[ot-caption title=”Forty of Pine Crest’s AP Art History students took in the sights, sounds, and art of New York City two weeks ago. (via Mr. Ricard)” url=”https://pcpawprint.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/11075738_972729049411473_2075861790_n1.jpg”]

Over the past seven months, the AP Art History students have studied architecture, paintings, and sculptures from Egypt to modern times, spending countless hours memorizing the titles, mediums, and dates of over 500 pieces. On Thursday, March 19th, 2015, 40 Pine Crest art histories embarked for New York to see the pieces illustrated in their textbooks in person.  On Thursday March 19 2015, these students accompanied by Mr. Ricard, Mr. Fitzpatrick, Mrs. Anderson, and Mrs. Ortega boarded a plane to see the wide variety of art that New York City has to offer.

First, the students visited the Metropolitan Museum of Art (MoMa), the largest art museum in the United States and one of the tenth largest art museums in the world. Here, the amazing range of art from the Cycladic “Male Harp Player” to “The Great Wave off Kanagawa” captivated the art historians.

Viewing artwork in person was a much different experience than from a textbook, noted junior Sabrina Zingg. “The most surprising thing about seeing the pieces in real life is their size. It is hard to understand the size and scale by only seeing them in the textbook,” Zingg later told Type One. 

After the Met, the students visited the Museum of Modern Art. Here, one of the most famous and spectacular paintings is stored, “Starry Night” by Vincent Van Gogh. In addition to “Starry Night”, students took in the works of Any Warhol, Claude Monet, and Pablo Picasso.

Senior Jilian Castoro was particularly impacted by viewing the works of several masters. “Seeing pieces you have studied gives them a whole new dimension and changes your perspective. When you see Starry Night in person, you can see every brush stroke Van Gogh made,” Jillian added.

Not only did the students engage with the works of the masters, but also with the works of modern and contemporary artists in several interactive collections, for instance, a room filled with old video games and inflatable furniture.

The final art museum that the students visited was the Guggenheim Museum. This museum holds an amazing permanent collection of impressionist, post-impressionist, early modern and contemporary art along with temporary exhibits. Also noteworthy is the architecture of the museum, which is a landmark of 20^th-century architecture.

After all the museums, the students finished the trip in typical New York fashion by seeing “A Gentlemen’s Guide to Love and Murder” on Broadway. The art historians had a memorable time on this trip, taking in not only the delights of New York City, but of the museums available to them.