Art Criticism

Ishel Brimhall October 13, 2016

Writing about artwork:

I chose the Minerva Teichert exhibition at the Museum of Art on BYU campus.

1. Write a Haiku poem about an artwork in a museum or art gallery.

Journey of the Jaredites across Asia

By Minerva Teichert

The Jaredites trekked

through sweat, dust and light searching

For the promised land

2.  Write a 2 sentence interpretation about an artwork in a museum.

Treachery of Amalickiah

By Minerva Teichert

This colorful and powerful scene depicts Amalickiah’s lies about the Lamanite King’s death. The beautiful bright pink cloak instantly drew me in and focused my attention on the Queen’s vulnerability as well as her strength.

3. Write a vivid half page description of an artwork in a museum or gallery.

Flight

By Minerva Teichert

This painting instantly struck me as interesting because of the bright teal color creating a vignette around the figures. I was so attracted to this painting because of the canvas color showing through. I am in a painting class right now and we are experimenting with exposing the canvas color through the brushstrokes. I think that Minerva brought parts of the canvas color through to the foreground of the painting because she wanted to give the painting more depth. The bright blue color contrasted with the muted shades on the family and camels creates a deeper image. This painting does not exhibit many colors. The palette is very small consisting of tan, beige, navy blue and gray. The bright blue color that surrounds the family is set as the focal point for the image.

This particular painting depicts Lehi and his family fleeing Jerusalem because of God’s command. The family is not unified in the decision to leave Jerusalem. Some like Lehi and Nephi are looking forward into the future while their brothers Laman and Lemuel are wistfully looking back at their home. The mother Sariah is strategically placed in the center of the family camel pack, symbolizing the unifying love of a mother for her family.

4. Write 5 questions about an artwork in a museum or gallery.

1. Why is that man on the right looking up into the sky or to heaven?
2. How did Minerva create such a soft glowing light in her painting?
3. Why are most of the people kneeling?
4. Who is the boy in the left hand corner?
5. Who is the person being baptized and is he important or noteworthy figure in scripture stories?