum? Yes-Why? No-Why-not?
What advice would you give someone before they visited?
Which area of the museum did you like better, why?
Was it your 1st visit to the High? Was this visit a worthwhile experience, worth your
time and effort? Yes or no Why?
Explain in one paragraph- what would you like the museum to know about your
visit? (What made it good or bad, what helped you to learn about the artworks, what
you would have like the museum to add or change, etc.).
Explain in a minimum of one paragraph how the museum visit relates to, supports
and/or reinforces the Arts 2001 course you are currently taking. What did you learn?
What new questions did you have?
Explain in one paragraph your impression, reflection of viewing original
artworks at a museum. Explain how viewing original works of art was different
than seeing the art as reproductions in class. What surprised you? What did you
notice? How did having artworks together in galleries influence the way you looked
at them? How did seeing many artworks by one artist (Morris Lewis) give you a
perspective of the artist?
Other comments you would like to share: