As I climbed the west LA hill towards The Getty, white buildings slowly appeared under the clear blue sky. The white walls of Travertine, canned sediment from the quarry outside Rome, made their grandeur stand out.When I visited The Getty in February, I felt the Getty was the most aesthetic place. So I came to see the same exhibition again even though it has only been six month.

[Poster of art exhibition in February. Photo by Jiyoung Byun]

 

[Poster of art exhibition in August. Photoby Jiyoung Byun]

They were exhibiting same art pieces as my first visit. However, I felt very lucky to see those inspiring arts again: two flowers paintings of Jan van Huysum, Monet’s paintings, Portrait of Maria Frederike van Reede-Athlone at Seven Years of Ageand The Galle chandelier. Among these works, my favorite was Jan van Huysum’s painting-Vase of flowers and Fruit piece.

Vase of flowers captured the brilliant colors and delicate textures of the blossoms. For these aesthetics, Jan van Huysum painstakingly applied layer upon layer of thin oil glazes. When I first encountered this work, I was immersed in paying attention to the beauty of the flower and the fact that it looked real. And after I found human figures pattern of the vase, its specificity and realistic description of the vase, I was more attracted to the fantastical atmosphere that the pattern gives to the whole picture.Iwanted to know more about this work and looked for an explanation. I felt more beautiful after reading the description because I knew how hard the effort was. In addition, because the artist was able to paint flower only during the flowering season, I could feel the artist's patience in complete this work. 

[Photo of Vase of flower. Photo by Jiyoung Byun]

Fruit piece, his other work, was also painted with glaze. The former painting had a solid background and a pattern on the vase, but this one had a delicate depiction of the background-trees, statue, and people. What caught my attention in this painting was the green grape because the brilliant reflection of the light on it made it look like light green pearl. Also, the seemingly transparent but not transparent surface was so beautiful that even the statue behind it seemed to appreciate this. When I was drawing, it was difficult to draw the main objects in front in detail and contrast the less important objects in the back by blurring them. But after I saw this painting, I learned how to draw.

Afterwards, I searched the Internet and found the other paintings of this artist with similar themes. Among them,Bouquet of Flowers in an Urn took all my attention because the atmosphere and the depiction of flowers were so enchanting. As I feel every time I draw, living things are more attractive than inanimate thing. Even if they are like plants, I can always feel energy and liveliness in animate things. It was a long day of visit at art museum, and it gave me a wonderful time for introspection.For an art student like me who typically study art without looking at other works of art, the visit to this art exhibition was not onlyaesthetic but also psychological experience.

 











GahEun Kim
Grade 12
The Learning Community International School

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