Frye Art Museum in Seattle - Essay Example

..Through different approaches that include product pricing, promotion, marketing, and circulation, Lui seeks to investigate, understand and discuss value – particularly the complex characteristics of value in art – as well as the rules, mechanisms, and politics behind the creation of value.” (introduction to Liu Ding’s Store) It is in light of this intellectual context that Liu Ding’s presentation will have to be viewed. And this politico-economic context adds richness and meaning to what would otherwise be dull, unimpressive works.

For example, a prominent painting in this exhibition is that of a huge python whose body is not yet fully painted. By showing only the head and tail of the giant snake, the painter is prompting the viewer’s imagination to fill in the space. This feature opens up the scope for interpretation as well. Moreover, this artistic angle underscores the role of synthetic imagination in the discourse on aesthetics. Coming to the politico-economic angle, the exhibition shows how method, planning, schedule and intermediary stages supplement the production of works of art – a fact that is often shadowed by the beauty of the finished product.

Another painting under the theme of ‘unfinished paintings’ is the Die Svende, which is an elaborately decorated frame enclosing nothing. Far from the conventional, Liu Ding’s exhibition can prove to be either thought provoking or disappointing, based on the taste, refinement and patience shown by the viewer. Ties That Bind: American Artists in Europe is another exhibition in the Frye Art Museum. This exhibition, though, is quite conventional, in that, it showcases portraits and landscapes representing classical styles that evolved in 18th and 19th century Europe.

When the dust settled after the end of the Civil War in 1865, many American artists ventured across the Atlantic to learn, assimilate and master the flourishing artistic culture in Continental Europe. Europe at the time was witnessing a peaking of artistic, cultural and intellectual expression, and American artists sought the excitement and stimulus of such an atmosphere. The result is a whole era of artistic production that adapted European techniques and traditions to American talents. William Merritt Chase’ Portrait of a Lady against Pink Ground (ca.1886) is one of the paintings on display.

According to Chase’ experience “each sitter presents some new phase of personality that one has never done before. There is constant variety; constant study in my work” (from accompanying note). Seen in this vein, the portrait in discussion captures the bohemian attitude in the pose and posture of the lady (Miss Virginia Gerson). John Singer Sargent’s Mrs. Frederick William Roller (dated 1895) is similar in theme adapting a mature style of portraiture that captures “the interior life of the sitter against the backdrops of finely articulated spaces” (from the explanatory note accompanying the painting).

The elderly lady Mrs. Roller, dressed in a black gown, standing in the backdrop of an architectural frame, makes quite an impression. The impact on the viewer is heightened by the skilful depiction of the curves of her dress and in the attention to detail given to the room setting. The fact that Mrs. Roller is shown with minimal jewelry and accessories is a testament