Imagine Magazine - Johns Hopkins - May/June 2014 - (Page 22)
G
by rachel troy
ROWING UP IN ThE SUBURBS Of NEW YORk CITY,
I looked forward to school field trips to the city's museums every year. I remember staring wide-eyed at Vincent
van Gogh self-portraits, the expressive blues recalling a
lapping ocean. The doll-like lion of henri Rousseau's
Sleeping Gypsy, on the other hand, reminded me of my
favorite Disney movie, and the colors of the sleeping woman's dress recalled
the biblical story of Joseph's many-colored coat that I had learned
in religious school.
Across Time
Transported by
the World in a tulip
My formal education in art began not in an art class, but in my 10th-grade
European history class. In the beginning of the year, my teacher lectured on
the Dutch Republic. As we studied Dutch culture, she presented slide after
slide of tulip paintings from the Dutch Golden Age of the 17th century. Not
only were the paintings beautiful, but they were history lessons in themselves,
telling the story of the Tulip Mania that followed the flower's introduction to
the Netherlands in the 1600s.
Tulip Mania led to a profusion of tulip images, but their historical significance extended even beyond the subject matter. Many were not paintings
but prints, a more affordable and increasingly common alternative made
possible by technological innovation. Some works featured tulips in still-life
paintings, a popular genre in the Dutch Republic. Unlike their European
peers, who painted biblical subjects, many Dutch artists painted still-lifes and
landscapes instead. These tulip images were vivid proof that every aspect of
a work of art-subject, composition, media, style-has a cultural context. I
was enthralled.
As my history class moved on to new revolutions and wars, I began
exploring art history on my own. On the bottom floor of my local library
was a café that sold discounted books. A book I bought there, on the history of the color red in art, was the first art history book I read. And then
the ziggurat of books on my bedside tables began to rise, biographies of
22 imagine
Caravaggio and histories of Pop Art stacking on top of mystery novels and
Jane Austen romances.
I was enjoying these independent studies, but I also started craving a
more formal approach that might help me piece together the patches of
knowledge I had gleaned from my readings. Searching online for a summer
course, I found a variety of art history courses offered at different colleges,
museums, and galleries. I ultimately decided to take a six-week course at
Boston University, where high school students could take university-level
classes. I was considering Boston for college, so this would provide a chance
to explore the city while taking an academically rigorous course. I chose
Introduction to Western Art: Renaissance to Today.
Art, Alive
The first Tuesday the class was set to meet, I went to the designated building-the College of Arts and Sciences-and found the classroom twice to
ensure I wouldn't be late. I arrived at the classroom for the third time half
an hour early and waited for my professor to arrive. I was nervous. I prided
myself on being an excellent student, but how would I fare in a college course?
My anxiety quickly subsided. The atmosphere was surprisingly relaxed.
My professor, Rachel Tolano, would lecture and then open the room to
guided discussion. Although I was initially hesitant to participate, I found
may/Jun 2014
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Imagine Magazine - Johns Hopkins - May/June 2014
Big Picture
In My Own Words
Imagine, Design, Build
A Schematic of the Possible
My Life as an Architect
Blueprint for the Future
DesertSol: A Model of Sustainability
Across Space and Time
The Art of Summer
Selected Opportunities & Resources
A Digital Canvas
Rising to the Technovation Challenge
Off the Shelf
Word Wise
Exploring Career Options
One Step Ahead
Planning Ahead for College
Students Review
Creative Minds Imagine
Mark Your Calendar
Knossos Games
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