Art Appreciation Chapters 5 & 6

Baroque Style

- In Europe, seventeenth-century still life paintings often were lavish displays boasting of wealth and abundance, in which food had become an aesthetic experience for refined taste -known for exaggeration, artifice, and theatrics

"Hall of Bulls"

- Lascaux, Dordogne, France -c. 15,000-10,000 BCE. -purpose is linked to bounty in nature and the human food supply in the Paleolithic era -ritual purpose

various problems for comfortable and happy living

-Urban Sprawl -Impersonal high rise buildings -High-cost of living spaces -Efficient and Eco-conscious land use -Lack of community interaction

"Initiation Rites of Dionysos"

-Villa of Mysteries, Pompeii, Italy, c. CE 50. Fresco. -This fresco depicts a ritual of the mystery cult of Dionysus. He was the son of Zeus, and was the god of grape harvest, wine, ritual madness and sexual ecstasy. In terms of human relationships he was perhaps associated with sexual intercourse and fertility -part of a frieze

Pie Counter

-Wayne Thiebaud -1963. Oil on canvas, 30" × 36". The Whitney Museum of American Art, New York. -Reflecting modern cafeterias, this painting is a colorful display of standardized, mass-produced food

"Three Legged Ting with Cover" info

-Zhou Dynasty, China - c. sixth century BCE -Cast bronze, 5¾" high -used in rituals to receive blessings from deceased ancestors -features circular details that complement the overall spherical form

Formal analysis of "Initiation Rites of Dionysos"

-a high degree of realism. Nearly life-size figures, convincing volume, move in a shallow space, on a trompe l'oeil ("fools the eye") ledge.

Dreamtime

-a system of belief that accounts for the cosmos, creation, death as well as food procurement -this belief is passed down through Folk Traditions such as song, chant, dance and paintings.

Tyi Wara (or Chi Wara) Dance Headdresses

-bamana (or Bambara) people, Mali -headdresses are generally made of wood, brass tacks, string, cowrie shells, and iron -are between 32" and 38" high.

Who created "Saltcellar?" Why?

-created by African Artists for export to European nobility -it is blending of African and European aesthetic taste and symbols -likely executed from drawings sent by the Portuguese importers who commissioned the work.

Dogon Tribes (villages)

-dense collections of adobe houses, shrines, and granaries that are often irregular in shape and built on different levels to use all available space -Group living occurs in the villages of the Dogon people in Mali, Africa

Goddesses

-dominated ancient rituals for thousands of years before gods came to prominence -Fertility or Mother Goddesses, suggesting that they were part of a fertility ritual

Hunters & Gatherers

-early people hunted wild animals and gathered berries, seeds, fruits, and plants for food. They lived in small, nomadic bands, moving on to find new food sources as needed -linked art and ritual to accomplish tasks like bringing rain for crops

Ritual

-food and shelter are basic—without them, we die. -in some cultures, art and rituals help ensure these necessities

Pop Art

-founded by Andy Warhol - noted for glorifying popular culture items into art icons

What would have ornamented the outside?

Gold, Bronze, Jade and bright colors

How were these Chinese Houses organized? (Who lived where?)

Guards were usually on the top stories, while farmer- soldiers lived on the ground floors

Dogon Cliff Dwellings with Granaries

Mali, Africa, 13th century.

"Moche Pottery Depicting Sexual Intercourse"

Peru, c. 1000-1250. Ceramic.

Where were ceramic models of these houses found?

buried in tombs

Postmodernism

combines elements from various styles

"Saltcellar"

-Afro-Portuguese, Sherbro Peninsula (Bulom), Sierra Leone -sixteenth century - Ivory -17" high -salt is essential and at times, has been a form of wealth -European nobility used elaborate saltcellars as a status symbol (People of higher social ranking were seated "above the salt")

"Venus of Willendorf"

-Austria, c. 25,000-20,000 BCE. Stone, 4 3/8" high -does not realistically represent someone, it represents the physical essence of fertility -The artist has Abstracted or simplified and distorted human proportion in an effort to communicate an idea

The structure addressed these concerns by:

-Being energy efficient due to its compact design -Being constructed by renewable resources -Being cheaper because of the pre- fabricated, module style -Comfortable, and organized to promote social interaction

Communion

-Christian ritual - a Christian sacrament in which consecrated bread and wine are consumed as memorials of Christ's death or as symbols for the realization of a spiritual union between Christ and communicant or as the body and blood of Christ

"God Te Rongo and His Three Sons"

-Cook Islands, Polynesia, c. 1800-1900s. Wood, 27 3/8" high -male fertility pieces were produced by Oceanic cultures -large penis, like the exaggerated features of Venus, seems to be a proportional abstraction meant to emphasize the virility of Te Rongo

Symmetry in "Last Supper"

-Da Vinci uses this as a compositional device, to create a quality of permanence and divine order

Linear Perspective in "Last Supper"

-Da Vinci uses this to foil the eye towards Christ, whose head is haloed not by a symbol, but by the stark contrast of the window behind his head

"Tomb Model of a House"

-Eastern Han Dynasty, China, 25-220 CE. Ceramic, 52" X 33" X 27". -The verticality and emphasis on roof design are apparent in this model of Han Dynasty house designs

"Fallingwater"

-Frank Lloyd Wright -1936-1938. Kaufmann House, Connellsville vicinity, Pennsylvania -Designed as a weekend home, the architect used local materials and the natural setting to create unity within the building and harmony between the building and its surroundings -modeled his works after traditional Chinese and Japanese architecture -used cantilevered porches and roofs, non-load bearing walls

"Ashanti Akua'ba Doll"

-Ghana, Africa, c. 20th century. Wood, 13" high -ritual begins with the woman visiting a priest, who advises her to have the doll carved. She then cares for the doll as she would her own child, even carrying it on her back. Once she successfully conceives, she then places the doll in a shrine, recognizing the power of the priest and the spirit world in her new child's creation.

"Bank of China"

-I. M. Pei and Partners -1989. Hong Kong. -attempted to make the style more dynamic and light, dissolving the rectangle into triangles and diagonals

Sympathetic Magic

-In prehistoric cultures, hunters, gatherers, and early farmers linked art and ritual to accomplish tasks like bringing rain for crops

A Table of Desserts

-Jan Davidsz. de Heem -Netherlands, 1640. -Oil on canvas, 58 7 / 10 " × 79 9 / 10 " -Louvre, Paris -reflects abundance and economic wealth, where food is not a necessity, but a luxury and expression of a refined and sophisticated palette -Baroque Style -Naturalistic -lavish detail and dramatic presentation is a hallmark of the approach, no matter what the subject matter

"The Dinner Party"

-Judy Chicago -1974-1979. Painted porcelain and needlework, 48' × 42' × 36'. -the design of this dinner arrangement referenced Leonardo's Last Supper and reinterpreted it in feminist terms -the setting for an imaginary formal meal to celebrate significant women in Western culture -collaboration of many 100's of women and male craftsman, a mixed-media Installation work that celebrates the contribution of women to art and history.

"Last Supper"

-Leonardo da Vinci. 1495-1498. Experimental paint on plaster, 14' 5" × 28'. Milan. -This image of a ritual meal is also a religious ceremony, and formally it deifies Jesus.

What did a Ta'unga acquire during apprenticeship?

-Mana, or power -defined both as artistic skill and craft as well as spiritual strength

"Habitat"

-Moshe Safdie -meant to address socio-cultural issues that he felt created various problems for comfortable and happy living -Designed for Expo '67 in Montreal, Canada -modernism

"Six Persimmons"

-Mu-Qi -Southern Song Dynasty, Dailoxu-ji, Kyoto, thirteenth century. Ink on paper, 14¼" wide -reflects Zen Buddhism -empty space is important -simple arrangement of contrast of plump fruits and angular stems, along with the spareness of color is orderly but irregular

Impasto

-Oil Paint has the ability to be used sculpturally

Prehistoric Cultures (3)

-Paleolithic -Mesolithic -Neolithic

Harvest and Planting Mythology

-Plant life (crops), animal life (antelope), and humankind (ancestors) are united in this ritual -antelope dance is a ritual that unites plant, animal and humans, bringing together the entire tribe in hope and celebration of the harvest to come

"U.S. Pavilion"

-R. Buckminster Fuller -Geodesic dome, diameter 250'. Expo '67, Montreal, Canada. -became a symbol for 20th C. innovation and progress -an architectural form that can be scaled to large size, can be distorted to be flat or tall, and can be covered with a variety of materials.

Craft media in "The Dinner Party"

-Sewing, ceramics, china-painting were seen as being gender specific

ART ABOUT SEXUALITY IN NON-WESTERN CULTURE

-Sex is essential to procreation. -Sexuality is a libidinal urge that can be gratifying, positive, and energizing. -Sex is universal, yet different culture have their own way of depicting and defining this activity.

"There is No Escape"

-Sue Coe -ideological art -part of a series (Porkopolis) -a harsh indictment of the contemporary meat industry whose purpose is to make others aware of the violence and cruelty of the modern food industry

Porkopolis

-Sue Coe's series about the cruelty of the meat industry

Moche pottery

-from the desert coast of Peru, South America -depicts sex as a matter of fact, their depictions of lovemaking---explicit and candid -made by the women of the culture. Nothing was left to the imagination, numerous sexual acts besides sex between a man and a woman appear

Ideological Art

-ideas reflecting the social needs and aspirations of an individual, a group, a class, or a culture -a system of beliefs or theories, usually political, held by an individual or a group

The Void

-important in Ink Painting as it allows for a concentrated viewing of the subject -also plays a symbolic role, being a philosophical representation of the nature of reality

Ta'unga

-male Sculptures were carved by these specialists -the word for priest or shaman -Folk Artists who were trained in an Apprenticeship

Ink Painting

-many Zen masters chose to make ink paintings because of the form's spontaneity and simplicity, in contrast to the lushness of oil painting -With ink, the strokes must be practiced for years to make them confidently, without erasing or correction

Oil Paintings

-new media during the 17th century -has ability to blend, necessary to create a convincing sense of light, shadow and space.

Did houses of the Han Era survive? Why or why not?

-no houses from the Han era survived -because of the materials used in their construction, usually wood and earth

Paleolithic

-old Stone Age, which began roughly in 30,000 BCE.

Line of Sight

-one of the most powerful kinds of implied line -the direction the figures in a given composition are looking

Patterns and Abstracted Forms on Chinese "Three Legged Ting with Cover"

-patterns and abstracted forms on this vessel are visual representations of the balance and harmony that are essential components of ancient Chinese philosophy and values

Non-representational imagery

-seems also to point to a less-pragmatic understanding of the images -many scholars agree that they served a Shamanistic or Religious purpose.

Antelope Dance

-takes place during the planting season -performed by the males of the tribe -is meant to describe and enact the return of the mythical Antelope, who is said to have brought knowledge of agriculture to the Bamana

Ritual Wine

-the Greeks used clay for water storage containers, the ancient Chinese made bronze vessels for storing liquids

Possible purposes for moche pottery

-they may have been designed as visual aids for sex education, illustrating human reproduction and perhaps birth control as well. -most likely, these vessels were used to contain Chicha, or corn beer

The Trinity

-triangle is a symbol for this -father, son, and holy spirit

Symbolic Shapes

-triangle was traditionally viewed as a female symbol of the goddess and fertility -39 settings, with 13 on each side (the number 13 is seen as unlucky and connected with witchcraft)

Bamana People of Mali

-used masks, dance, and ritual help ensure successful crops

The emphasis compositionally is on ___________. Why?

-verticality -most-likely a reflection of the need to utilize space efficiently but also so the space could serve as a watchtower.

Mid-century buildings

-were dominated by spare rectangular shafts of steel that rose from street-level plazas -called the International Style because of its global prevalence in large cities.

Each side of the triangle in "The Dinner Party" represent important women from three periods of history:

1) Prehistory through the Roman Empire 2) Early Christianity through the Reformation 3) The American Revolution through Feminism

Directional Forces

?

What was Safdie influenced by?

Pueblo Bonito at Chaco Canyon, especially its energy efficiency, location near natural resources, and design for many residences.

Who believed that technology could provide more affordable shelter?

R. Buckminster Fuller

Adobe Houses

The definition of adobe is a type of clay or soil used to make bricks. The Dogon villages are examples of these

Shaminism

a practice that involves a practitioner reaching altered states of consciousness in order to perceive and interact with a spirit world and channel these transcendental energies into this world

Relational Aesthetics

a set of artistic practices which take as their theoretical and practical point of departure the whole of human relations and their social context, rather than an independent and private space

Installation art

an artistic genre of three-dimensional works that are often site-specific and designed to transform the perception of a space

Frieze

describes a decorative horizontal band found in architecture

Zen Buddhism

emphasized the importance of meditation and simplicity in life

In "The Dinner Party," the triangle is a _______ symbol and the symbol of the ancient goddess thought to have brought forth all of life unaided.

female

Te Rongo has three figures carved in ____ Relief, in his chest, while four more carved in ___ Relief are carved on both of his arms. Te Rongo seems to be depicted in the act of ________, a universal subject in every world belief system

high; low; creation

Why was there eventually a resistance to the International Style?

it was seen as sterile and oppressive

Artistic Reference

many artist's reference other artist's work, not to copy or mimic, but to celebrate their artistic heritage and give their own work gravitas (dignity, seriousness, or solemnity of manner)

The timber frame house had ___-____ _______ walls of compressed earth, wide _____ protected the walls from rainfall.

non-load bearing; eaves

Heritage Floor

on the inside of the work is covered the name of 999 other women who were significant throughout history

In some cultures, the object may have been used for ___ ritual and discarded

one

Vanitas

reflect the transitory nature of earthly materials, and the vanity of humans placing happiness in such things as riches

Unity and Variation/Rhythm and Repetition in "Six Persimmons"

repetition of the round forms shows the Unity of six individual forms, while subtle Rhythmic differences or Variations in color and direction describe the diversity inherent in separate individuals

What moment does "Initiation Rites of Dionysos" depict?

ritual in which a young female initiate is being prepared to join with Dionysus, taking the role of Ariadne, his mythological mate

Describe the "Venus of Willendorf" formally.

she is an exploration in repetition, which unifies the piece by its use of curvilinear, swelling forms. Even the hair, which covers the featureless face, sees related to the other aspects of her form

Akua

the name of the first women who successful used the ritual

In China, houses for the wealthy were modeled after what/who?

the palaces of the first emperor, Shi Haungdi.

Feminist Criticism

the ways in which literature (and other cultural productions) reinforce or undermine the economic, political, social, and psychological oppression of women

Ba

the word for child, was later added, hence the meaning of the dolls name; Akua's child.

Fresco

this painting process uses Plaster as a Support, or surface upon which the painting is executed. The artist paints into the wet plaster before it dries, working against the clock in an effort to finish the image before the plaster fully cures. Because the paint is absorbed into the plaster instead of sitting on top, fresco is one of the most durable of painting approaches.

How would the interior space have been decorated?

with murals and designs illustrating Daoist and Confucian philosophies

Modernism (formally)

→ emphasis on simple geometric shapes → lack of ornamentation → resemblance to abstract sculpture

The earliest fertility artifacts from the Paleolithic and Neolithic periods were small sculptures of females depicted as (4):

→ fleshy → with swollen bellies → breasts, and thighs are accentuated → with stylized hair

Female Beauty Canon

→ head, neck, arms, torso - circular disk and a series of cylinders → a round face with a small mouth → a high forehead → a long neck and torso → linear facial features → disk-like forms as necklaces → breasts, navel - minimal forms

How may have the "Venus of Willendorf" been used? (5)

→ in a fertility ritual → during childbirth → to ward off death → to wish for good health → for good fortune

The art object was:

→ meant to endure, passed from one generation to the next → the more it was used, the greater the Mana it accrued → a symbol of prestige and rank → exclusive to those of power and rank → a source of sacred information

Akua'ba

→from the Ashanti in Ghana are fertility sculptures created to be used in a ritual that is intended: → solely for women having difficulty in conceiving → to ensure a healthy and beautiful baby.