For a copy of last years report in Microsoft Word format, download this zip file. museum.zip You will need to Un-Zip it for it to work. Note: this year's may be different.

Edward R. Murrow High School                                               Fine Arts/Tech Theater Department
Saul Bruckner, Principal                                                            Stage & Set Design: Scott Parker, Teacher

Admission: Upon entering the museum, bear right. Pay any amount from $1-5. You do not need to pay the entire amount, as it is a suggested donation.

Hours: Sunday through Thursday 9:30am-5:15pm; Friday and Saturday 9:30am – 8:30pm; closed Mondays.

Parking: There is a museum-parking garage at Fifth Avenue and 80^th Street, but there is a substantial fee to park.

Coat-Check: There is free coat checking located at the Museum entrance. All umbrellas and packages must be checked before entering the galleries.

Cafeteria- Friday, Saturday 9:30-8:30pm; Tuesday-Thursday 9:30am-4:30pm If you don’t want to eat in the cafeteria, go back outside to the steps. There is always a hot dog/pretzel/soda stand nearby.  

·        The Museum periodically changes the location of their works. If one of the works of art you have been asked to locate is not there, ask the uniformed guards in the galleries where it is.

·        Because of its popularity, you can expect to find huge crowds on the weekends. Be sure to bring a pad (so you can lean on it as you write) and a pen and several sharp pencils with you. Be prepared to spend the entire day. This is not a report you can do in one hour.

·        Report guidelines: 

o       I have tried to make it very clear as to what work I expect to be done. Look for the Italics!!! You may add anything more you find of interest.

o       All written answers are to be typed (NO EXCEPTIONS.) 

o       Drawings may be contained within your sketchbook, or you may re-draw them on larger paper. I will want to see the original sketches done at the museum as well.

When you enter the main 5^th Avenue entrance to the Museum, make a right. You will walk through the Egyptian galleries toward the American Wing. If you have trouble finding it, ask a guard. On your way through the Egyptian area, you will pass through a large room with a wall of skylights. In this room is an Egyptian temple. Picture that you were doing a production set in Egypt, and you could use this temple in your set. Draw a sketch of the whole temple from any angle you wish. Then draw an up-close detail of a small section of one side.

As you continue towards the American Wing, you will find yourself in a round room with Panoramic Views of the Palace of Versailles. Standing in the middle of this room, turn around 360 degrees. This panorama could be used as a “cyclorama” for a French play. Please define the word, “cyclorama.” (Look it up.)

Not far from the Palace of Versailles room is the gothic revival library. Take a look at this room. This will be the most important part of this trip, as we will be using your drawings of this room during our designing for “Harvey.” You will notice shapes in the windows, detail on the ceiling and the window seat. This room is from the year 1852. Look at the bookcases, notice the detail in the carving, the desk, the mantel, the fireplace, the chandelier and the curtains. Choose four objects and complete detail drawings for later reference. You want to draw the room as a whole, including as much detail as possible.

After you are done with this room, make a left and walk. At the stairwell, you will find lots of molding details. In the corner, on the left, there is a wall lamp. Touch the molding in the corner and around the doors. Draw a detailed picture as if you were going to hand it to a carpenter to duplicate. Continue straight into the next room without stopping. Make a left and down the hall you will find a green wall filled with windows. Go into that room. This room is the Frank Lloyd Wright room. Take a look at the lines, molding, and furniture of this room. Write a paragraph comparing these features with those found in the Gothic Revival Library.

Upstairs from the Frank Lloyd Wright room is the mezzanine. Go up and find the paintings by John Singer Sergeant. You will find six large portraits. These portraits are great for costume design research. Choose any one portrait and complete a quick sketch of one of the dresses. Use your skills in contour drawing. Do not worry about drawing the faces.

Nearby, you will enter the Henry R. Luce Center for the study of American Art.  Inside this area you will find glass display cases filled with furniture.  Walk around the room and take a look. Find your favorite piece, simple or complicated. Draw and note which piece it is (include details; e.g. Chippendale and date).

Now go up to the second floor of the new wing. On the second floor mezzanine, find the Joan Whitney Payson galleries.

The wall has the Number 224 on it and you will see several paintings that are in the “photo realistic” style discussed in class. Notice the painting “In The Laboratory" by Henry Alexander. What is this painting of?  Where did the artist go to school?

The painting to the left is called “The Coppersmith” by Victor Melville Ward. How does the artist use light to enhance and focus your eye in this painting?

To your right, around the corner, notice several other photo realistic type paintings with violins, and some that look like pin boards.

Find your way to room to 222. These two paintings will be VERY valuable to our designs of Harvey! Find the painting called “Christmas Time, The Blodgett Family,” 1864 By Eastman Johnson. Look at this painting and answer these questions: Where is this room located? Can we use this for our one of our rooms of Harvey? Why or why not?  Explain. Draw some of the details so that we may incorporate them into the Harvey Set.

The painting to the right called, “The Contest for the Bouquet: The family of Robert Gordon in their New York dining room,” 1866, is by Seymour Joseph Guy. Look at this painting and answer these questions: Where is this room located? Can we use this for our one of our rooms of Harvey? Why?  Explain. Draw some of the details so that we may incorporate them into the Harvey Set.

In room 223 is the famous, huge, painting of Washington crossing the Delaware. Take a look.

Name the artist and list two ways that the artist draws your eye to George Washington.

Find your way downstairs, back to the first floor. When you reach the first floor, go out into the garden. As you cross the garden, there is a door on the left leading to the display of arms and armor. Take a quick look. In this display, you will find armor from various historical periods. In the middle of the large display room, there are four animals covered in armor. What animal is it?

Exit the Armor display the same way you entered and make a left. Walk all of the way to the section on American painting, 1920-1945. This is in the same area as the display “A Century of Design, Part III; 1950-1975.”

Walk through the exhibit of “A Century of Design” and of the “American Painters.” Choose a work of art and compare it to one of the works of European painters (which you will soon see.) Also explain why that work of art appeals to you. What type of style does it remind you of?

In the back of the exhibit, you will find a staircase leading upstairs. Go up [the stairs] and walk through the gallery. Find the sculpture of a gate with tools welded to it by Jim Dine, “The Crommelynck Gate with Tools”. Compare and contrast the following positions regarding this sculpture: 1) This is junk; 2) This is a great work of art.

At the other end of the gallery, you will see another staircase leading up to the third floor. On the third floor, you will find several works by the artist, Jackson Pollock. Find the portrait of a person in the corner called, “Number 7”. Does this look like a person? Can you make a drawing or painting that looks like this? Draw it.

After you are finished, you will see on the opposite wall two Jackson Pollock paintings (both are very large). The biggest one he completed while the canvas was on the floor, and he dripped paint onto it. Do you like it? Is this art? Compare and contrast.

Wander your way back out into the main area of the third floor. Find the Annenberg Galleries. In this room, you will see the George Pierre Seurat painting, “Study for Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte” What is the type of brush stroke used in this painting?

In this same room, you will find several Toulouse-Lautrec paintings. Also you’ll find Vincent Van Gogh paintings. One in particular is the self-portrait of Van Gogh wearing a straw hat. What is the brush stroke used here? How does it differ with Seurat? What is it’s title?

In the center gallery called “Gerald Cantor Sculptor Gallery”, you will find the famous “Thinker” sculpture by Auguste Rodin.  It is up high on a shelf. Draw a picture of it from any angle that you wish.

In one of the rooms, you will view a painting called “The Houses of Parliament (Effect of fog)” by Claude Monet. How can we achieve this effect on stage?

Find the painting by Edgar Degas entitled, “The Dance Class.” How does the artist use perspective in this painting? Give details.

Compare the painting to the sculpture of the dancer in the middle of the room, “The Little Fourteen Year Old Dancer.” Question: Which seems more realistic? Give examples and details of your opinion.

In the room next to the dancers are display cases filled with sculptures. These are also by Edgar Degas. You will notice several sculptures of people and of a certain animal. Name the animal. Why did he do these sculptures? You will find the explanations on cards mounted on the walls inside the sculpture cases.

Find a large yellow room with skylights. You will see paintings of a number of water scenes. On one wall, there are a couple of interior paintings. You are looking for two paintings by Francesco Guardi, one called “The Ridotto”, and another called “The Antechamber of the Sala del Maggior Consiglio.” Both use perspective very effectively. Please describe the use of perspective. Is it one point or two points?

In the next room are several portraits, which are made using tempura paint on wood. Don’t think that the tempura paints we use in class are just for kids!!! (And we are not talking Japanese food, either.)

Wow, it’s over. Well, almost. When you get home please take a moment and think about your favorite thing about the museum. What might you go back for? What do you wish you had just a bit more energy to do? What part will you tell your friends about? Please write a paragraph or two about your visit.