The two museums that were visited were the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA), and the Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA). While the MOCA held artist that were fairly new, the LACMA held quite a few of well known artist such as Jackson Pollock, Maynard Dixon, or Thomas Hart Benton. When visiting MOCA the most interesting artwork that was appealing was "War Never Ends" by Mathew Monahan, and when visiting the LACMA the most interested artwork that was appealing to me was "Mountain of the Holy Cross" by Thomas Moran. Through proper analysis of each of these artworks and artists, it will help show a better understanding of each artist as an individual and their mindset when creating artwork. The first artist is unknown and his name is Mathew Monahan with his artwork titled "War Never Ends." Monahan was born in 1972 in Eureka, California. He is now an artist based in Los Angeles. Monahan studied at Cooper Union School of Art in New York and the Gerit Rietveld Academy in Amsterdam, Holland; both representing him by the Anton Kern Gallery in New York and Fons Welters in Amsterdam. Monahan uses symbolism in his artwork to express their meanings. He created sculptures that were meant to recorded histories, equally in his own mindset and of cultural knowledge. Using a variety of different mediums, he scalps unique representations out of his own creative output. In his artwork, "War Never Ends", he uses a variety of mediums such as wood, wax, drywall, charcoal, paper glass, and foam. Using these materials he creates a 2 x 2 x6 ft sculpture of his idea that "War Never Ends. Monahan created this piece of work in 2005, most likely relating to the War on Iraq. The second artist is a known artist and his name is Thomas Moran. His artwork is called "Mountain of the Holy Cross." Thomas Moran was known for being one of America 's greatest landscape artists. Thomas was born in 1837 in Bolton, Lancashire, England. Destined to be a great
Cited: "Artist of the Mountains." Ellensplace. 22 Apr. 2007 <www.ellensplace.net/moran.html>. "Matthew Monahan." Wikipedia. 22 Apr. 2007 <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matthew_Monahan>. "The Lure of the West." Thomas Moran and the American Landscape. 22 Apr. 2007 <http://xroads.virginia.edu/~CAP/NATURE/cap3.html>