The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston tends to group similar paintings together, I assume to create an “era” feel when you look at the artwork. For example, one wing of artwork is dedicated to realistic paintings; a few other rooms are for other mediums of art, and another portion of the museum houses abstract art. I knew in order to find a painting I hated I would need to visit the abstract section, and would find the art I loved in the realism wing. With Paul Manship’s bronze statue, Hercules Upholding the Heavens, I found a new appreciation for different mediums of art, and in Franz Kline’s messy painting, Red Brass, I realized that I would probably never become a fan of abstract art. Hercules Upholding the Heavens is a bronze statue depicting the Greek hero Hercules holding what initially looks like a globe on his shoulders. When I first saw this piece last year, it actually reminded me of “Atlas Holding the Earth”, except Hercules holds a celestial globe in this statue. Hercules upholds the heavens on his shoulders with one arm, while the other hand houses a club. Upon further research, I figured out that the stories tie in together. Initially, Atlas was the one who had been trusted by the gods to hold up the heavens, and then officially passed the duty over to Hercules after doing him a favor. In…show more content… I did not feel anything looking it this painting – but not for a lack of trying. In the museum’s description of the painting, they write a claim of Kline that his paintings are “not what [he] see[s] but the feelings aroused in [him] by that looking”. Maybe if I were to understand Kline’s background and exactly what he was aroused by when painting this, I would feel more sympathetic and emotional towards it, but by just looking at the art itself, I have no experience and have no want or intention to obsess over the
