Virtual Musuem Art Collection

"Ten Cents a Ride"- Louis Bouché

"Bullfight in a Divided Ring"- Francisco Goya

Browsing through the Metropolitan Museum of Art's collection was pretty simple if you know about some of the basics of what you were looking for in their collection. There were so many art pieces, however, that it seemed that it would probably take days or weeks to look at the whole collection. So in my first thirty minutes I picked out the two pieces of art that stuck out to me the most from what was currently on display. The first piece of art I chose was one by Louis Bouché called "Ten Cents a Ride," because it shows principles of art that we recently learned. In the painting there is a sense of asymmetrical balance that is made by the differences in both sides; on one side there are arched windows with trim that resemble columns from Greek architecture made long ago and the opposing side has a more modern, utilitarian look to it that counters those windows. Everything also seems to be happening on the right side with the negative space showing the beaches, the white newspaper and pink magazine on top of the red bench that draws your eye there away from the opposite blue wall trim. The empty bench even counters the full shelf up in the top left of the painting. Also, as to not through off the painting, the two men in the doorway also are contrasting by one wearing white and the other black These principles and elements aid in the whole asymmetrical balance of the painting. There is also asymmetrical balance, time and motion in my second choice, "Bullfight in a Divided Ring" by Francisco Goya. In Goya's painting it seems as though all the action is happening in the right ring because the bull is in a attack position and there are more people in the ring along with more lighting, but there is less people in the background and there is a very large, distant building in the furthermost area that all have light shining on them. In contrast, the left ring seems like a practice arena with the rider in the back near all the shadows on a black horse with many shadowed faces above him where he seems to blend in, and even though the crowd is larger they are not as noticeable due to the very close small houses and buildings casting a shadow over them. The wall is also combining these two fights, it seems, are occurring at different times like an early morning practice on the left and the afternoon main event on the right; this creates a temporal setting in the painting, showing the story of the bull fight. This further proves how artists can control and manipulate their art by applying these principle and elements along with others to get the desired effect to the viewer.