I love visiting the museum. It’s a great way to spend a Saturday. I recently went to the Metropolitan Museum of Art  to view some of their American art.

I’ve never visited the American wing before so it was interesting to see a “modern” section. It was truly captivating. The images I saw really brought to life our rich history in America. I’ve never given much thought to that time period and the significance it has had in our culture now. Some of the images were powerful and brought out emotions that I didn’t know could be experienced through art. 

The painting that captured me the most was “The Last Moments of John Brown” by Thomas Hovenden. Wow. It’s such a heart breaking and inspiring painting. And I think that’s because of the current climate of race issues in America. It’s almost as if this painting could have been captured today.  Here’s a little background of the painting: 

In 1859 John Brown, the controversial abolitionist, led a raid on a federal armory in Harpers Ferry, Virginia (now West Virginia), intending to arm enslaved African Americans. Brown had come to believe that the only way to end slavery in America was through bloodshed. Captured and convicted of treason against the Commonwealth of Virginia, Brown was sentenced to die by hanging. His hasty trial electrified the nation, and a sensational newspaper account reported how he paused on his way to the scaffold to kiss a baby. At the request of a patron two decades later, Hovenden, also an abolitionist, made it the subject of this sympathetic work. –Metropolitan Musuem of Art