The Art at the Palmer Museum(#2)

Last Friday, I entered into the Palmer Museum to look for a single piece of art that drew me in and that I connected with on some level. The painting that did all this was one of the first I had seen. My admiration of it struck me as soon as I turned to it. The piece was named Boy Looking at Mount Fuji by Katsuchika Hokusai. The piece depicts a boy sitting on a tree and staring up at Mount Fuji. Though I went on to view many other great pieces, this piece stayed with me after I left.

Katsuchika Hokusai lived in Japan 1760 to 1849 in a time known as the Edo period. The piece was created in 1839, which was several years after he created what he is best known for: the Thirty-Six Views of Mount Fuji. The piece is very much of its time and place, and seeks to portray life in accordance and beauty with the mountain. Hokusai created the Thirty-Six Views of Mount Fuji because of the increasing amount of domestic travel and to show his obsession with Mt. Fuji and show its beauty. The same can be said of this piece. It shows the beauty of the mountain and the power it creates in us.

The pathos of the piece is strong. There could be a range of difference emotions that come out of this piece. For instance, the first time I had seen it I immediately felt the loneliness of the boy. That was the first emotion, but after viewing it for more time, I also felt that the privacy the boy is enjoying in this seemingly secluded spot and staring up at Mt. Fuji might have exhilerating and fantastic. At once, I was struck by the happiness of privacy, but also the sadness of loneliness and, in the background, a beautiful Mt. Fuji.

Katsuchika Hokusai lived in Japan 1760 to 1849 in a time known as the Edo period. He is best known for the Thirty Six Views of Mount Fuji, a collection of drawings with Mt. Fuji in difference seasons.  As someone who hasn't been interested in art or painting in any kind of depth, I recognized many of his pieces from television or other media. That instantly struck me that this man is well-known.

The artist is making the claim about how beautiful and daunting Mt. Fuji can be and about how we can experience it. His claim is that we can just appreciate the beauty of it and experience nature like Mt. Fuji by ourselves and to feel the power it can bring to you. From the painting, I must say that he did an excellent job at making that claim and is persuasive because the way in which create the mountain backdrop against the boy is stunning to me. It is beautiful in itself, so how can the mountain that inspired such powerful emotions on paper not be just as powerful in reality?

Before my visit to the Palmer Museum, I had never went to a art museum before. Truthfully, I wasn't expecting much from it, but soon I getting into the paintings and thinking about them. From this visit, an interest was sparked into the possibility of going to other art museums. I feel that the Palmer Museum was an experience I enjoyed, and my interest in going back is alive. I felt it was a very great way to just enjoy the paintings and see how I feel about each one, and seeing how the varieties of art has changed from century to century. It was also a great way to view history with these artworks that are centuries old and comparing them to modern day art. The visit has sparked an interest into art and about analyzing it to identify what is going on beyond the aesthetic pleasure of it.

-Information about the author comes from http://www.katsushikahokusai.org/