by Delaynna Trim, Mabee-Gerrer Museum of Art Curator
Did you know that World Art Day is April 15? World Art Day is an international celebration of the fine arts which was declared by the International Association of Art in order to promote awareness of creative activity worldwide.
Arts and Culture Day at the Oklahoma State Capitol is April 11. Oklahomans for the Arts hosts this advocacy day to let legislators know about important issues related to the arts and to celebrate the importance of arts and culture in Oklahoma.
The “arts” encompasses everything from painting and drawing to weaving, mosaics, and so much more. In Western Europe during the Renaissance, they considered painting to be the top form of art with sculpture and other “crafts” below. But, in the Islamic areas, all forms of art were encouraged and considered to be of equal value.
What form of art is your favorite? Which are you best at?
Art dates back to the Upper Paleolithic period (40,000 – 10,000 years ago) with cave paintings. People ground charcoal or burnt bones to create black pigment. They used limonite for yellow and hematite for red, and white came from ground calcite. They painted using moss and chewed twigs. We have it so much easier today. We just have to go to the store to buy paint and brushes!
Art has changed a lot over the centuries, and especially as we near the current century. The popular style has changed from accurate human bodies in the Renaissance to more dramatic art in the Baroque. Impressionism shocked many people with its emphasis on light and color and not on details. (Fr. Gerrer was not a big fan!) Abstract expressionism shocked audiences again with eliminating any recognizable shapes and figures.
The question of “what is art?” has been around for a while. Marcel Duchamp asked that
question with his piece, Bicycle Wheel which was a bicycle wheel that he installed on a stool in 1913. The circle of the wheel was reminiscent of a face while the stool looked like a pedestal, so it made one think of the Roman portrait busts sitting on a pedestal. He once again pushed the boundaries in 1917 with Fountain which was a urinal that he installed on its side and signed it R. Mutt. Many artists since Duchamp have also questioned what made something into art. Andy Warhol with his silk screen prints of everyday objects such as Campbell’s soup cans also pushed the boundaries of what makes art.
The Mabee-Gerrer Museum of Art has a wide variety of art ranging from Ancient Egyptian pottery to Greek vases to Medieval and Renaissance paintings to African masks to a clay Chinese camel to Native American beadwork, and so much more. Being an encyclopedic art museum, we have artwork representing many civilizations across the world and across 8,000 years. What is your favorite piece in the museum?
Come check out some great art by local high school students until April 28.
Art Project
Draw your favorite piece from the museum’s collection!
Visit www.mgmoa.org/collections for inspiration.
Check out www.mgmoa.org/art-projects for videos on how to draw a Greek Vase and more art videos that connect to our collection.
