Walking around an art gallery can be a daunting process. For someone who is not artistic and has difficulties finding “the deeper meaning” in art walking around without a guide is difficult. I went into a room which drew my attention, lots of wild colours and lights. This gallery is known as the Signy Eaton Gallery found in the Art Gallery of Ontario (http://www.ago.net/). While walking around and looking at the bright lights and unique art, a security guard walked up to me and my friends. He offered to show us one of his favourite paitning in the gallery. To be honest when he said painting I could not place my finger on which painting could be his favourite. Not a single painting in this room stood out to me, in between the bright lights and unique sculptures the paintings were the last thing on my mind. The security guard brought us over to a plain looking painting called In the Autumn of Life which was painted by a Canadian artist named William Kurelek. The painting seemed to be a picture of a family outside a house. There was farm land all around, and it appeared to be an autumn scene. I did not understand why this picture could possibly be one of the security guard’s favourite paintings.
He started asking us questions, about what we thought the painting could be. He then started to point out little things we never would have noticed. For example the mail box outside of the house had the artist’s last name, as the guard told us it was suppose to symbolize that the house was his fathers. In the background there was also a mushroom cloud which could have been caused by a nuclear bomb going off in the background. Finally in the front left corner of the painting there was also a cross shaped tree with a man tied to it.
These little features not only would have been missed, but even had I seen them I would not have known the significance. In the case of house being his father’s as the security guard pointed out it was probably because they artist and his father did not have a great relationship. The man attached to the cross shaped tree could to some people be seen as Jesus. This refers back to William Kurelek’s early life. Religion played a huge part in his upbringing and later played a role in his other art works. This also refers back to the mushroom cloud in the background. Others works of art by the artist also showed images of doom on Earth (O’ Brien, n.d.). Another interesting thing I learned from the security guard was that not only did the artist paint the picture, but he also made the frame. Working with wood was one of his other artistic contributions.
In terms of the picture its self the first thing that struck me was the texture. The way he painted the picture there were lots of natural elements that involved the need of texture such as the grass and trees. The colours he used also helped to captivate the setting. He really illustrated what appeared to be an autumn setting. This picture because of the texture and colours does bring me to think of a beautiful autumn day where the leaves and grass are starting to dry out and are crunchy. The air smells clean and not heavy and polluted like in the summer. Looking at this picture makes me feel very relaxed regardless of the religious doom shown in the background. In contrast to the rest of the room as I mentioned this picture does not fit. As the security guard said he and others refer to the room as the “crazy 60s drug room”, as according to the security guard this was a time when many of the artists started engaging in drug use such as acid and created art. This picture in my mind does not belong here; it is far too calming of a picture to me to be shown with neon bright lights. During the time the painting was created in 1964 the world was in an interesting time. World War Two was not far in the past, The Cold War and the Vietnam War were around this time and the world was starting to understand the destructive power humans have over the world. The concept of big bombs that could destroy large areas and could kill many people were no longer just a threat at the back of people’s minds, they were a reality. I strongly feel that the current state of war and fear had an influence over William Kurelek’s art (O’ Brien, n.d.). In conclusion once viewing this painting and having someone explain in much finer detail than I would have ever been able to do on my own I was able to gain a great deal more appreciation for the work.
The most important thing I learned while at the art gallery was not about the specific piece of art, but rather that security guards are a highly untapped resource. When I was first approached by the man we refused his help, but once we accepted it and started to listen to him speak about various paintings in the gallery I had a great deal of appreciation for his help. He commented that many people do not realize just how much the security guards know. They spend a great deal of time surrounded by the art and it is only to be expected that they learn about the art. Had it not been for this man I would never have known so much about that one painting.
Future Implications
In the case of future implications, I strongly think the tired and true quote “A picture is worth a thousand words” comes into play. In grade three I had a teacher that made us try and write a thousand words about pictures we drew for an art project. This activity was difficult and not very many people could do so. This taught us an important lesson; that we had to think outside of the box. We could never write a thousand words about a pink flower we had drawn, we had to think about it more deeply. We wrote about how we felt when we drew it, what it reminded us about and critiqued our pictures. By the end of the activity we were almost all able to write a thousand words about our picture. In the case of future implications for early childhood education I think having children reflect on their art is important. Asking children questions outside of what their picture physically looks like on paper, but asking them questions on how they felt while drawing it can make them think more critically about their art and give them a much better appreciation for art. In the case of going to the art gallery it was important to keep that quote in mind because it lets us think outside of the box and try to get into the mind of the artist. We can then critique and gain a much better perspective of art.
Texture:
The definition of texture according to Schirrmacher and Fox is “The surface quality of a work of art; how it feels” (Schirrmacher & Fox, 2009, p. 368).
I slightly disagree with this definition. In the case of this painting when looking at it I think it has texture, however I didn’t physically run my hand along it (as in an art gallery that is a huge no no) to find out if this was the truth. The picture was not the only element that had texture, as the frame its self looked to be bumpy and had many grooves as well. As far as I am concerned this painting showcased texture, even though I did not physically check. Even if it was smooth, the way the artist was able to paint the picture it appeared to have texture.
References
O’ Brien, M. (n.d.). The Passion of William Kurelek. Retrieved April 10,
2011, from http://www.studiobrien.com/writings_on_culture/the-
passion-of-william-kurelek.html
Schirrmacher, R., & Fox, J.E. (2009). Art and creative development for
young children (6th Ed.). Belmont, CA: Delmar.
