Visit to Norton Simon Museum In Pasadena, CA
The Exhibition
Title: Matisse/Odalisque
Theme: The theme of this exhibition is Odalisques, which are female slaves or concubines in harem. The odalisque is portrayed in nineteenth and twentieth century European art and this is what the exhibitions theme is. Featuring artists like Henri Matisse, Frederic Bazille, Pablo Picasso and others.
The Gallery
Lighting- In the center of the museum where the information desk is there is a large circular sky light allowing a beautiful soft light to shine in. As seen in the picture below
Then the art work is lit with gallery lights above and lights shinning behind the paintings as well. 
Wall color- The main wall color is a light bluish grey, there are separate rooms and exhibitions with different wall colors. Like the Matisse/Odalisque back wall color is a royal purple with ornate type designs. One room was orange, and another was sage green.
Interior- It was a small minimalist type of art museum, it reminded me A LOT of the Albright Knox, the way it was set up. But also kinda like the Burchfield Penney with the big words on the wall before the exhibit (I cant remember in the Knox had this) Like this example
There were several benches throughout to sit and admire the paintings.
Movement- Like any medium sized gallery usually, there was a main path to follow and then rooms that break off the path to check out different styles and exhibitions.
The Artwork
Organization- Placed linear around the perimeter of the rooms like a border with occasional statues to admire in the center of the rooms.
Similarity- The different rooms had pieces from the same century or movement and the same artist would have their pieces of the same medium or time in one chunk.
Differences- Sizes, shapes, mediums, frames, and artists created differences between pieces.
Frames- Some frames were complimented with ornate baroque/rococo type frames and some were complimented with plain simplistic frames.
Information placement- The information was placed to the right of the work in a little square box. I love when they do this instead of putting them all or two at the right of the last painting because that gets confusing.
Proximity- The artwork was spaced about a foot and a half apart. Creating a clean look but allowing a large amount of pieces to be viewed.
Artwork #1: Odalisque With Tambourine (Harmony in Blue)
Artist: Henri Matisse
Year: 1926
Medium: Oil on canvas
1) Describe: Vibrant colors, cool blues and whites, woman in the center with a transparent shirt playing the tambourine.
2)Analyze: Balance- colors and contrast of wall and floor (blues and red)
Patterns- Circular wall patterns like Moroccan tapestry, and the floor pattern representing the warm reds of Moroccan rugs.
Unity- Woman's blue and white clothes, red lips, and peachy pink nipples matching harmoniously with the wall and floor.
3)Interpret: Inviting room of beautiful vibrant Moroccan colors, nude woman in the center looking seductive with a transparent shirt and coquettish smirk.
4) Judgement: I love Henri Matisse, the way he uses so many different mediums in his work, makes it seem like a different artist is doing his work with every change. I tend to lean more towards his line and cutout art (such as the Blue Nude) for the minimalist simplicity factor. This work is far from that but I still love it. The woman in this painting fits in and stands out at the same time somehow.
Artwork #2: Untitled (En Hommage a Mademoiselle Catherine Viviano)
Artist: Henri Matisse
Year:1936
Medium: Ink on paper
1) Describe: Line drawing on beige background. Woman leaning on chair, leaf in the background.
2) Analyze: Line- Creating all different types of shapes
Emphasis- Slightly darker lines to create the woman, so your eyes are drawn to her first.
Space- Drawing is placed on the left, leaving a large blank space on the right hand side.
3) Interpret: The woman in lounging and comfortable on a Victorian Chaise Lounge style chair, which seems to point out the wealth of the environment. Her leg is peaking through, placing a sexual type comfort. The large leaf in the background seems to symbolize relaxation and exoticism.
4) Judgement: I love Matisse's line drawings, they are my absolute favorite. They're beautiful and simplistic but also hold a deep feeling in them. They look simple but it's not a simple art to do in my opinion. I think learning to draw/paint something realistic is easier than learning to draw something minimal like this but still have it draw your attention in.
Artwork #3: Women of Algiers, Version "I"
Artist: Pablo Picasso
Year: 1955
Medium: Oil on canvas
1) Describe: Multiple women, three white, one darker skinned. Variation of Delacroix Women of Algiers which is an orientalist painting. Suffocating type environment.
2) Analyze: Color- weird jarring colors that don't seem to mix or blend right.
Proportion- Small heads, large emphasized bodies and breasts
Contrast- One darker skinned woman in the back contrasting the three white women.
Space-Compact, cluttered, suffocating small space.
3) Interpret: To me it appears to be a brothel situation due to the nude women in one room, and the one larger emphasized woman on the left is wearing clothes, I would imagine her to be the "mother" of the brothel.
4) Judgement: It's an interesting painting to decipher with your eyes because there's so much going on and its such a small cluttered room you really have to look at the pieces for a while to determine the situation. And the colors seem unfinished to me and I personally don't like that. I wish the colors were more pleasing together.
Question:
I really liked looking at the art gallery from a different perspective because they definitely chose the atmosphere for the gallery to compliment the work, its just not something you tend to notice because you're looking at the artwork. It was refreshing to take notice of the surrounding.
Title: Matisse/Odalisque
Theme: The theme of this exhibition is Odalisques, which are female slaves or concubines in harem. The odalisque is portrayed in nineteenth and twentieth century European art and this is what the exhibitions theme is. Featuring artists like Henri Matisse, Frederic Bazille, Pablo Picasso and others.
The Gallery
Lighting- In the center of the museum where the information desk is there is a large circular sky light allowing a beautiful soft light to shine in. As seen in the picture below
Movement- Like any medium sized gallery usually, there was a main path to follow and then rooms that break off the path to check out different styles and exhibitions.
The Artwork
Organization- Placed linear around the perimeter of the rooms like a border with occasional statues to admire in the center of the rooms.
Similarity- The different rooms had pieces from the same century or movement and the same artist would have their pieces of the same medium or time in one chunk.
Differences- Sizes, shapes, mediums, frames, and artists created differences between pieces.
Frames- Some frames were complimented with ornate baroque/rococo type frames and some were complimented with plain simplistic frames.
Information placement- The information was placed to the right of the work in a little square box. I love when they do this instead of putting them all or two at the right of the last painting because that gets confusing.
Artwork #1: Odalisque With Tambourine (Harmony in Blue)
Artist: Henri Matisse
Year: 1926
Medium: Oil on canvas
2)Analyze: Balance- colors and contrast of wall and floor (blues and red)
Patterns- Circular wall patterns like Moroccan tapestry, and the floor pattern representing the warm reds of Moroccan rugs.
Unity- Woman's blue and white clothes, red lips, and peachy pink nipples matching harmoniously with the wall and floor.
3)Interpret: Inviting room of beautiful vibrant Moroccan colors, nude woman in the center looking seductive with a transparent shirt and coquettish smirk.
4) Judgement: I love Henri Matisse, the way he uses so many different mediums in his work, makes it seem like a different artist is doing his work with every change. I tend to lean more towards his line and cutout art (such as the Blue Nude) for the minimalist simplicity factor. This work is far from that but I still love it. The woman in this painting fits in and stands out at the same time somehow.
Artwork #2: Untitled (En Hommage a Mademoiselle Catherine Viviano)
Artist: Henri Matisse
Year:1936
Medium: Ink on paper
2) Analyze: Line- Creating all different types of shapes
Emphasis- Slightly darker lines to create the woman, so your eyes are drawn to her first.
Space- Drawing is placed on the left, leaving a large blank space on the right hand side.
3) Interpret: The woman in lounging and comfortable on a Victorian Chaise Lounge style chair, which seems to point out the wealth of the environment. Her leg is peaking through, placing a sexual type comfort. The large leaf in the background seems to symbolize relaxation and exoticism.
4) Judgement: I love Matisse's line drawings, they are my absolute favorite. They're beautiful and simplistic but also hold a deep feeling in them. They look simple but it's not a simple art to do in my opinion. I think learning to draw/paint something realistic is easier than learning to draw something minimal like this but still have it draw your attention in.
Artwork #3: Women of Algiers, Version "I"
Artist: Pablo Picasso
Year: 1955
Medium: Oil on canvas
2) Analyze: Color- weird jarring colors that don't seem to mix or blend right.
Proportion- Small heads, large emphasized bodies and breasts
Contrast- One darker skinned woman in the back contrasting the three white women.
Space-Compact, cluttered, suffocating small space.
3) Interpret: To me it appears to be a brothel situation due to the nude women in one room, and the one larger emphasized woman on the left is wearing clothes, I would imagine her to be the "mother" of the brothel.
4) Judgement: It's an interesting painting to decipher with your eyes because there's so much going on and its such a small cluttered room you really have to look at the pieces for a while to determine the situation. And the colors seem unfinished to me and I personally don't like that. I wish the colors were more pleasing together.
Question:
I really liked looking at the art gallery from a different perspective because they definitely chose the atmosphere for the gallery to compliment the work, its just not something you tend to notice because you're looking at the artwork. It was refreshing to take notice of the surrounding.
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