3rd Grade Field Trip to the Philadelphia Museum of Art

After the field trip was canceled a few weeks ago because of snow, the day had finally come to visit the Philadelphia Museum of Art.


Leaving Coopertown


The spirits are high and the volume is on as load as can be as soon as we got on the bus.

Little Dancer, Aged Fourteen

Made in Paris, France. Executed in wax 1878-81; cast in bronze after 1922. Hilaire-Germain-Edgar Degas, French, 1834 - 1917. Bronze cast by the founder Adrien Hébrard, Paris.

Bronze, tulle, and silk
Height: 39 inches (99.1 cm)

Degas depicted young ballet dancers--in performances, at rehearsals, or at moments of exhausted rest--in numerous paintings, drawings, pastels, and monotypes. In 1878, he added sculpture to his investigation of the theme. A young dancer named Marie van Goethem posed for what would be the only sculpture that Degas exhibited in his lifetime. Originally executed in wax and shown in 1881, the work daringly incorporated real elements such as the dancer's tulle tutu and silk hair ribbon. The sculpture was cast in bronze around 1922, several years after Degas's death.


Ceremonial Teahouse: Sunkaraku


Made in Tokyo, Japan
c. 1917 Designed by Ogi Rodo, Japanese, 1863 - 1941

The name of this teahouse, Sunkaraku, or "Evanescent Joys," reflects the spirit of the traditional Japanese tea ceremony as a temporary refuge from the complexities of daily life. The architecture reveals a special delight in natural materials: cedar thatch for the roof, nandina and red pine with the bark intact for the pillars, bamboo stalks for the ceiling and rainspouts, and earth-colored plaster for the walls. The Museum acquired Sunkaraku from Ogi Rodo, the architect who constructed it using elements from an eighteenth-century teahouse.

Japanese Temple

Beautiful roof of a Temple

Made in Japan
Muromachi Period (1392-1573), 1392-1573

The Moorish Chief

Eduard Charlemont, Austrian, 1848 - 1906

Standing in front of an arch that closely resembles the architecture of the Alhambra in Spain, the Moorish chief exudes power and mystery. This painting was probably shown at the Paris Salon exhibition of 1878 with the title Le Gardien du serail (The Harem Guard).

Charlemont was a Viennese artist known primarily for his nudes and portraits. While this subject was unusual for him, it was very popular in Europe at the time.

The Four Seasons

Léon Frédéric, Belgian, 1856 - 1940
Made in Belgium

The Four Seasons: Spring
1893

The Four Seasons: Fall
1894

The Four Seasons: Summer
1894

The Four Seasons: Winter
1894

After lunch we had some time before we had to get back on the bus and took a trip to the front of the Museum. The kids wanted to see the Rocky stairs.