Conclusion

In curating my virtual exhibit, I found that the first step required was to develop a theme.  There are countless works of art from a wide array of media and narrowing the field by the theme made the rest of the project much simpler.  With a theme in mind, I was able to select only those works of art that fit neatly within that scope and not waste time looking up label information for works that I found intriguing, but would not be used.  Because I developed a theme that deeply appealed to me, I was able to select paintings that also appealed to me.  This is what came naturally.  I simply let my emotions do the choosing.  I initially selected more than required, in case I could not find all the required information.  The most challenging part of the assignment was locating statements on the work by credible sources.  In fact, not all of my works chosen had such comments available in the time allotted.  However, since I had ten paintings that all fit nicely into my theme, I decided to keep them without the comments.

As I continued along the task of finding, identifying, and selecting the works of art to be displayed in my exhibit, I realized that I do not envy the curator’s job.  I found the assignment to be time consuming and often had to eliminate a painting that I was particularly fond of because I could not locate enough information on either the artist or the work itself.  If I had such difficulty with just ten, I can only imagine how taxing the life of a curator must be.  It is even more so when one considers the price of some of the works of art, limited space available, and having to appeal to a wide range of tastes in art. 

I enjoyed the process of looking at paintings within my chosen theme.  I did find several artists whose work I have a greater appreciation for.  One in particular, Ray Ellis, had several paintings that would have easily made the cut in my exhibit.  Unfortunately, I was able to locate neither the images on-line nor the label information.  I hope you enjoyed the paintings that I did select for you.