The Joy of Visiting Art Galleries

From The Burghers of Calais ~ A. Rodin

Recently, my husband and I visited the National Gallery of Australia. There were some renovation works being done, but there was still a lot to see and enjoy. It's been a while since I had visited a gallery and I had forgotten how they make me feel. The creativity and scope of design on show is always inspiring and awesome. Viewing art really speaks to my desire to connect with other humans, past and present. To find connections with those who have come before us, and to realise that I am not alone in how I feel and my experience of life. I know a lot of people like to cling to a feeling of individualism; they like to think that no-one understands them and their feelings are unique and incomprehensible to others. I, on the other hand, love the feeling that the breadth of human experience and emotion is a collective experience, something we can share with others and find connection. This connection is only one joyful consequence of experiencing an art gallery or museum. 

Cairns Art Gallery

Art galleries, or sometimes known as art museums, as a public building are a relatively new concept, but the idea of collections on show are not. Churches in Europe, shrines in Japan and public squares in Ancient Rome were often places of displaying paintings, sculptures, spoils of war and other cultural artefacts. It was during the colonial expansion of the 1700 and 1800s that Britain and other European countries started to put exhibits on show for the public. People like to visit these places to view the artifacts that came from far off places around the world. There exists a lot of contention over these sorts of permanent collections (often considered 'stolen artifacts') and I think we should keep this in mind when choosing where we would like to visit. Galleries and museums that show travelling exhibits are often a more ethical choice. Still, we cannot ignore the history of where galleries and museums came from and why. The feelings that those earlier visitors felt when seeing new and exotic works of art, cultural artifacts or other memorabilia is a very powerful tool that we can use today to help improve our own feelings and moods. 

Research shows that our everyday feelings play a significant role in how we think and act. When we visit a gallery or museum, our mind is given the chance to wander, to focus solely on what we are seeing, and to leave negative emotions behind. This strengthening of emotional intelligence is a fantastic reason for visiting art galleries. As I mentioned at the beginning of this article, I was instantly reminded of how much I love being around beautiful works of art as soon as we entered the gallery. Even art that I don't find particularly beautiful, is still interesting and engaging to my mind. It makes me feel creative and inspired just by being around it and I often return home keen to write (my favourite form of creativity). We've looked at a few different artists here on the blog, and how they make us feel, how they connect us to the past and the present. 

Woman by a Window by Henri Matisse 

Being able to see the works of such classic artists as Matisse, Picasso, Monet, Rembrandt, Da Vinci, Waterhouse to name just a few gives me a little thrill. I don't look at these paintings or pictures everyday - they are so far removed from my everyday experience it's like I'm travelling out of my own world when I see them. I love to imagine the artists in their studio, or wherever they may be working. Their models, the conversations they may have had, the world that was going on outside their doors. All of this is really an immersive experience for me, and certainly not one that I would have the energy to indulge in everyday! These new thoughts, new experiences and new connections all add to a wonderful sense of engagement but also disengagement with any present worries or stresses that I may be feeling. Psychologist Katherine Cotter explains:

The museum effect is a concept that was developed by Dr. Jeffrey Smith. In essence, the museum effect contends that when we enter a museum we are able to enter into a state of heightened contemplation that allows us to reflect about ourselves, the communities to which we belong, and society more broadly.

The Lady of Shallot by John William Waterhouse

In this favourite painting of The Lady of Shallot by John William Waterhouse, we see a merging of artistic styles. Waterhouse painted the Lady (supposedly using his wife as a model) from the famous Lord Tennyson poem of the same name. I love this sort of mingling of style - clearly Waterhouse was so inspired by the poem he had to paint it some fifty years after the poem was written. I love that art like this doesn't age, doesn't date and continues to inspire people (myself included) today. If you're interested in Tennyson's poem, you can read it here. 

Finally, another thing I love about visiting art galleries is that there is no wrong or right way to view the art. You simply browse until you find something that speaks to you. Perhaps nothing will. At least you know that gallery isn't necessarily for you. At least you can get a sense of what you don't like and why. I find it best not to go in with too much expectation, but simply observe and let the art speak to me. My absolutely favourite exhibit was the pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood (PRB) one at the National Gallery of Australia a couple of year ago. The photo above of The Lady of Shallot was snapped during that visit and I adored everything that I saw there. It gave me a great understanding of the type of art that I like. 

Some of my favourite online galleries are Rjiks Museum, Amsterdam (which I visited in 2004 whilst studying in Italy), the Uffizi Gallery in Florence (another place that I love to visit in person), the Museum of Modern Art, New York, the Victoria and Albert Museum, London (I think the Chanel exhibit there later this year would be lovely), the Cairns Art Gallery (brilliant for Indigenous work) and the NSW Art Gallery, Sydney. If you have a favourite gallery, please share in the comments below. 

I hope you've enjoyed reading about galleries and art and would love to hear about your experiences.

Thank you for stopping by,