«Museum Paper» - Great Essay Sample

Introduction

Cultural psychologists discovered that some aspects of personality are different across cultural groups. They have also found that “culture influences some behaviors in a gender of an individual” (Bainbridge, 2014, p.13). For example, some cultural norms encourage male chauvinism in the community. Museums preserve various cultural identities of different people. They make it possible for people to identify the origin of particular tribes, races or nationalities through investigation of collections. Modern museums remain important institutions which perform the role of preservation of ancient human personalities through collections of great art.

The Getty Villa Museum

I visited the Getty Villa museum to have a look at some ancient and popular artworks. The museums located in Los Angeles, 17985 Pacific Coast. It was named after J Paul Getty, who was working in the Los Angeles County Museum. It is open six days a week between ten in the morning to five in the evening. On Tuesdays, the museum is closed whole day long.

The admission to the museum is free, and only entry to various rooms filled with spectacular artworks is timed and paid. One can contact the customer service through their website www.getty.edu. The museum shares the same locality with the Getty Centre and the Garden Terrace Café. The café offers all kinds of delicacies and drinks, including burgers, beef, and fruit juice. The Getty Centre is a learning institution that about the museum.

Collection and Relationship to the Class of Culture and Personality

The culture and personality refer to an intellectual movement that studies interaction between the aspects of psychology of individuals and their culture. Psychologists argue that socialization influences a person’s behavior by shaping up the individual’s emotions, behaviors, and thoughts (Bainbridge, 2014). It also affects the cultural values and norms to fit in the society and function as a productive member. Conceptual art involves the integration of ideas in the work take over traditional aesthetic and material themes. It takes many forms such as events, performances or movement (Wallace, 1970).

Two Specific Concepts from the Text

Two of the concepts used in the texts are the concept of culture as a determinant and expression of personality and the concept of culture as a determinant of personality. Culture explains that people develop a basic personality structure by sharing the same culture of child rearing practices. When formed, personality projects or expresses itself in the aspect of culture, for example, art, religion and myths (Hurh, 2000). The concept of culture as the determinant of personality explains that culture of an individual is more or less expressed in his or her thoughts and actions. It gives rise to purposes that are not common to other societies.

The knowledge of conceptual art helps derive ideas that can help in making conclusions about the origin or destiny of the culture of a given population. It also helps identify and track lost cities such as Greece and their cultural aspects (e.g. values, norms, etc.).

Drawings of Edward Dodwell and Simone Pomardi

The two travelers Edward Dodwell and Simone Pomardi made a drawing of Greece in the early nineteenth century. It was during their travel around the country that they made nearly one thousand unique watercolors and drawings of monuments within one and a half year timeframe (Getty Villa, 2015). They also drew picturesque vistas and ancient sites they could find on their way. Many of these drawings are handwritten though they would also use camera obscura to produce accurate and rich in details photographic images.

The traveler drawing of the Edward Dodwell and Simone Pomardi is a magnificent illustration from very expansive archives that were acquired by the Packard Humanities Institute and are now stored in the Getty Villa Museum. It shows picturesque landscapes that contain memories of vintage past, with the realities of Greek during the rule of Ottoman. The drawing reveals a great series of thirteen feet monument in the panorama view of Athens. This monument was created in the seventeenth century by the Capuchin monastery, and the Parthenon wrapped the town that had spread up to the Acropolis (The Getty, 2015). They represent a beautiful manifestation of Europe with as a mixture of ancient and modern.

Application of the Concepts to the Art Collection

Art and culture help to identify the underlying identity, ideal unique meaning and value of a particular community. In other words, the character of a city, town or neighborhood can be revealed in any piece of work such as a drawing (Wallace, 1970). The landscapes in art help identify the environmental nature and aspects of the community that lived there. For example, the travel drawing of Edward Dodwell and Simone Pomardi reveals the remains of the ancient city after it was ruined by Turkish occupants during the Ottoman rule. The landscape also reveals Athens as the neighborhood of Greece when viewed in a three hundred and sixty degrees panorama view. Both concepts of culture as a determinant of personality and personality as an expression of culture can be applied to the collection. The monument presented in the art work reveals the beauty of Greek personality, while the destruction of the building represents the revolutionary fight during the oppressive Ottoman regime.

According to Hurh (2000), “The sight of ancient temples lying in ruin, or of the Greek people under Turkish rule, contrasted poignantly with nostalgic images of the classical past. Yet for Dodwell and Pomardi, such juxtapositions only magnified the lost splendor of Greek antiquity” (p.35).