CMPSC 201
National Gallery of Art
The homepage of the National Gallery of Art (NGA) is quite simplistic in its outlook. The only thing visible at first glance is the 1510 painting, Alba Madonna, by Raphael. Nevertheless, the website contains all the navigation information required to access any art resource of interest to the visitor. For instance, the left side of the Alba Madonna contains a list of tabs through which the virtual exhibition can be accessed.
Experience
I followed the outlined assignment instructions and when I went to the website, I chose the “Online Tours” tab, which directed me to the main works of art on display in the virtual tour through the “Virtual Exhibition” portal. I tried to stick to the stipulated path, but I encountered a slight problem. I chose the “Sculpture of Angkor and Ancient Cambodia: Millennium of Glory” virtual tour, but it was unavailable at the time. This was slightly inconveniencing considering the fact that the website seems to imply that the tour is available.
I then decided to try the “Van Gogh's Van Goghs: Masterpieces from the Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam” virtual tour, which also redirected me to a webpage indicating that the tour is currently unavailable. The webpage further instructed me to try other virtual tours that might have related works currently available at the gallery. This was indeed frustrating given the fact that the web portals all seem to indicate that the tours are available.
I had to abandon my earlier resolve to seek out works of art by artists with whom I was familiar, fearing that they might also be unavailable. In particular, I intended to seek out works by Pablo Picasso and Claude Monet. After deciding to proceed, I came across a working portal to an Amsterdam art virtual tour labeled, the “Civic Pride: Group Portraits from Amsterdam.” The portal effectively directed me to a webpage containing a group photo from the Dutch Golden Age. The following is an illustrative photograph of the painting as it was rendered on the webpage:
In spite of the above-mentioned problems and inconveniences, the virtual tour was quite enjoyable. I got to see several beautiful works of art, though I was not quite as familiar with the artists as I would have liked. Similarly, the lack of physical access to the respective paintings deprived me of one of the sensuous experiences of an actual art gallery tour. In addition, there was no way of asking questions about the specific paintings on display as would be the case in a physical art museum or gallery.
NGA Kids
The National Gallery of Art website for children (NGA Kids) was markedly different. It was more compelling in its outlook as it had several intense art impressions and animations. Some of the latter art animations required the use of plug-ins such as Adobe Flash; fortunately, this particular plug-in was already installed in the computer I was using and so I did not encounter any problems with loading the page.
In my opinion, the NGA Kids website is especially tailor-made for children, with vivid renditions of puppet photographs gracing the homepage. The art at this homepage is also not as cryptic as that found on the main NGA website. Some of the paintings available are quite clear and do not require any intense analytical dissection on the part of the viewer in attempt to discern hidden meanings. Finally, the webpage provides opportunities for visitors to interact with available pictorial renditions and animations.
References
National Gallery of Art. National Art Gallery: Washington. n.d. n.p. Web. 14 Oct. 2012.
NGA Kids. The Art Zone: Interactive Art That You Can Make Online. n.d. n.p. Web. 14 Oct. 2012.
