The Hammer Museum

Grammar 105B

May 2, 2014

Field trip to the Hammer Museum

At the moment, the Hammer Museum is hosting two major exhibitions, "The Armand Hammer Collection," which is a permanently displayed collection and comprises both American and European works of art of the 19th century, reflecting Armand Hammer's personal taste, and "Tea and Morphine: Women in Paris, 1880 to 1914," exhibition that presents a variety of art work depicting women and their feelings of struggle and desperation resulted from the extreme social differences of the time, and how tea and morphine became their favorite drugs to deal with those feelings. Although seemingly different, both of these exhibitions focus on the France of the late 19th century and early 20th century, and how the circumstances of the period affected all social classes in such a way that it was reflected in the work of the artists of that time.

One of the paintings that moved me the most because of the immediate emotion it conveys was "Garden of the Rectory at Nuenen, (1885)" from Vincent Van Gogh, which is part of the Armand Hammer Collection. This work of art depicts a gruesome winter landscape where the most prominent colors presented are white, brown and yellow. Leafless trees, dirt roads, snow and, in the center of the painting, a far away church. The only apparent signs of life are a few tall pines and trees that almost cover the line of the horizon and some other small plants and flowers by a nearby house. As opposed to Van Gogh's most popular work, which usually contains a wide range of bright colors and express feelings of sublime joy, peace and contentment, this painting seems to convey a message of solitude, sadness and desperation and could be representative of the author's feelings during that period of time. It appears as if the artist wants the viewer to be able to see what he was seeing and feel what he was feeling at that particular moment. The landscape could easily be the author's view from a second...