Johnny Limones
Museum Exhibition at the Kimbell Art Museum
Art & Love in the Renaissance

Though I may be and Architecture Major I find art to be a very interesting addition to my area of study. Art is unique, and the original piece made may be the only one of its kind. Other types of art may look like the strangest thing you would ever see but it would be considered art by the one who made it. It is very interesting to see what visions a person has in the mind and to put it on canvas for many to enjoy what he or she sees. Knowing that I am also focused on architecture I notice that there are similarities in between the artist and the architect. I combined these two aspects for my visit to a museum exhibition and decided to go to the Kimbell Art Museum in Ft. Worth that was designed by the great architect Louis Khan. The exhibition that took place at this location was called Art & Love in the Renaissance.

As I enter the exhibition I see many different unique works of art but there was one piece that immediately caught my attention. I chose a painting created by Francois Boucher in 1769 that is called Juno Asking Aeolus to Release the Winds oil on canvas. It was acquired in 1972. It involves a scene of a book called The Aeneid written by the Roman author Virgil. The goddess Juno is shown and apparently is filled with jealousy towards another god Venus. Apparently Juno schemed to prevent the fleet of Venus’s son, Aenas, from the shore and from founding a Trojan colony in Italy. Aeolus the keeper of the winds is a nymph and Juno offers her his most beautiful nymph in return for his help. That is roughly the scene that was painted on the canvas by Francois. It interested me not by the story behind it but be the detail and activity in the painting. You can see one of the nymphs scheming to do no good by the look on his eyes towards another nymph. The detail in the nude bodies are really good and it just blew me away when I started to think of how long it would take to make and perfect a painting like this one. I took a step closer to look at the texture of the brush strokes and I noticed the enormous talent of the artist. I have tried to complete a painting of my own and I have come to find out that it takes a long time to make a work of art and appreciate it.

In conclusion the painting was so big that it gat its own wall to be placed on. As I was leaving I took a moment to not only admire the art on the walls but to admire the walls themselves. You may be wondering why I say this. I say this because to me and many other people the building is a work of art itself. The thought of the design and the construction of it also amazes me by also thinking of how long it took to make. Therefore I hope to one day have a design and creation of my own.