To understand the exhibits and artifacts seen in the Morgan Museum, it is helpful to learn the history of the man behind the creation of the building. Pierpont Morgan was a successful businessman who created the corporation of U.S Steel and had a hobby of being a collector. Using his wealth, Morgan was able to collect art, rare books, artifacts, paintings, and manuscripts. This hobby of Morgan inspired him to build a private library where he can have a place to put all his collections. After his death, Morgan’s son inherited the private library, then decided to make it public for everyone to.
Inside the exhibits, I focused on 3 main sections that were the most significant to J.P Morgan’s use of the library. The first part is the rotunda of the library, which is an entrance hall to his other rooms. In this area the ceilings are decorated with paintings with religious undertones, and the walls are decorated with pillars which resemble a renaissance and middle ages style. What I found the most interesting in this area was that there were articles of newspaper from Morgan’s time shown as a display. The news consisted of matters that included gay rights, civil rights, and gender equality. This made me think that since J.P Morgan was a wealthy individual and was one of the country’s leading financier at the time, he was likely into politics and had some type of influence with the government.
In the East Room , this is the main library where Morgan placed his collections of rare books. From what I saw, these books mostly consist of religious literature, and bibles in different languages.It is certainly fitting that a collection belongs in this room because of how well organized and remarkable the room is. Along with a fire place, there are 3 story bookshelves, a decorated ceiling with renaissance resemblance, and hidden staircases behind the bookcases. What interested me the most is that a lot of the book that I saw on the bookshelves were not practical books for reading. They are massive in size and stands about as tall as up to my knees. It makes me curious as to what is inside those massive books, which makes me wonder if these books that Morgan collect were ever read or will they just be a decoration piece for his library.
The next room is the West Room, which the room that I enjoyed the most. I found that this room didn’t feel like a museum exhibit, rather it felt like I was visiting somebody’s home office. There are couches and chairs in the room, which makes it more welcoming to guests visiting Morgan, along with the desk that Morgan uses. A recurring theme I see with Morgan’s rooms is that he loved decorated ceilings, and in the West room the ceiling is sculpted and has an unique shape. Another one of Morgan’s favorite style is the Renaissance style, where the room is surrounded with paintings of Italian masters. The room’s theme is the color red, which symbolizes the power and wealth Morgan had during his time.
After seeing the rooms that Morgan used during his time, I moved on to the more modern parts of the museum. One big change in architecture that I immediately noticed was the change in color and room design. The colors became more solid, simplistic, and easy on the eye. The feel of the rooms were much more relaxed, compared to Morgan’s original rooms where the ceiling paintings and ancient atmosphere can be quite intimidating. The exhibits also became modern as well. Collections now included, props used in films, portraits, drawings, and photographs. Without knowing who J.P Morgan was or what he did, viewers can tell a lot by just looking at his collection and personal rooms. His hobby of collecting rare manuscripts, and his choice in room designs easily tells you he is a wealthy individual. His collections of the type of books and artifacts he has tells you that he was interested in religion, history, and politics. This goes to show that without knowing a person, one can easily tell a lot about that person by looking their belongings and hobbies.
