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Zhejiang University of Media and Communications

西方艺术鉴赏

Lecture Notes for Art Appreciation

Text Book: Artist and Audience

Instructor: Dr. Zhang Hua Course Guideline Introduction to the Arts (Renewed Spring 2009) Course title: Art Appreciation Department: Fine Arts Instructor: Hua Zhang Course No: Prerequisites: None

Catalog Description: The course is designed as an introduction to the visual arts, that is, painting, sculpture, and architecture. It will introduce students to basic elements and principles of art, and acquaint them with major art forms in the world. By way of comparison, certain basic elements of performing and literary arts, such as music, dance, novels, and poetry will also be discussed. In addition, some studio projects will be organized to allow students to have direct experience of art making. Rationale: The course approaches art as a window to individual expression as well as to the way cultures use art in constructing reality. The study of Euro-American art can be a way to see its history, beliefs, creative impulses, and cultural assumptions. Similarly, the study of the arts of Africa, Asia, and the Native Americas, past and present, can broaden one’s cultural horizons by engendering respect for the variety of ways in which humans have defined and expressed beauty, reality, order, disorder, dissent, contradictions, fears, spirituality, and all other concerns. Objectives of the Class: It is aimed to give students an initial acquaintance with major artistic forms and styles and some reference points as to what to look for in works of art. Students will learn to discuss through both written and oral means the motivation, inspiration, discipline and media of the arts. Students will learn about interdisciplinary relationships among the arts, learn the sensations and ideas behind art works, their creation and roles in society, and the roles of the audience in relation to works of art. Students will develop intellectual curiosity about the arts as a cultural expression and stimulate a greater awareness of their own creative potential. The objective of the course is above all to help students appreciate the world cultural heritage as a whole. Required Text: Terence Grieder. Artist and Audience, 2nd ed. (London: Brown & Benchmark Publishers, 1996). Assessment: 1) Study notes and Journal, 40% of final grade; 2) Two projects or one-page papers, worth 10% of final grade; 3) Two tests (a midterm and a final) 20% each (40%); 4) Attendance and participation for class activities 10%. In addition, students’ direct experience with works of art are encouraged and expected during the course, such as visiting museums, galleries, and artists’ studios, or attending theatres, concerts, and other performing arts occasions, etc. Students are required to include such experiences in their journals. The two required project papers will be based on these visits.

2 Course Outline: 1. Introduction to the World of Art: discuss different roles in the Art World played by the following members: artists, patrons, critics, art historians, museums and audience. 2. Subjects of art: figures/portraits, landscape, still life, religious art, abstract art, calligraphy. 3. Elements of art: line, color, shape/form, value, mass, space, time, movement, texture, perspective; Elements of architecture: post-and-lintel, arch/vault, cantilever, bearing wall, skeleton, frame, materials, line, repetition, balance, scale, proportion, context, space, climate. A Comparative Study: Elements of music, dance, theatre and literature. 4. Principles of design: unity, variety, balance, rhythm, emphasis, proportion, and harmony. 5. The media of the visual arts: a) the graphic media—drawing (the sketch, the study, and the finished drawing), printmaking (relief prints, woodcut, linocut, intaglio prints, lithography, and serigraphy), photography, computer arts, cinema, video, virtual reality; b) painting—fresco, watercolor, oil, tempera, acrylics, gouache; c) sculpture— relief and round, construction, site-specific and environmental sculpture. Comparison: the media of literature, music, and dance, and theatre

6. Architecture and applied design: a) styles and structures (ancient architecture, Classical architecture, Gothic, Renaissance, city planning, and Modern architecture); b) art design (the architectural interior, Bauhaus, furniture, textiles and clothing, ceramics, glass, and metal). 7. Styles of Art: a) Ancient styles (the stone age, Mesopotamia, Egypt, the Maya); b) Classical styles (Greece, Hellenistic art, the Roman Empire); c) Middle Ages (Byzantine art, the Celtic and Carolingian periods, Romanesque and Gothic styles, Islamic art, African art, Buddhist art, Japanese art); d) The Renaissance (Italy, Northern Europe, the Baroque, and Rococo); e) Neo-Classicism, Romanticism, Realism, and Impressionism; f) Post-Impressionism and Modernism (Cubism, Expressionism, Surrealism, and Non- objective art, g) Late 20th-century Globalism (Abstract Expressionism, Pop art, Photo-Realism, Post- Modernism.

3 Introduction to

Art Appreciation

1) Why Art Appreciation? • The arts are critical to giving deeper meaning to our lives. • History has communicated what is important in lives through art forms. • We are no longer a melting pot in this country. We are mosaic. • We need to recognize the cultural diversity that the world embraces. • Throughout history all the arts have served to connect our imaginations with the deepest questions of human existence: Who am I? What must I do? Where am I going? • The arts are essential not only to understanding life but to living it fully. • The arts are used to present issues and ideas, to teach or persuade, to entertain, to decorate or please. • The arts are integral to every person’s daily life. Our personal, social, economic and cultural environments are shaped by the arts at every turn. • The arts offer unique sources of enjoyment and refreshment for the imagination. • The Arts explore relationships between ideas and objects and serve as links between thought and action. • The arts help us develop attitudes, characteristics, and intellectual skills required to participate effectively in today’s society and economy. • The arts teach self-discipline, reinforce self-esteem, and foster the thinking skills and creativity. • No one can claim to be truly educated who lacks basic knowledge and skills in the arts.

Probably you all have heard of Leonardo’s Mona Lisa. Right? Do you like Mona Lisa? But do you appreciate it? Some do and some don’t. Hopefully by the end of the semester all of us will have an affirmative answer. We have to admit that many people cannot distinguish Mona Lisa from an ordinary portrait. They cannot appreciate it. But do you agree that with some appropriate explanation peoples of different nations will all understand its greatness and appreciate its beauty? It is a fact that Moan Lisa is also admired by Chinese and many other peoples. That is why we say a great work of art is the potentiality of appreciation. It has the

4 potential, but its eventual “appreciation” depends on us. No matter how great a work of art, we need to have an appropriate mind to appreciate. First of all, I think we need to clarify the term “appreciation” itself. What does it mean? You do not have any problem about its meaning of course. When I first started to study English I had no problem with expressions like “Thank you,” “Not at all.” There is a Chinese equivalent “Xie xie” for the English “Thank you.” “Thank you for your help.” But we would have some trouble learning “I appreciate it.” Translation is difficult. We have to check the context for a correct translation. The verb “to appreciate” is translated differently according to different context. Are you aware of this? In the world of art, the word “appreciation” keeps changing its meaning, its connotation. It used to mean the “liking” of things for themselves. It is the recognition or perception of aesthetic qualities. It is having vivid pleasant experiences. So when we say “art appreciation,” it means having pleasant experiences of art through recognizing its aesthetic values. Today, the concept of art has been expanded so greatly that simply everything may be considered as art. So we are having a big headache in defining art. An artist brings a snow shovel into a gallery and the shovel becomes a piece of art. When you visit a gallery of contemporary art, works on show don’t often make much sense to you. Often you can hardly tell what your feeling of appreciation is. But you can still say you “appreciate it.” The same is also true with the music: any sound may be accepted as music now. Those that were not perceived as music before are now not only music, but they are simply more fashionable. When you go to a concert of contemporary music, you hear the deafening “music,” or noise, if you like. You see the audience jumping up and down, shouting and crying. I had a friend in Cincinnati. She came back from a concert and couldn’t hear her professor speaking in class. Her hearing was temporarily lost. The concert kept ringing in her ears for four days. Is that “art appreciation”? Yet it is, in the contemporary sense of the word. She had a very pleasant experience of the music. She appreciated the concert. Thus the meaning of “appreciation” is different in this case. It is a different type of appreciation. We cannot associate what we see or hear with what is usually considered as art and beauty. There are different kinds and different levels of art appreciation. In general, if we are to appreciate an object artistically, we need to have an appreciative attitude in order to produce such experiences. The appreciative attitude is very important. In many cases we cannot examine works of art with a practical attitude. If we should have a practical mind when viewing an object, we are going to miss the delights an object may possibly provide. A farmer sees a cloud, and regards it merely as the carrier of rain which is good for his crops or bad for his hay. A monetary-minded person may pay attention to the cost of making

5 an artwork. How much did it cost to produce such a piece? Is it worth while? If you are conscious of time, you may question: How much time is spent on making such an object? If you are a store keeper or museum collection manager, you may ask: How could we find space to keep objects like this? Such attitudes are likely to keep you away from a feeling of art appreciation. To appreciate an object, then, we must get away from thinking about what uses it can have for us, or what relations can be analyzed out of it. To appreciate it is to find pleasure in it for just the thing it is in our perception. But, we cannot say the practical attitudes would have nothing to do with “appreciation,” or will only interfere with “appreciation.” Sometimes, those thoughts may become a stimulating factor in our “appreciation.” For instance, the producer of the movie “The Lost World” made a effort to let everyone know how much they spent on its production, telling everyone that it was the most expensive movie the industry had ever made. Similarly an artist may claim that he spent over 10 years in painting a single picture. You may see a Chinese painter finishes a painting in just a few minutes and charge you for 500 bucks. You are getting concerned about the value of the painting. But the painter may tell you that to paint a picture like this has cost him life’s preparation. With knowledge like these, people tend to become much more “appreciative” than before. Nevertheless, generally speaking, if we can keep the practical attitude away from us, our perceptions and emotional responses will be more adequate. We will appreciate better. The object will be either liked or disliked for itself. If we bring an appreciative attitude to the world about us, we will find much, much more to appreciate. The moon is up above, calm and beautiful. It is out there ready to be appreciated by anybody in the appreciative attitude. But if we look at the moon and just want to tell the date of the month or the weather, it is very difficult for the beauty of the moon to be appreciated. * * * * * * * * * * *

Some good things are really not easy for average people to appreciate. Fortunately artists would also try hard to design their works to stimulate and hold people’s appreciative attitude. And it is these works of art that we will particularly study. Because if we can understand these objects and the ways in which they give us enjoyment and the ways we can get enjoyment out of them, then we shall be able to better understand objects of appreciation generally. If we understand the pleasures of works of art, this should help us to understand other pleasures too.

Levels of Art Appreciation

6 1) Feeling: W. Eugene Smith, Tomoko in a Bath, 1972 (1.51) Choir of Beauvais Cathedral, France, c. 1225 (1.52) Meret Oppenheim, Object, 1936. Fur-covered cup, saucer, & spoon.

2) Critical Opinion: Norman Rockwell, cover illustration for The Saturday Evening Post. William Bouguereau, Nymphs and Satyr, 1873. (1.55) Angkor Wat, Cambodia, 12th century. (1.56) Mansur, A Black Buck, Mughal, period of Jahangir 1605-28. (1.57)

3) Idea: Vera Mukhina, Machine Tractor Driver and Collective Farm Girl. Maya Ying Lin, Vietnam Veterans’ Memorial, 1984. (1.59) Pedro Linares, Country Skull for the Day of the Dead, Papier-mâché. Hieronymus Bosch, The Garden of Earthly Delights, c.1500. (1.61)

4) History: Roger van der Weyden, Portrait of a Lady, c.1455. (1.62)

Categories of the Visual Arts: 1) Two- and three-dimensional Art Jan Vermeer, the Allegory of Painting, c. 1665-70. (1.2) Duane Hanson, Woman with Suitcases, 1973. (1.3) House Post from the Moon House, Port Mulgrave, Yakutat, c.1976-7. Sculptured sarcophagus representing Dionysos, the Seasons, and other figures, c. AD 220-30. (1.5) Rene Lalique, Suzanne au Bain, c. 1925. (1.6) Akua’ba figure from Ghana, Africa. (1.7-1.9) Elyn Zimmerman, Marabar, 1984. Plaza and Garden sculpture. Philip Johnson and John Burgee, Garden Grove Community Church

2) Fine and Applied Arts: Constantin Brancusi, Bird in Space, 1928. (1.12) Lucy Lewis, Water jar. 1979. (1.13) --- In fact this water jar may be regarded as a piece of fine art. Alex Samuelson, Coca-Cola bottle, 1913, (1.14)

3) Public and Private Art:

7 Arch of Constantine, Rome, AD 312-15. (1.16) Sumitomo Building at Expo 85, Tsukuba Science City, Japan. (1.17) Tokonoma alcove in a private home, Japan. (1.18)

Elements of art: line, shape, texture, color, light, perspective, space, time; Principles of design: unity, variety, balance, rhythm emphasis, proportion; Categories: by subject—portraits, figures, religious, still life, landscape, abstract, assemblage, collage, calligraphy; by medium—painting, sculpture, printmaking, photography, architecture, design; Styles: ancient, Classical, Renaissance, Baroque, Romanticism, Realism, nonwestern, Impressionism, Modernism, etc.

We need to take a global perspective of art on an equal basis, so as to overcome misunderstandings between the East and West, and different cultures or civilizations. And I am sure it will be fun to recognize some of the world’s most influential and appreciated art works and finding out why they are so considered.

Seeing what we look at is more challenging that is usually believed. In our culture, we are simply not taught to see images intelligently, except if we are lucky enough to have a class like this. So one-third of this class will be devoted to learning to see; to explore the Art of Seeing.

Informed seeing is not passive. In our society we are surrounded by so many visual images, and some few of them are essential to our survival, that we turn off, or screen out, the vast majority of what’s there. We have to do that, but when we do want to really observe something, we should have the skill to do it. Informed seeing is an active process that engages the mind’s knowledge, ability to discriminate, and our reservoirs of memories, opinions, and emotions. Through educated looking, it is possible to consider what makes Mona Lisa a masterpiece. That is why we study how to see, and why we spend some time on a few important points in world history rather than doing a superficial survey of the world art. In this class you get specific tools, practice using them, and a broadened awareness of the potential purposes of art to make sacred, to explain, and to challenge.

We will explore many ways of making and looking at art. Try to give each piece you see your educated consideration so that you can receive a rich experience.

8 When we come to the end of the course, you will be in a better position to say whether you think Mona Lisa’s reputation is deserved, or whether Duchamp should be considered an artist.

The end of the course should also be the beginning of a lifelong journey. Through art we can get outside ourselves and learn someone else’s world view that is different from that of our own.

A friend told me that she once overheard a father pointing out a Cezanne painting to his young son, saying, “Now, that’s a great painting!” “Why?” asked the boy. “Because it was painted by a great painter,” replied the father. “Why was he a great painter?” asked the son again. “Because,” the father answered, “he painted great paintings.”

The classic remark, “I don’t know much about art, but I know what I like” is not as dumb as some people think. Knowing what you like is far more important than knowing what you are supposed to like. And knowing what you dislike is as important as knowing what you like. You have to make judgments when walking through a museum, and are able to say “I don’t care for such and such, but I do enjoy these.” Discrimination is a necessary component of appreciation. Each of us has somewhat different tastes. It is not true that great art is great because its values are universal and enduring. Judgments about art are never unanimous, and they change —sometimes radically—from age to age. No artist’s place is secure in posterity. Tastes vary from individual to individual and change constantly with the passage of time.

9 Chapter 1 The World of Art

What is Art?—an aesthetic object made by humans with skill based on training. Art traditions value the following: craft and skill; imitation/realism; expression; societal purpose; function; symbolism; formalism. Art is a mirror of life, a reflection of how we live, think, and feel. Art reveals to us what people treasure and admire, and what they fear most deeply. Art is not only something we find desirable and enjoyable, it is a necessity for human survival. Defining art by looking for traits that all artworks have in common is almost impossible to do. Most works possess good design, but not all do. Furthermore, many things besides art possess good design. Artworks are intended to provide an aesthetic experience, a personal experience that involves appreciating something for its own sake. But many things besides art can be experienced this way. Therefore, neither good design nor the aesthetic experience is a complete test of something being a work of art. Human intention is common to all art: traditional paintings and sculptures, ancient objects, experimental forms of art, and even pieces of mounted driftwood. Beyond that, it is the art world that makes judgments about what is to be called art—or more precisely, fine art, the kind we see in art galleries and museums, and that is written about in major newspapers and art magazines. There are feelings, emotions, and ideas that cannot be expressed in any way other than through art. The beauty of a face or a haunting landscape may be impossible to convey in words, but it can be revealed in a painting; a complex personality can be captured in a novel or a play in a way that reveals the person’s innermost soul; joy or anguish can often be communicated most directly and completely through music, poetry, or drama. Without these modes of expression, human beings would be as impoverished as without language. Art can be divided into three categories: literary, visual, and performing. As the categories suggest, different art forms focus on certain elements and eliminate others. The literary arts include novels, short stories, and poetry. The visual arts include painting, sculpture, architecture, and photography. The performing arts are theatre, dance, opera, and music. Film involves both the visual and the performing arts. The visual arts deal solely with sight and touch—what we can see and feel—and they exclude sound. Moreover, the composition is frozen and constant. We value the visual arts partly because they capture subjects—faces, landscapes, a series of colors or shapes—and hold

10 them fast in a painting or a sculpture. We can look at a statue of a Roman soldier from 2,000 years ago, or a paining of 500 years ago as were first observed. The performing arts—a) movements through time; b) require interpreters as well as creators. A playwright writes a play, but actors and actresses perform it; a composer writes a piece of music which singers and instrumentalists will perform; a choreographer develops a ballet which dancers will interpret. The performing arts must have an audience. The event must be live, occurring in one place at one time with both performers and audience. Music concentrates on sound. The essence of music is sound. Music moves through time while the visual arts exist in space, occupying a canvas, an area. Musicians need space to perform, but the music they perform does not. Theatre, dance, and opera occupy time and space, while painting, sculpture and music. * * * * * (In next class we will discuss what makes a particular work of art great. But today, we need to focus on the art world.)

The Art World consists of artist, patron, critic, audience, also art dealers, collectors, support people, museum professionals, art educators in other words, all the people in a society who help create, transmit, interpret, receive, or display a work of art. 1) Artist—people who create works of art that express meanings or messages to be interpreted and received by the rest of the art world. 2) Patron—those who commission and pay for works of art, and, consequently, they have some control over the subject matter, materials, and even the general character of the art produced. 3) Critic & art historians—play the role of interpreting art. Critics write about art of their own time, how styles express artist’s ideas, while art historians write about art of earlier times or other cultures, about the original interests of the artist and patron. They help audience understand and appreciate art. 4) Audience—three groups: general, serious, and professional audience. They all play a role in deciding what art is, what is good or bad art, and what art is worth. In a word, the art world is made up of all kinds of people with a great variety of interests.

1) Artist—would try to take whatever ideas and abilities they possess and do something original with them. Artists develop their abilities by training. In earlier times, artists learned their crafts through apprenticeship; later, after the Renaissance, artists studied in academies, or schools of art. In recent times, most professional artists have studied art in

11 a college or university, where they learn traditional craft skills as well as study in other intellectual disciplines. What makes a good artist? You must learn first to observe the rules faithfully; afterwards, modify them according to your intelligence and capacity. The end of all methods is to seem to have no method. Second, you must work hard. 2) Patron—life blood of the art world. Usu. individuals driven by love of certain kinds of art, based on personal taste, but also corporate bodies: churches, governments, businesses, in the latter cases practical and political purpose may be a strong factor. Their varying tastes, preferences and standards may not be able to control the style and content art, but often control the subject, materials, and perhaps the general character of the art. 3) Critic—expert in cultural value. The works of art are slowly, but constantly, changing their meaning in the minds of critics and their readers. The experiences are different in some ways from those who have lived before. All of us see with our minds as much as we do with our eyes. What can an analysis of the Mona Lisa tell us about Italian Renaissance and our own preconceptions about art and its role in society? 4) Audience—the important role of the audience is often neglected. But generally it is the audience who will determine what can be accepted as art. And they decide what art is and what is not with surprising independence of the critics. Our course is not to tell you what art is and what is not, but rather to increase your appreciation of art. * * * * * The above people make up what is known as the art world. They are involved not only in the production of art, but in selling it, collecting it, displaying it, writing/talking about it, and teaching about it. Because of their training/learning, experience, and commitment, they have the expertise to make judgments. Do these people ever make bad judgments? Yes. For instance, some utilitarian objects should have stayed in history museums; some examples of experimental art should have been forgotten. However, there are also many traditional paintings and sculptures that were misjudged by experts in the past. Most of these works now are out of sight, gathering dust in museum basements. Art of the kind that you see in art galleries and art museums—the art that is reproduced and written about in newspapers, art magazines, and art books—has been called fine arts. Unless you have original art in your home, or are a member of the art world, fine art is something you will see only on special occasions, as when visiting an art gallery or museum, or reading an article about it in a newspaper or magazine. Sometimes the term fine art is used to contrast it with folk art, and produced by amateur or untrained artists, and with commercial

12 art, the kind of art that you experience on an everyday basis, usually in the newspapers or on television. When in front of a painting, what questions do you ask? Who painted it? Why? How (medium)? What (subject)? When? And also History (artist & painting), culture (social, economical & political), psychology, authenticity, gender, sitter, exhibition, ownership, etc.

Appreciation of Skill Before Leonardo, paintings were very linear, with clean-cut lines, sharp contrast, clear color areas. Leonardo changed this. He softened edges, strengthened contrast of light and shade, created a mystic atmosphere of the background, much more evocative, strong sense of light and dark. Is the Mona Lisa A modern icon? Why? Where is it? Louvre ., in which signs are posted throughout the vast museum to help visitors find their way to the famous masterpiece. Visitors elbow one another to get a better view and pose for their pictures beside it. And this photograph may become your status symbol. Woo, you have seen Mona Lisa! The small painting is housed in a grand, velvet-covered case behind bullet proof glass. All this grandeur surrounds the image of an elegant woman with an ambiguous, mysterious smile. It was painted by Leonardo at the height of the Italian Renaissance, after the artist had left the service of the duke of Milan and was traveling. Great works of art are often full of legends: The eyes of Mona Lisa follow one around the room; that the object on display is not the genuine original.

Is the picture important because it is beautiful or new or both? Is the face of the woman beautiful? Or the way she has been painted? Leonardo’s skill as a draftsman and painter and the way he integrated the subject into the environment bring the subject to life. Leonardo wrote in notebooks that “moderated light will add charm to any face,” a fact appreciated by those of us who set our tables with candlelight to evoke a romantic mood. He called this technique sfumato, “the soft mist of a fountain” that dissolves edges and makes details unclear. Look especially at eyes and mouth. Our imagination fills them in.

Best answered through comparative method. Compare with other images of women of same historical period to see what is new

13 Compare: Botticelli, Birth of Venus, 1482 Ghirlandaio: Giovanna Tuornabuoni, 1488

Sfumato—lighting effect in oil painting, the creation of soft, delicately blended effects by the fusion of one tone into another, particularly in glazes. The term is frequently used in reference to the paintings of Leonardo, who was the first of the great masters to employ the procedure to secure airy or atmospheric effects. Leo wrote in notebooks that “moderated light will add charm to any face,” a fact appreciated by those of us who set our tables with candlelight to evoke a romantic mood. he called this technique sfumato, “the soft mist of a fountain” that dissolves edges and makes details unclear. Look especially at eyes and mouth. Our imagination fills them in.

Sense of movement: diagonals of shoulders—she seems to have moved them, uneven horizon. Creates illusion that this is real person. Grace and Beauty—in both men and women—were valued in the renaissance, as was “spressatura”-a kind of aristocratic aloofness of refinement and calm.

Understanding of The artist “Great art reveals the spirit of the age that produced it. Therefore, we need to know when and who made a work of art so we can begin to consider how this affected its form.” The life of Leonardo represents most of the Renaissance values. He was very independent thinker, a scientific observer of nature, an imaginative inventor, and a delightful conversationalist. He devised parade floats and military defense systems for his patron the Duke of Milan, as well as costume design for the pageants, and some finished paintings as court artist. Part of the mystique of Leonardo’s art is that he brought a new level of illusion to imagery through his intense studies of anatomy and nature bathed in the appearance of natural light. This was his own individualistic mode of perception, at which he was undoubtedly a creative genius. No one knows why Leonardo painted this portrait of 24 year old Lisa del Giocondo, wife of a Florentine merchant, at a time that he refused commissions from more notable persons. We do know he worked on the picture for decades, carrying it with him on his travels. probably to France, where he was court artist in King Francis I’s palace, which is how the picture came to be housed in the Louvre. Grace and beauty—in both men and women—were valued in the Renaissance, as was “spressatura”-a kind of aristocratic aloofness of refinement and calm.

14 This work of art has been as influential as a standard of beauty, skill, new vision, and the ability of the artist to seduce through the intellect that it has been appropriated by many other artists.

In summery, Part of the mystique of Leonardo’s art is that he brought a new level of illusion to imagery through his intense studies of anatomy and nature bathed in the appearance of natural light. This was his own individualistic mode of perception, at which he was undoubtedly a creative genius. No one knows why Leonardo painted this portrait of 24 year old Lisa del Giocondo, wife of a Florentine merchant, at a time that he refused commissions from more notable persons. We do know he worked on the picture for decades, carrying it with him on his travels. probably to France, where he was court artist in King Francis I’s palace, which is how the picture came to be housed in the Louvre. Louvre was built in 1600, made a museum in late 18th century. Mona Lisa became known to the public after 1780s. This work of art has been so influential as a standard of beauty, skill, new vision, and the ability of the artist to seduce through the intellect that it has been appropriated by many other artists.

Is Mona Lisa authentic? The picture was stolen from the Louvre in 1911, a national scandal. An art forger planned to make copies and make money. He contracted a former Louvre employee to arrange the theft. An Italian named Vicenzo Peruggia and his assistant dressed as staff and spent Sunday night in the museum. The next day they moved the painting through many galleries, planning to tell anyone they saw that they were taking the picture to the photo studio. They only met a plumber, and he helped them open a stuck exit door. It was not until the next day the Museum found Mona Lisa missing. It took two years for the authorities to track it down, in Italy, in the hands of the former employee. Peruggia was born in Italy and claimed that he had wanted to return it to its rightful place in his own country. The Italian jury sentenced him to only to a few months in jail. It was displayed briefly in Florence (where Leonardo began it in 1503) then returned to the Louvre. But was the one returned the original? So you see, all this praise could be for a fake. Best answered through comparative method. Compare with other images of women of same historical period to see what is new

What is about this painting that has elevated it the symbolic pinnacle of Western art?

15 Mona Lisa, the world’s most famous portrait, 1502, oil on wood, 77 x 53 cm, painted in Florence, and perhaps portraying the wife of the banker Zanobi del Giocondo, this painting conveys a psychological depth that has continued to fascinate viewers up to the present day. Its power derives, at least in part, from a manipulation of light and shadow that imparts a blurred imprecision to the sitter’s features, creating an aura of ambiguity and mystery. The ambiguity of the famous smile is really the consequence of Leonardo’s fascination and skill with atmospheric chiaroscuro, which serves to disguise rather than reveal a human psyche. The light is adjusted subtly enough, but the precise planes are blurred and the facial expression is hard to determine. The enigma of the “smile” has been emphasized too much. Leonardo’s quite scientific concern with the nature of light and shadow need to be fully appreciated.

Form: balance, centered, pyramidal. Light: very soft, misty. Space: seems to be a real place back there, not blank. Subject contrasts with background: human-culture vs. nature, suggests the unconscious mind, the association of women with mysterious things and deep emotions. Expression: reinforces mystery

Style: Art portrays culture, defines reality. View of Tenochtitlan, realistic painting. In oil, western style Aztec Capital, According to the legend, the people came from the north. It was told by ancestors that the place where eagle stands on the rock would be the site for the capital. The picture tells who were here, why they were here, how they seized the place, conquering battles and whom they had conquered.

16 Chapter 2

Art Museum

The common place we can directly set foot in the art world is the museum. European museums were started to open royal collections to the public, to convey a message that the artistic treasures are property of all citizens. The United States had no royal collection to inherit. It declared itself a free and independent nation with equal opportunity for all. Thus American museums started with the purpose of education as well as entertainment for everyone. Therefore museums in US are called educational institutions instead of cultural institutions. Collections preceded museums. Economic-hoard collections prevailed in a period when economies were primitive and production was mainly for subsistence. This includes the Greek and Roman periods. In medieval Europe, the emphasis gradually shifted from the purely material value of the contents to the symbolic value contained in the association of objects with national events and outstanding persons. A second type of collection is the social-prestige collection, the main function of which is its image-making effect on people. Magic collections represent a third type of collection— objects thought to have magical powers (saintly relics). The fourth type is collection as expression of group loyalty, representing kinship with superior ancestors. The fifth type of collection is that designed to stimulate curiosity and inquiry, evolved when the opposition to scholasticism documented by classical study developed into a general spirit of inquiry and invention. With little art and a vast new country, early museums in America were primarily devoted to natural history. The first museum in America was a museum of natural-history collections opened in Charleston, South Carolina, in 1773. Early American museums suffered from a lack of resources. Patrons were few and philanthropy hardly existed. Nonetheless, museums were founded in Salem, Boston, and Philadelphia, and later in Hartford. The art museum in America arose in a different manner than the traditional museums of Europe. Rather than beginning with the display of collections, Taylor argues that U.S. museums were primarily founded by associations of citizens and artists, to provide an educational base of culture to a local society cut off from the larger European society. Throughout much of the 19th c., art had no visual environment of its own in the US. Aside from museums, there was little or no public art; that is, there was minimal art in public

17 buildings, and churches were largely devoid of art. The art museum did not grow out of a new consciousness of artistic values, but instead, out of the understanding that works of art are not simply collectible curiosities or cultural artifacts, they have a moral and aesthetic existence of their own. Undoubtedly education was the first fact of the nature of an art museum. Local art associations moved quickly to establish temporary exhibits, develop educational classes, and ultimately to form public museums. Although the private collector was not usually a museum initiator, the donation of quality collections, in combination with the rising art scholarship, helped to determine the ultimate direction of the art museum. Many of the present physical facilities of major U.S. art museums were originally built in the last part of the nineteenth century and the first part of this century. Museums became symbolic of the community’s rise to prominence and sophistication. The architecture of these museums was predominantly Graeco-Roman, further symbolizing the presence of something sacred, art housed in a civic sanctuary. Contemplation of the art objects in this setting was an inward, religious experience as contrasted with the secular, profane task of teaching. The emphasis on education and the widening scope of the education function of museums had its critics, who felt that a museum is not primarily an educational tool, because the relation between the work of art and the viewer is far more than an educational function; rather, the simple pleasure of viewing a work of art is important and should not be thrust into the background. Still, by concentrating on educating the public, the importance of the opportunity to see a work of art was emphasized. There is significant agreement today on what a museum it. The international Council of museums now defines a museum as an establishment in which objects are the main means of communication with the public. This interaction is the distinct nature of a museum from other institutions. The ICM also defines a museum as “a permanent establishment administered in the public interest with a view to conserve, study, exploit by various means and, basically, to exhibit, for the pleasure and education of the public, objects of cultural value.” For the purposes of the accreditation program of the American Association of Museums (AAM), a museum is defined as an “organized and permanent non-profit institution, essentially educational or aesthetic in purpose, with professional staff, which owns and utilizes tangible objects, cares for them, and exhibits them to the public on some regular schedule.”

The modern museum is a hybrid with mingled characteristics of the cathedral, the royal palace, the theater, school, the library, and according to some, the department store. A museum of science in essence is a school; a museum of art in essence a temple. Works of art communicate directly with their beholders and need little labeling. Art museums are not didactic, but aesthetic in primary purpose.

18 The evolving public nature of museum functions from the beginning let to today’s art museum having an important educational function to fulfill. In helping people make better use of their increased leisure time, museums are increasingly being called upon to educate their various publics. However, because of the polymorphous nature of those publics, this educational function has often gone unrecognized. In meeting public needs, most museums have had some kind of expansion or renovation of the museum building, to add classrooms, auditoriums, special display areas, and so on. Therefore costs have risen for museums commonly by about 10% per year. Conservation of art has new reached new levels of interest in museums, both in restoration of individual works and in the collection as a whole. Museum shops have expanded sales and the variety of goods offered for sale. Even building design has been conceptualized—as evidenced by the Guggenheim, the Whitney and the Hirschorn—with emphasis on a continuous flow of gallery space, as opposed to mere discrete galleries. Another fundamental museum-building change has been the move away from the static concept of displaying a permanent collection, and toward the development of the previously noted temporary display areas; public areas such as lounges, restaurants, children’s areas; and, along with more office space, conservation labs and museum storage areas.

Louvre—El Greco’s art is a strong, personal blending of Late Byzantine and Late Italian Mannerist elements. The intense emotionalism of his paintings, which naturally appealed to the pious fervor of the Spanish; the dematerialization of form; and a great reliance on color bind his to 16th century Venetian art and to Mannerism. His strong sense of movement and use of light however, prefigure the Baroque.

*Mannerism refers to certain tendencies in the art of the Late Renaissance, meaning excessive adherence to a distinctive manner. It can be seen as a reaction to some of the artistic values of the earlier time. Mannerists used colors that were harsher than those of Renaissance artists. They went out of their way to distort reality, especially scale, and experimented with confusing perspective, unbalanced proportions, twisted elongated shapes and uncomfortably posed figures. Artists sought to express emotions, often their own, rather than abstract ideals or perfected nature. They were more interested in the moment than eternity. Mannerist architecture tends to be very grand and elegant, often incorporating exaggerated proportions.

When to read labels? Sometimes you find yourself paying more attention to the information about the object than the object itself. This is at best a way to learn a little about art

19 history but not about art. Museum professionals disagree about whether labels are an aid or a distraction to viewers. Many European museums simply label works with a number that refers to a catalogue entry, while some American museums place a long description next to the painting. Your objective is to enjoy this visit, so look for those works that appeal most to you now, those that seem to speak to you, and then read their labels carefully. Almost every museum is worth looking at for itself. The museum itself is a work of art. Designing a museum has become a choice assignment for leading architects, their way of leaving their own artistic mark on the landscape. Today, museums have far more complex purposes. There are both permanent collections and special exhibitions to be visited. There are museums shops, restaurants, libraries and many other facilities. Lectures, films, and seminars are scheduled in attractive auditoriums Children’s sections feature educational programs. Probably the most spectacular example of a museum that broke the pattern of the past is the architect Frank Lloyd Wright’s Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York. There is certainly nothing like it in the world, and it has been the subject of controversy from the start. There are those who feel the building is an impossible space in which to show art on its long circular ramp, which resembles no other gallery that ever existed. It has even been said that Frank Lloyd Wright had no feeling for art and was not in the least concerned about designing a structure to show paintings and sculpture---that he wanted only to create a monument to his own genius. Another school of thought feels quite differently about the Guggenheim. They find the exterior design a delightfully unique form in its urban milieu, and I am constantly cheered when I enter the large atrium and see the lovely lines created by the ramps. The spaces seem ideal for exhibiting works of art; as you move from one intimate area to another, you can enjoy a few carefully hung or mounted works at a time without being overwhelmed by an indigestible mass. It is a museum in which you can spend a few minutes walking quickly through the exhibits or hours lingering over each work. Either way, you leave the museum with the sense of having had a rewarding experience of the works or exhibit. Clearly, this is a matter of personal taste. Each of us may have favorite museums and going there—almost regardless of what is being exhibited at the moment—is bound to be a pleasurable experience. Other museums are less satisfying, and we have to be prepared to overcome the architectural obstacles in order to enjoy the works of art in the collection.

There are certain museums that I consider absolute gems, and I would recommend them unhesitatingly to museum-goers as ones that are most likely to have universal appeal: The Dumbarton Oaks Research Collection and Library in Washington D.C.

20 It has an extraordinarily elegant structure, which helps one focus on beautiful objects in a most intimate and gracious setting. The Cleveland Museum of Art, with its striking black-and-white striped exterior reminiscent of the great cathedral in Siena, Italy, conveys a sense of excellence in every aspect. The Louisiana Museum of Modern Art is a wonderful museum just north of Copenhagen in Humlebaek which received its name because the man who made the initial gift of the land and house had been married three times, always to women named Louise. What is especially lovely about the Louisiana is its small and compact building, with skillfully designed galleries for viewing groups of sculptures and paintings. Outside the building is a landscaped area at the edge of the sea, with the Swedish coastline barely visible on the horizon. Sculptures are placed judiciously on the lawns, under trees, near rocks, and against the seascape, so that one can walk around the area and find an endless variety of lovely views. An equally spectacular success in museum design is the Kröller-Müller State Museum located in a park in Otterlo, Holland. The new building for the Museum of Modern Art in New York has won almost universal praise for its grand spaces and beautifully presented sculpture garden. And new museums in Dallas, Atlanta, and Fort Lauderdale are all carefully designed.

1) The following is an example that shows a staggering relationship between the artist, the patron and the audience, but eventually a successful creation of a great work of art. In fact all the troubles and difficulties the project went through helped in the end make the Memorial a better piece of art. Maya Lin’s Vietnam Veterans’ Memorial in Washington, D.C. is a very quiet but nonetheless profoundly moving statement about the deaths of Americans in the Vietnam War. It is elegantly simple, consists of an angled wall of polished black granite, incised with the names of all the Americans who died in the Vietnam War. In the face of the bitter divisions that once existed between proponents and opponents of American involvement in the war, Lin intentionally avoided presenting a blatant political idea. The meaning of the wall is to be discovered individually by each viewer. Lin explains: Many earlier war memorials were propagandized statements about the victor, the issues, the politics, and not about the people who served and died. I felt a memorial should be honest about the reality of war and be for the people who gave their lives. ... I didn’t want a static object that people would just look at, but something they could relate to as on a journey, or passage, that would bring each to his own conclusions. I didn’t visualize heavy physical objects implanted in the earth, instead it was as if the black brown earth were polished and

21 made into an interface between the sunny world and the quiet, dark world beyond, that we can’t enter. The design created more articles and more words in press than any other memorials in our time. It has really been recognized as a standard by which all memorials will be judged. The wall is designed for people to come and bring their thoughts, their emotions to it.

Quotes from Larry Powell’s Hunger of the Heart: Communion at the Wall. Dubuque, IA: Islewest Publishing, 1995.

The Vietnam Veterans Memorial is almost austere in its simplicity. Two polished walls stretch toward the Washington Monument on the east and the Lincoln Memorial on the west, linking America’ s past with the present. Unlike the other memorials, you can’t see the Wall from a car. You have to approach it. Enter its domain. At its outer edges, the Wall is less than a foot high, hardly appropriate for a national monument. Yet at the apex where the two walls meet, the memorial rises toward the sky, engulfing us with its height. At its center the Wall begins to make sense. The names, which began on a single line, have multiplied to the point where they surround us. All of a sudden the implication is clear: the Wall represents what might have been. Looking at the Wall, we see the world reflected: sun, moon, clouds, the trees in the distance, the people standing next to us. Finally, we see ourselves on its surface. These reflections remind us that the Wall is as much about the present as the past. We see our world mirrored in the names we find there and realize that the slightest movement changes the view. No image is permanent on the Wall. Only the names are eternal. Most of us touch the Wall. Our touch is tentative at first, but grows more assured as we discover its warmth. The black granite captures the sun, giving it back to our fingertips as they trace the names carved on its face. The list is chronological, beginning in July 1959 and ending in May 1975. Everyone is equal on the Wall; there is no rank, only the order of casualty. Each name has a diamond or a plus next to it. Diamonds confirm death, a plus means unanswered questions for families who still wait. The Wall is a quiet place. There might be two people or twenty thousand present, but the sounds are still the same: hushed whispers, reverential comments, or just silence. Being at the Wall is a holy experience. It is Mecca for the Vietnam generation—America’s Wailing Wall. It is the place where we come to mourn, to grieve, to reflect as a nation on the true cost of war. Personal opinion about the legitimacy of the war is irrelevant at the Wall. The only thing that matters is the recognition of life interrupted, the loss of potential, the families and friends who go on alone, comforted only by memory. It doesn’t matter that we didn’t know any of them

22 personally. The act of coming to the Wall unites us with the people who did and from them we glimpse meaning. For many the Wall is a place where they come to say good-bye and lay the past to rest. For others, the Wall is a beginning, the start of a journey as they seek to understand. For the Vietnam veterans, their families and friends, it is a place where finally they are “welcomed home.” It is a place of reconciliation and healing. Upon completion of the wall, may people thought the job was done. But it was really only the beginning. The memorial not only honors the dead and missing, but offers the hope of healing to those left behind. Over forty million people are closely related to the names on the Wall. Many of them are still paying the price of the war. Many have wounds still waiting to be healed.

AT THE WALL Over one million people travel to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial every year. Visitors are found at the Wall twenty-four hours a day. For many, it is a visit of great sacrifice, both financially and emotionally. Visiting the Wall is an individual experience. For some, it is best done alone without an audience of family and friends. Others need the love and support of families and friends to get through it. For some veterans moving close to the Wall, actually touching the Wall is too much of a risk. These veterans are known as the “tree-line vets.” It may take them several visits before they actually can reach the Wall.

COMING HOME The Vietnam Veterans Memorial was created as a result of the efforts of Veterans. They raised the money, lobbied Congress, found a designer, and built the Wall. For many of these men and women, the Memorial represents their true coming home. It is the place where they finally receive a long overdue welcome. Many items left by Veterans are memories of the in-country experience, a part of daily life in Vietnam. Small offerings found at the Wall—a can of beer, a package of cigarettes, a dollar bill—represent communication between the living and the dead, the idea of a debt ultimately repaid. According to one veteran, leaving something at the Wall was a way to connect with his friends whose names he found there. Leaving medals at the Wall may be a way to honor his or her fallen comrades by leaving something of great personal importance. The Wall serves as a witness to personal moments between the living and the dead.

23 LIFE INTERRUPTED Each of the 58,196 names on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial equals a life interrupted. For the people left behind, the Wall is public acknowledgment of their grief and loss. Coming to the Memorial is a ritual for many people. It is a place where they can reconnect with their loved ones and share their strength with first-time visitors. Although Veterans Day and Memorial Day are periods of high visitation, other holidays such as Christmas, Easter, and Father’s Day find families gathering together at the Wall. As the years go by, the Wall is where generations meet.

DAUGHTERS OF WAR Only in recent years has America begun to learn about the service of her daughters—the invisible veterans of Vietnam. During the Vietnam conflict, over 265,000 women served in America’s armed forces. Few Americans realized what these veterans suffered. Their stress equaled that of the soldier. Unlike the men, American military women in Vietnam were all volunteers. An estimated 11,000 were stationed in-country. Eight of their names are recorded on the Wall. Thousands more American women participated in the Red Cross and other service organizations. More than fifty of them gave their lives in Vietnam, but because they were civilians, their names do not appear on the Wall. Veterans Day 1993 marked the unveiling of the Women’s Statue. The unveiling and dedication of this statue represents the completion of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.

Another example that shows the mechanism between artist and the patron. In this case, it was a failure and the work of art was destroyed. Diego Rivera (1886-1957) a Mexican mural painter, studied in Europe, Madrid, Paris. a friend of Picasso, traveled in Italy, Germany and Russia. Sympathetic of communism, impressed by Renaissance frescoes, leader of the new Mexican school of painting—portrayal of Mexican history through wall painting. Painted murals in New York, San Francisco, and Detroit (decorated the California Stock Exchange and Detroit Institute of Arts) and provoked considerable controversy. He sought to strengthen national consciousness and solidarity by depicting man in his social and working environment. In Detroit, he chose to depict a vision of an industrial Detroit unscarred by the onset of the great Depression. The frescoes powerfully reflect upon the synthetic mix of a once real and very dynamic reality and a utopian and mythogenic vision of limitless growth, production and prosperity.

24 In 1932, only a few months after he had started work on the Detroit frescoes, Rivera, along with Henri Matisse and Pablo Picasso, was approached by John R. Todd, the official architect of the new Rockefeller Center, which was undergoing construction in Manhattan, New York, to consider undertaking mural commissions for the building. Both Matisse and Picasso declined the approach. Rivera initially refused to participate in what he interpreted as a competition, and only accepted the commission after the personal intervention of Nelson Rockefeller, and then only after he had secured agreement that the mural be carried out in fresco and in color and not as the architects had originally stipulated, a painting in monochrome on canvas. The theme set by Rockefeller was absolute and precise. Its title was Man at the Crossroads Looking with Hope and High Vision to the Choosing of a New and Better Future. For the rich patron, the mural’s content was first and foremost to be philosophical and spiritual, to persuade people to stop and think, above all to stimulate a spiritual awakening. At first Rivera had no problem with his patron’s own vision. But criticized by former comrades in the communist movement as an opportunist painter for millionaires Rivera changed mind and made a overt display of his celebrated public Marxism, in contrast to its absence or at least the muting of it at Detroit and San Francisco. Rivera planned his theme left to right. The left-hand side of the mural was to depict: “human intelligence in possession of the Forces of Nature, expressed by lightning striking off the hand of Jupiter and being transformed into useful electricity that helps to cure man’s ills, unites men through radio and television, and furnishes them with light and motive power. Below, the man of science presents the scale of Natural Evolution, the understanding of which replaces the superstitions of the past. This is the frontier of Ethical Evolution.” The right-hand side of the mural was to “represent the development of the Technical Power of man, showing the workers arriving at a true understanding of their rights regarding the means of production, which has resulted in the planning of the liquidation of Tyranny personified by the crumbling statue of Caesar, whose head has fallen to the ground.” The central area of the mural was to have an image of a telescope and microscope bringing “to the vision and understanding of man the most distant celestial bodies. The microscope makes visible and comprehensible to man infinitesimal living organisms, connecting atoms and cells with the astronomical system, exactly in the median line, the cosmic energy received by two antennae is conducted to the machinery controlled by the worker where it is transformed into productive energy.” The design underwent major changes once it was transferred to the wall. The center of the mural was no longer as Rivera described it. Instead it had been replaced by the single image of a worker. His description of mothers and teachers occupying the left-hand sections between the

25 ellipses was replaced with a scene of a nightclub, which Rivera described as showing the debauched rich. However, it was the area to the right of center that was to cause the premature ending of the commission and the destruction of the nearly completed mural, for it was here that Rivera placed his now notorious portrait of Lenin. He wrote: “In the center, Man is expressed in his triple aspect—the Peasant who develops from the Earth the products which are the origin and base of all the riches of mankind, the worker of the cities who transforms and distributes the raw materials given by the earth, and the Soldier who under the Ethical Force that produces martyrs in religious and wars, represents Sacrifice.” Neither in these accompanying notes to the final sketch design, nor in the sketch design itself did Rivera indicate that the central figure of this group, the worker leader, would be Lenin. Indeed, the original drawing contained the figure of this group, the worker leader wearing a cap, his features representing no one in particular. By mid-1993, when the mural was nearing completion, reports in the newspapers spoke of a red-colored mural containing communist demonstrations being painted for John D. Rockefeller. As a result of the publicity that the nearly completed mural was receiving, Rockefeller visited the mural site and wrote a letter to Rivera asking him to remove Lenin’s portrait. Rivera refused to comply, underestimating Rockefeller’s resolve. On May 9, Rivera was ordered to stop work on the fresco and told to leave the building immediately. The work was then covered over with canvas and on 9 Feb. 1934, the nearly completed mural was chipped off the wall. Rockefeller paid Rivera’s fee of $21,000 in full.

26 Chapter 3 Portrait, Nude Figures & Still life

Today we will deal with subject matter of art. When we see a piece of art, we would try to find out what does it mean. We tend to interpret it. And this interpretation will be based on or limited by our own experience and knowledge.

Iconography: A field of art historical study dealing with the identification of subject matter and symbolism of works of art—symbolic images, themes and motifs. It groups paintings and sculptures in terms of their themes rather than their styles, and development of subject matter becomes a major focus of critical study. It is valuable in tracing influences and in assigning dates and places of origin. Iconology: A field of art historical study dealing broadly with the interpretation of general meaning of works of art in the context of particular cultures and historical periods. This is the general historical context—the political, social, economic, scientific, technological, and intellectual background that accompanies and influences specifically art-historical events. The fall of Rome, the coming of Christianity, and the barbarian invasions all had much to do with stylistic changes in architecture, sculpture, and painting in the early centuries of our era. The triumph of science and technology had everything to do with the great transformation of the Renaissance tradition that took place in what we call “modern art.” Thus in a way, the work of art is a historical document.

Frida Kahlo (1910-54) she began painting at the age of 15 while recovering from the road accident that condemned her to a life of pain and increasing disability. Kahlo sent her works to the painter Diego Rivera, who encouraged her, and in 1928 they married. They got divorced later and were then married again. One of her Self Portraits was sold at Christie for $1.65 million. In Mexico, her work was declared “national patrimony,” which means that it cannot permanently leave the country. Kahlo’s art is autobiographical. Her own intense experiences are the main subject of her paintings, most of which are self portraits. Drawing in some degree on Surrealism, but more importantly on popular Mexican art (votive images), she created a series of highly original, often harrowing, self-portraits that are, in part, an ironic adaptation of traditional images of the Madonna. Though their immediate subject is her own physical and emotional suffering—her

27 relationship with Rivera was stormy—they also explore political issues and the complex nature of Mexican identity. One of her earliest supporters, the Surrealist André Breton, described her work as “a ribbon around a bomb.” The Broken Column, for instance, explicitly reveals the cross of pain she carries from a broken spine. We see a suffering Frida commanding the picture plane. She delicately holds a white drape, which gives her an air of martyrdom. Her body cracks open below the chin to reveal a crumbling Ionic column in place of the spine. Sharp nails of different sizes pierce her flesh, penetrating just enough to stay in place but having no other apparent purpose than to exacerbate the torture.... Her tears stream down freely, but her expression is unmoved. She seems to be saying, “I am this decaying body. My suffering is as infinite as the horizon line. But I am something more, something enduring and strong.” It reminds people that to be alive comprises many experiences, all of which, whether sweet or bitter, tender or harsh, joyful or sad, have their worth.” Judging about Kahlo’s work is particularly difficult because of the “saga” of her life. She had polio as a child, was further crippled by a terrible accident at 15. A street car hit a bus she was riding, and a handrail entered her abdomen and exited through her vagina. In a way she lived in the shadow of Diego Rivera, who was gross (300 bl.) and abused Kahlo emotionally, even seducing her younger sister. She endured many operations, had several unsuccessful pregnancies, was in constant pain for which she took drugs and drank alcohol. She suffered a miscarriage and had her leg amputated shortly before her early death. She was politically conscious, changing the date of her birthday so that it would coincide with the start of the 1910 Mexican revolution, and she had a hammer and sickle flag draped over her casket. The best of Kahlo’s paintings demonstrate a spiritual intensity. There is a genuine visual invention and technical command. Kahlo did not engage in Surrealism to escape life as did the European Surrealists, rather she came to terms with reality through her art. Her art was essentially inwardly directed. Pain was her chief subject—pain from the accident and 35 surgical operations; pain from being childless, from her turbulent marriage of 25 years to Rivera, who deceived her often—even with her favorite sister, and who divorced her once for a year. Her works are about self-discovery and self-disclosure, displaying her wounds and sharing the private facets of her living. Kahlo was also praised as feminist artist for painting the kinds of agonies women in particular suffer, and for having the capacity both to be feminine and to function with an iron will that we associate with masculinity. She did not hide her bisexuality—saying that she was delighted in Diego’s marvelous breasts, wearing men’s clothing and emphasizing her mustache in her painting.

28 For a time Kahlo was the subject of books, films, theater pieces, and dance performances, and that revisionist historians and Postmodernists have gotten her into university curricula. Available were Kahlo buttons, posters, postcards, T-shirts, comic books, jewelry, and even Kahlo masks. Surrealism—movement in art & literature originating in France & flourishing in the 1920s & 30s, characterized by a fascination with the bizarre, the incongruous, and irrational. It believed that imagination was most exciting and alive when it was the expression of unconscious, non- logical sensations and inspirations. Some artists painted directly from dreams. Others tried to shut off any rational thought and make work that occurred by accident or was somehow led by the subconscious. Still others created “impossible” scenes by combining in one image, objects or events that had nothing to do with each other. (Juxtaposition of unrelated objects & combination of incompatibles) Much of their motivation came from new understandings about the mind and how it works, offered by the innovative thinking of various psychologists, such as Sigmund Freud. Breton was the principal theoretician of the movement. He said the purpose was ‘to resolve the previously contradictory conditions of dream & reality into an absolute reality, a super-reality’.

1) Portrait: An image in two or three dimensions representing an actual person, i.e. a likeness of a person. It may depict the head only or the head and any part of the body down to its full length. In paintings and drawings the face or figure is typically seen in a relatively close view, but the composition can be of any form decided by the artist. Portraits may be commissioned at almost any opportunity—engagements, marriages, births, baptisms, circumcisions, university graduations, as well as deaths Families traced their geneaology with portraits and, as families grew, copies were frequently made of images of important family members. Portraits could be large and sometimes even life-size, but more often they were quite small. In fact, some painters specialized in delicate miniatures that were nonetheless accurate portraits. Painters who specialized in portraits were fairly well off, as most were commissioned with a prearranged price and delivery date. Among the types of portraits were pairs of pictures depicting a husband and wife and the so-called “conversation pieces” that showed entire families together, eating, drinking, and playing music in the comfort and prosperity of their surroundings. Later examples of these painting often showed families in front of their estates. The Dutch had also been supporters of group portraits since the 15th century. Guild members, confraternities, militia groups, and veterans’ organizations regularly commissioned portraits that decorated their meeting halls.

29 These group portraits were often integrated into the architectural embellishment of a room by being set into walls above fireplaces (so-called “chimney pieces”). Portrait bust: a sculpture representing an actual person showing only the head and shoulders. The portrait bust is imbued with a sense of liveliness, activity, and emotion. The boundary between the animate and inanimate became nearly indistinct for many Roman and Renaissance busts, which though made of stone, seemed to see, think, breathe, and move. The 17th-century love of illusionism in art led to a preoccupation in sculpture with differentiating textures, such as hair, fur, skin beards, and clothing. The incising of pupils and irises gave faces greater specificity and focused their glances, thereby enhancing the illusion of animation. Portrait busts had many uses. They were produced for family collections and formed parts of funerary monuments. They were made primarily from marble, although other materials, such as terra-cotta, bronze, colored marbles, and painted or unpainted wood, were also used. Relatively small and portable, busts are easily removable from their original settings. Many of them have made their way into museums, where they may occupy a disproportionately large part of museum sculpture collections. Portrait head: a sculpture showing only the head. Self-portrait (e.g. those of Rembrandt)

2) Still Life: A painting or other representation of a group of inanimate objects. Traditionally the subject matter is flowers, fruit, vegetables and other natural forms, and some manufactured objects such as household utensils and musical instruments. Still life came into its own with the Dutch and Flemish painters of 17th century. The objects in this period often contain a hidden allegory, either on the transience of the things of the world and the inevitability of death or, by extension, on the Christian Passion and Resurrection. The Dutch interest in all material objects resulted in a great variety of still-lifes. The earlier 16th c. manuscripts, with their lovingly executed borders depicting insects, fruits, and flowers, led the way to independent paintings of flower vases, fruits, and other edibles. Each type of still-life became a category of its own. Characterized by rich colors, infinite combinations, and painstakingly accurate renderings, flower pieces were most likely aided by the use of a magnifying glass, which permitted the detailed examination of flowers, insects and shells. Fruits, such as grapes, cherries, apples, pears, lemons, oranges, and strawberries, and certain vegetables such as cabbages, asparagus, were among the subjects of Dutch still-lifes. Early examples of food still-lifes showed each food clearly and avoided any overlap.

30 Also popular in the first half of the 17th century were the so-called “breakfast pieces,” which depict a light meal that could be eaten at any time: combinations of fruits, wines, cheeses, seafood (fish, lobster, crab, oysters, and clams), smoked meats, pies, nuts, cakes, bread, and butter. Also shown in these paintings are the implements used for eating: glass or pewter beakers, plates, forks, knives, and tea canisters. Like the fruit still-lifes, early breakfast pieces avoided overlap, whereas later ones were more casually arranged, recording the momentary assembly of items for a meal. Toward the middle of the century, breakfast pieces declined in favor, giving way to the more luxurious “pronk still-life,” which depicted a banquet rather than a modest meal. Magnificent and expensive objects, such as goldsmith’s work, Venetian glass, and oriental ceramics, would join lavish displays of fruits, foods, and wines. In many respects, this change reflects the circumstances of new wealth found in such cities as Amsterdam by mid-century. Skull—remind us that we must die hour-glass, clock—passing of time; overturned vessel (cup, pitcher) —emptiness of earthly possessions crown, scepter, jewels purse, coins— the power and possessions of this world that death will eventually take them away. sword or other weapon—remind us that arms are no protection against death; flower, esp. with drops of dew—symbols of short-livedness & decay. a glass of wine or pitcher, a loaf of bread— the Eucharistic elements ivy, (being evergreen) —signifies eternal life. When crowning the skull, may be taken to mean the conquest of death by the Resurrection. pelican or phoenix to decorate a vessel—Christian meaning ， sometimes with addition of crucifix or rosary. apple, pomegranate, black and white grapes, nut and other fruit—traditional Christian symbols for resurrection, redeeming, and blessing. Bird, butterfly—symbols of human soul. Caterpillar, chrysalis and butterfly together—signify not merely the insect life-cycle but the stages of man’s earthly life, death, and resurrection. A bird’s egg, esp. with shell broken—implies resurrection.

It remains to add that such objects in a still life are not necessarily proof of conscious allegorizing on the part of the artist; they may indicate no more than the existence of a traditional repertoire of objects on which he was accustomed to draw.

31 3) Figure: The response of moralist to the portrayal of nudity has in all ages lacked unanimity. Pliny relates that a nude Venus by Praxiteles was rejected by the islanders of Cos, but eagerly purchased by those of Cnidos. To the Romans nakedness signified not only shame but poverty. The church in the Middle Ages saw different aspects of nudity: 1) Adam & Eve; the nakedness of martyrs such as Sebastian or the resurrected at the Last Judgment; 2) nakedness in the figurative sense of absence of worldly possessions, either as a result of poverty or from a deliberate act like that of Francis of Assisi; 3) quality of sinlessness, akin to the nakedness of truth; 4) nude figures of the virtues. Nudity of other types is censored. The nude human figure was an essential element in the rebirth of classical antiquity in art. The growth of the new, lay, artistic patronage helped to remove it from the censure of the church. The Florentine humanists went further and taught that, of the two aspects of love, divine and earthly, the former, the superior, was to be personified as a naked woman to signify contempt for the things of the world. The latter was richly attired and adorned with jewels, the symbols of earthly transience. The Church’s attitude from this time was ambivalent. The portrayal of nudity which had become acceptable in religious art during the Renaissance was officially condemned by the Council of Trent except for subjects that specifically demanded it. Individual clergymen, however, who were patrons of art, had freely commissioned subjects from pagan mythology, albeit clothed in moral allegory and continued to do so. Titian’s Sacred and Profane Love—the idea of twin Venuses who represent two kinds of love was expressed by the Florentine humanists of the 15th c. The celestial Venus symbolized love that was aroused by contemplation of the eternal and divine; the Earthly Venus represented the beauty found in the material world. The former naked and sometimes holds a vase which burns with the sacred flame of divine love; the latter is richly clad and may wear jewels, symbols of earthy vanities. To the Renaissance nakedness signified purity and innocence.

32 Chapter 4 Landscape, Abstract Art, Calligraphy, and Censorship

1) Landscape: A painting or other representation, of a view of natural forms, e.g. open countryside, parkland of forest, often covering a considerable range of distance. Figures may be included to give a sense of scale, but they are entirely subordinate to the view as a whole. Evidences show that figure painting started well before landscape. During the prehistoric times, nature was no more than a collection of living creatures to man. In the great civilizations of Mesopotamia, Egypt, and the Aegean, landscape motifs appeared in abundance, but they remained simple natural references in relation to human activity until Hellenistic period, when true landscape painting came into being. However, the Christian religion that spread throughout the West brought with it a completely new attitude to nature. Landscape was reduced to symbolic expressions. It was the Renaissance that brought nature back to art again, and in 15th and 16th centuries landscape painting finally emerged as an independent art form. In the east, India seemed ignorant to landscape. In its long history of civilization we could only find some landscape elements in the relief carvings of stupas, which are very unrealistic, presented for purely religious reasons—the legend and iconography of the Buddha, or for decorative purposes. Similarly there is no landscape in Persian art except in its miniature painting and book illustration. The same is true with Turkey, where landscape is mainly found in manuscripts. The landscape painting of China and Japan is unique from all other civilizations. Their landscapes, no matter how realistic they may appear to be, are always ideal landscapes, in which every element conveys some symbolic meaning. The Chinese word for landscape is shan shui [ 山 水 ] meaning “mountains and water,” which is regarded as two opposing elements of the nature—negative and positive. Thus the painting become the union of the opposites, activity and repose, which is considered by Chinese as the essence of the nature, the eternal state of becoming of the universe. So the art represents an entirely different language from that of the West.

33 The difference lies in man’s different attitudes and responses to nature. The Chinese’s worshipping of the forces of nature resulted in the absence of personal God in their thought. The Taoist philosophy of man living in harmony with the world of nature led to an early tradition of landscape painting. But in Christianity and Islam the sky god is dominating over everything. Nature became its creation, and exists solely for man, to be used by him and exploited as he pleased. The attitude is for man to go and dominate over nature as its master. Whereas the Chinese believed in working with nature organically. The different attitude determines that the Chinese landscape painting would represent not merely outward form of nature, but also inner life and harmony that pervades it, while the western landscape would try to present a detailed, lifelike or idealistic picture of the God’s creation.

Chinese painting is usually divided into the following categories: 1) Landscape painting; 2) Figure painting; 3) Bird and flower painting Landscape painting emerged toward the end of the Tang dynasty (618-907), and flourished in 11th century. Since then the Chinese held landscape painting in the highest esteem. They equated landscape painting with a search for the “soul of nature,” and considered it a philosophical exercise. The Chinese landscape did not always seek to depict a particular place at a particular time. It was an abstraction, a kind of “second reality” drawn from memory. In a Chinese landscape painting, mountain and water, the two elements were often present together. In many paintings there are poetic inscriptions that work in harmony with the picture, which is as important to the understanding of the landscape as the pictorial content. Landscapes by Fan K’uan, Li Ch’eng, and Guo Hsi. Huang Kung-wang: Dwelling in the Fu-ch’un Mountains.

According to Confucius, “The man of heart is charmed by the mountain; the man of spirit delights in water.” The interaction between mountain and water is perceived in China as the embodiment of the universal process of transformation. This interaction also involves the laws that govern human life.

Mountain—the spirit of the earth. positive. Stone and Rocks—emblem of reliability and hardness. Water—The essence of the earth. Besides mountains and water, trees are also indispensable to any true landscape. Among the trees painted, the pine is the most beloved. The next is bamboo.

34 Constable (1776-1837) (E) intense & daring as Turner, but T loved the magnificent, while C the ordinary. A heir to Gainsborough’s lyricism, picturesque tradition. But get beauty out of rural simplicities, a sense of loss and yearning. Nostalgic realism, new awareness of new openness to nature without idealization nor stylization. Paint atmospheric effects of changing light in the open air, movement of clouds. Most ambitious works: Six-footers. freedom and freshness of brushwork. Constable: The White Horse (1819) a general statement of countryside and natural life. devised the six-foot sketch—novel practice.

5) Religious Art: Buddhist: refers to the ideas of Buddha, a religious teacher who lived in India from around 563 to 483 BCE. Because Buddha’s teachings spread, Buddhist art can be found throughout much of Asia. Principles essential to Buddhism are that suffering is to be expected in life and that moral and mental purification is the key to liberation from pain. There are many ways of interpreting the Buddha’s ideas, and they result in different strains of Buddhism, many involving reflection (meditation) and quiet. Statues of Buddha are often seated in a pose that suggests contemplation and depicts gestures that carry symbolic meaning. An important architectural Buddhist form is the “stupa,” consisting of a circular mound of earth (perhaps containing relics of the Buddha), faced with carved stone and surrounded by a pathway and a protective wall (often square), with four gates facing north, south, east, and west. Christian: worship, Biblical stories, praise of god and heavenly order. Sacred figures. Classical: god is a mixture of human flaw and sacred power of myths. Egyptian: focus on the ka., the power and eternal life of Pharaohs. Hindu: The art of Hinduism, the name given to the principal religion of India, which began its development as early as 2000 BC, drawing from a variety of sources and spreading to other parts of southeast Asia. Its best-known forms are scared bronze and stone sculptures of gods such as Brahma, Vishnu, Siva, and later, Krishna (an incarnation of Vishnu), as well as ornate stone buildings and temples and domelike shrines. Hindu art can be recognized by its energy and vitality. There are many repeated symbols, such as fire or the lotus blossom (a flower sacred in a number of religions), and representations of holy beings standardized with the many indicators of their deeds and domains. Hindu art combines the earthly with the spiritual more than is found in most religious art. Islamic: Art that comes from areas of the world—primarily northern Africa, the Middle East, and Pakistan—that follow the teachings of the prophet Mohammed and the religion

35 known as Islam. Islamic art has the same regional sources as Byzantine art. There are no representations of Allah (the god of Islam), and figurative art from Islam, always in small scale, chronicles social and political history. Colorful mosaics and tile work are characteristic of Islamic design. Its architecture is marked by domes, arches, and minarets. Handbound books with brightly and carefully painted illustrations, other miniature paintings, and beautiful calligraphy are also elements of Islamic art.

6) Contructivism: An aesthetic arose in Russia based on the Futurist cult of machine. geometric forms and symbolic meaning. Constructivists are also called artist-engineers. In their attempt to overcome the isolation of the artist from society, they entered the fields of industrial design, the theatre and film and architecture. Constructivist ideas had a basic influence on the creation of the international design in Western Europe in the 1920s, chiefly propagated by the Bauhaus, where visual arts and architecture were to be studied and applied as related activities, and any division between structural and decorative arts was denied. A basic aim of Bauhaus was to teach design suited to machine production and articles were produced by students as prototypes for a mass-production line. El Lissitzky (1890-1941) combined Suprematist and Constructivist elements to link art and architecture.

8) Calligraphy: The art of fine writing, or handwriting as an art. It is distinguished from the broader field of graphic lettering in that it has a fluidity derived from the letters being written, not drawn or mechanically constructed. Broadly speaking, penmanship is a tradition of western calligraphy while the brush is the tool of oriental and Islamic traditions.

Chinese Calligraphy Chinese painting is basically a linear art. It has direct link with calligraphy. Let’s take the character yong （ 永 ） for example (meaning ‘eternal’, said to contain all of the strokes needed to write any character). 1. dot: with a round back, flat belly. The swift brush stroke resembles a rock falling from the peak of a mountain; 2. horizontal line: straight and flat, stable, slow brush stroke; 3. vertical stroke: it should bend a little. A straight line will be forceless; 4. hook: pausing and giving your brush a swift jump to form a blade; 5. similar to the second stroke, but faster brush work; 6. sliding left: solid and open; 7. A short sliding left: like an eagle dive down from the sky to catch it’s pray; 8. Sliding right: forceful and calm. Slow and bit by bit, pause and slowly lift your brush.

36 The writing of handsome characters has long been taken as the standard of civilization. Gentlemen in responsible positions are expected to take pride in their calligraphy. Any document, whether a petition to the throne, a letter to a friend, or a simple receipt, loses authority if written in a clumsy hand. If your calligraphy is poor, people would not have confidence in you. In a way every literate Chinese become a calligrapher merely by learning to write. However, we are having less and less young people who have good calligraphy. The close relationship of the two arts in China is the reason for the appearance of the significant literati painting (by gentlemen scholars called literati) in the late 11th century. They are scholars who devoted themselves to writing, painting, and studying classics. The result is that the painting became less representational, more impressionistic. The gentlemen painters painted not for money, not for patrons or for the public, but for themselves and their friends. They wrote poems to express their heart, and painted to satisfy their mind.

7) Censorship: I. Michelangelo. In March 1549, the Florentine church of Santo Spiito installed a life-size marble copy of M’s first masterwork, the Roman Pieta. The copy had been executed by an artist of modest talent, Nanni de Baccio Bigio. This mediocre and inaccurate copy inspired an indignant anonymous letter from a Florentine citizen, It begins by denouncing certain “filthy and dirty marbles figures which had just been placed in the cathedral” referring to Adam and Eve by Bandinelli, and then turned to the copy of the Pieta, unveiled in the same month. “They say that it derives from that inventor of obscenities, M. Buonarroti, who is concerned only with art, not with Piety. All the modern painters and sculptors...now paint and carve nothing for our holy churches but figures that undermine faith and devotion.” This beautiful figure of Christ on Mary’s lap, with its clear religious intention, is impure? Perhaps he was seeing what no one had been disposed to see before, a smooth marble group which, under cover of a devotional theme, displayed an exceptionally beautiful naked youth in the lap of a girl. —Leo Steinberg, 1970, “Metaphors of Love and Birth in M's Pietas.” The slung legs of Mary suggest sexual relationship. Her nose was knocked off by a drunkard with a hammer. Manet, Luncheon on the Grass and Titian, Pastoral Symphony The former was received as a scandal, the latter as supreme art.

37 Chapter 5 The Elements of Art

Line, Shape/form, Texture, Value and Color (Mass & Space) Subjects: portrait, still life, figure, landscape, religious art, abstract art, calligraphy A few more words about abstract art before we go on.

Kandinsky, Wassily (1866-1944) Russian born painter and writer on art, one of the most important pioneers of Abstract Art. He got inspiration from Monet’s Haystack pictures. He abandoned his university career teaching law, and went to Munich to study painting in 1896. His pictures combined features of Art Nouveau with reminiscences of Russian folk art, to which he added a Fauve-like intensity of color. In 1908 he began to eliminate the representational element from his work until, in a series of Compositions, Improvisations, and impressions, (1910-1913), he arrived at pure abstraction. K. himself said that his understanding of the power of nonrepresentational art derived from a night when he went into his studio in Munich and failed to recognize one of his own paintings that was lying the wrong way up, seeing in it a picture “of extraordinary beauty glowing with an inner radiance.” K. held that the ‘pure’ artist seeks to express only ‘inner and essential’ feelings and ignores the superficial and fortuitous. Mondrian, Piet (1872-1944)，a Dutch painter, is one of the most important figures in the development of abstract art. His early painting was naturalistic and direct, often delicate in color, though grey and dark green predominated (Landscape with Mill). Between 1907 and 1911, his painting took on a symbolist character and he began to work with primary colors. In 1911, he went to Paris, where he came into contact with Cubism and executed a now famous series of paintings on the theme of a tree, in which the image became progressively more abstract. Mondrian’s concept of ‘pure plasticity consisted partly in the simplification of the means of expression to the bare essentials. He not only banished representation and 3-D picture-space but also the curved line, sensuous appeal of color. This restrictedness he regarded as a sort of mystical pursuit of the absolute. His extensive influence was not limited to artists whose style had direct affinities with his own. He also had profound influence on much industrial, decorative, and advertisement art from the 1930s onwards. You can see now that Line is truly one of the most essential elements of art. Lines can be found everywhere. Slides:

38 1) John Alcorn, The Scarlet Letter, 1980—negative and positive lines 2) We also perceive lines along edges where two areas treated differently meet. Barnett Newman, Broken Obelisk, (1963-7), steel. Edges of a three-D work may be perceived as lines 3) Alberto Giacometti, Walking Man, c.1947-9, Bronze. Human figures can be reduced to abstract forms or lines in space. Show the isolation and loneliness of the individual in modern civilization. Lines have expressive quality: Maya Lin, Vietnam War Memorial, (1.59) Beauty of lines. What is so great about using geometric lines? Geometric lines have no bias, which emphasizes the idea that each life lost in Vietnam has equal importance, equal value. Simplicity is also characteristic of the line. Horizontal lines of the memorial may suggest restfulness, calmness, stability or peace, while vertical lines may indicate power or loftiness. In Frank Loyd Wright’s design, (Robie House) most of the lines are horizontal, emphasizing the width of the building rather than its height. Horizontal lines tend to relate to the flat ground, thereby symbolizing restfulness and stability --- qualities associated with home. By contrast, most of the lines of a skyscraper are vertical, stressing its enormous height, and symbolizing the strength of a powerful corporation. Of course we should be aware that vertical lines are sometimes a bad thing. If you are behind verticals, you are in jail.

Artists employ lines to express feelings and ideas. Van Gogh—Starry Night. Munch, The Scream, 1893, (14.38) Van Gogh, Cypress Grove, 1889, drawing, turmoil of flowing movement, windblown, broad-stroked lines, Lines seem to have their own personalities: Lines may appear to be aggressive, calm, energetic, awkward, savage, soft, strong, timid, nervous, graceful, blunt, powerful, unstable, weak, rhythmic, chaotic, restless, brutal, delicate explosive, balanced, etc.

A. Shape of lines: Straight lines remind us of things like buildings that are strong or powerful. Curved lines remind us of people, animals, or plants that are soft, delicate, or graceful. Jagged lines suggest objects like broken glass, saw-teeth, or lightning that are bristling, aggressive, or savage.

39 B. Movement: A line, as we explained, is often the record of real movement. We associate lines with the movements of animals, people, or even our own bodies. Straight lines may seem rigid or swift, curved lines seem relaxed or graceful, and jagged lines seem nervous or awkward. Movement Languid Movement: Thonet, Reclining Rocker 1880, (2.15) Matisse: The Dance C. Direction: If a line has movement, it also has direction. Lines that move in vertical directions seem strong; horizontal lines seem calm or stable; and diagonal lines seem unstable.

1) Descriptive Lines: You have been making lines since the first time you picked up a pencil. At first you probably made scribbles. Eventually your lines turned into recognizable pictures. This use of lines—whether by a child or an artist—is called descriptive. Descriptive lines come in many varieties. Outlines: An outline is a line that joins itself to surround a shape. We use outlines to make letters and symbols. We also use them to make pictures. Comic strip artists use outlines to create all kinds of imaginary objects and people, including such memorable characters as Charlie Brown and Snoopy. The lines of an outline drawing usually are the same thickness throughout. Because of this, and the fact that only the outer edges of its shape are defined, an outline drawing seems to have little depth. Contour lines: also define edges, but unlike outlines, they vary in thickness and darkness, and they also define the edges of shapes within a form. Because of their variety, these lines are not only more interesting, they are more descriptive, and they impart a greater sense of depth to the objects they describe. Lines in drawings by professional artists are often called contour lines rather than outlines.

2) Implied Lines: The lines we have talked about so far are all visible lines. They have width as well as length. Some lines are not seen, they are implied; that is, they are indirectly indicated or suggested by things that are not lines. They can be implied by the edges of forms in paintings, sculptures, and buildings, by the process of closure, and by lines of sight. They are perceived by us even though they do not actually exist. We visually follow, for example, the line indicated by a pointing figure Direction beyond frame: Mondrian Fox Trot 1930 (2.9) Black figured amphora of runners, (10.4) Lines of Sight: In Renoir’s Luncheon of the Boating Party, did you notice the implied lines along which people look? Following a line of sight is a natural tendency. How often have you

40 looked up when someone else looked up? Following a line of sight between two people—as between two merrymakers in Renoir’s painting—is also natural. It is similar to the process of closure. Artists often use lines of sight as a device to connect different parts of a picture. Which of the many lines of sight do you think are the most important in Luncheon? Eyelines and Gesture Lines: Caravaggio, The Calling of St. Matthew, 1596 (14.26) David, Oath of Horatii (14.31) Shape A shape is a two-dimensional area with a recognizable boundary. When you draw or paint on paper you are making shapes. When you cut something out of paper you are making a shape. As you can see, there a close relationship between lines and shapes. Lines, particularly outlines, describe shapes. On the other hand, the edge of a shape implies a line. As you can see, there is a relationship between lines and shapes. Lines, particularly outlines, describe shapes. On the other hand, the edge of a shape implies a line. Cubism uses two-dimensional geometric shape to represent two-and three-dimensional form. Picasso’s Three Musicians will be a good example. Probably you can see the three musicians in no time. So this painting can be read as an image—an image of three musicians. But it can also be viewed as an abstract pattern of shapes. Probably Picasso intended us to appreciate the pattern more than the image, which is primarily humorous. The shapes of this painting are so cleverly assembled that it is difficult to distinguish between figure and ground, or between positive and negative. Shapes can be both two-dimensional and three-dimensional. More precisely three- dimensional shapes are often called forms. Since it is three-dimensional, a form has height, width, and depth. The chair you are sitting on and the desk you are working at are good examples of forms that have height, width, and depth.

Forms in pictures are the representation of three-dimensional object on a two dimensional surface. Making a three-dimensional object in a picture appear to be seen at an angle by shortening one or two of its dimensions is called foreshortening. The use of foreshortening to make objects appear three dimensional is very common in traditional paintings. Virtually every item in Dirk Bout’s The Last Supper has been foreshortened. Identify as many items as you can. Some of these have been diagrammed to show how they appear in the picture as it is, and how they would appear if not foreshortened. An artist will make an object larger or smaller in a picture depending on whether it is supposed to appear closer or farther away.

41 Organic vs. Geometric: Organic shapes and forms are found in nature or typical of those found in nature: earth, water, clouds, plants, animals, and people. Organic shapes tend to be irregular. Sometimes their edges are relatively straight, but never perfectly so. Sometimes their surfaces are relatively flat, but they are never perfect planes. Sometimes they are curved, but never perfectly round like a circle or a sphere.

Geometric shapes and forms are typically found in things made by people, such as buildings, bridges factories, and office machines. Unlike organic forms, geometric forms are very regular. Their edges and surfaces are straight or perfectly curved. The forms of The Mill, a famous landscape painting by Rembrandt, are primarily organic. Even the few human-made objects—such as the mill and the rampart wall below the mill --- show the effects of natural weathering and erosion. Notice that the edges of the form are rather irregular Compare this to our geometric modern construction: the regular and straight lines, the horizontals of the eaves, perfect diagonals, etc.

Shapes, like the letters and pictures in this text, have height and width but no depth. Forms, on the other hand, have height, width, and depth. Most of the things in this world, like ourselves, are forms.

Texture: Line is how we get Texture. Hatching Create Depth: Dürer, Head of Apostle, brush on paper, 1508, (2.12) Crosshatching Suggest Texture: Bittlemen, Arnold, Matryred Flowers, 1957, (2.13) Monet, Grainstack, (snow effect) 1891 (2.109) Lucy Lewis, (1.13) Hatching: closely spaced, parallel lines. Hatching lines that cross are called Crosshatching. In hatching, the black lines are so thin and close together that they blend with the white of the paper. When this happens, they appear gray rather than black on white. This effect is called optical mixing, because the mixing of black and white happens in the eye. In other words, the hatching lines are optically mixed in your vision to produce a variety of grays that in turn help to describe the forms of the face, esp. the nose, cheeks, chin, and jowls. The use of lighter and darker grays to make a form seem three-dimensional is known as shading.

The Texture of a work of art is its surface quality—how it would feel if we touched it. Actual textures are those we can feel with our hands. Everything has a surface texture, but some textures tend to stand out. Two-dimensional works often create the visual sensations of

42 textural qualities on a surface that would actually feel quite different if touched. With paintings and prints, whether smooth or bumpy we visually perceive we would feel only the slight coarseness of the paper and the ink or paint across the surface. This is called Simulated Texture. The artists capture the visual effects of textures. Slides: 2.70; 2.71; 2.73; 2.74; 2.75; 2.76 from The Art of Seeing. * * * * * Value is another visual element that may escape our notice but it is used quite consciously by artists. It is the relative lightness and or darkness of an area. Value scale (2.80) shows the gradations of value from very dark to very light The Artist’s Garden at St. Clair (2.79) The value variations help us to understand the effects of lighting and distance. Here the overhanging branches seem to create pools of shadow, beyond which values vecome very light in what appears to be strong daylight, dading to nearwhite in the distance. In general, perceived value contrasts are strongest in areas closest to the viewer. Thus value gradations give us spatial clues. (The Art of Seeing) Gaston Lachaise’s sculpture Standing Woman (2.81) shows that values can help us to perceive the modeling of forms. As light falls on the sculpture, the areas that light strikies most directly are the lightest, showing up as Highlights. Some areas receive less or no light, then they appear darker. Thus we observe strong value contrasts. And if the sculpture is placed outdoors, at different time of day, with different weather conditions, the sculpture will give different visual impact. The sculpture seems to have designed for the play of value. Local and interpretive values: The actual lights and shadows we see on real surfaces are called Local Values. Some photographers attempt through techniques of photographing and developing to capture on film the full range of local values, called a Full Tonal Range in photography. Feathers #22 (2.82), the visual reality of the feathers are emphasized. Many artists have manipulated values. When values are not handled realistically, they are called interpretive values. One technique is to reduce the degree to which values gradually change, presenting them as more dramatic contrasts. In the photograph, Rodin: The Thinker (2.83), the contrast between the white plaster figure and the black forms in the front. Another approach to interpretive value is to emphasize one area of the value scale: lights, darks or mid-tones. Each carries a different emotional quality. Rembrandt used the dark end of the scale in his self portrait (1.64) with the light his face barely emerging from the shadows. Graphic designer Milton Glaser has chosen the light end of the scale to represent Monet on a post (2.84)

Color is particularly important. Of all the elements of art, color affects us the most directly. When we talk about paintings, we always mention the colors. We enjoy them for their own

43 sake. Colorful works have a natural advantage over black and white works. People tend to prefer the more colorful. We tend to take colors for granted. Thirty thousand years ago Paleolithic artists painted with only four colors, including black and white. In ancient Egypt, artists had seven colors available to them. Greek and Roman artists used only about 10 colors. During the Middle Ages, about 14 colors were used and the Renaissance painters used more than 20. In time, more colors were discovered or invented, and by the eighteenth century there were 30,000 shades available to painters, dyers, and weavers. In 1980 the number of commercially produced colors had risen to 90,000. This remarkable rate of development promoted the invention of new media and painting techniques, generating controversy, change, and divergent styles.

It is the color that Van Gogh’s Night Cafe would first attract us. It is also the color that would puzzle us. It is not a naturalist painting. To paint it like this the painter had to have a special perception of the scene in reality, to have a special mind to grasp it, and a special sense of color to convey what is perceived by his mind to the pictorial form. And we have to have some sharpness of the mind to appreciate it. Van Gogh was one of the rare artists in the world for such a creation. No one else could have done same. You may find this peaceful, restful. Or you may think it is disturbing, provocative, exciting. It is a scene you will see through a drunkard’s eye. If you are drunk, if your mind is half conscious and half unconscious, then you would see such a scene, at midnight. To be sure, midnight is a very late time. You cannot measure it with a modern sense of time. Each person perceives color differently based upon factors such as their own social and emotional influence. People have different favorite colors. This is because their perceptions of color are different. They have different interpretation of colors. Similarly artists have their Interpretive use of color : Picasso’s The Old Guitarist. Blue is usually not a happy color. The blue is often associated with a feeling of melancholy in the West. Thus Picasso used blues as the predominant colors in his paintings to express the poverty and loneliness of the musician. Such a perception is subjective though it is generally accepted. It is the result of our own subjective thinking. In Christianity, the blue is linked with serenity and humanity. Similar examples: Red is readily associated with the Blood. It is a color of aggression, revolution, violence, noise, or joy, happiness, fortune, glory, etc. White refers to purity, cleanness. Your wedding dress is always white. But it is a funeral color in Asia and a magical color in Africa. In some part of India, it is a symbol of wisdom and health. People’s interpretation is not always universal. It is based on different worldviews. It is perspective, contextual, and multiple..

44 So not every one sees the color in the same way. Not every color means the same to every one. Some of you may have a feeling of violence when viewing Van Gogh’s Night Cafe, some may feel entirely differently. So there is always some danger with the artist’s interpretive use of color. (The same piece of music may get some people excited, and may at the same time make some others fall asleep). When we present different cultures we need to be careful. If you work in a museum and help with multicultural exhibitions, you need to pay attention to the use of color. Another subjective aspect of color is its characteristic of being warm or cool. Believe it or not, color has temperature. Red, Yellow, Orange (the colors of fire) are generally perceived to be warm; Blue, Green, White are cool. This is called the “visual temperature.” *David Hicks, Sitting room of a house in Oxfordshire, England, 1970. *Judy and Pat Coady’s townhouse, with Marni Bakst stained glass doors. *Jim and Sandy Howell’s home, Washington. An interesting thing to notice here is that cool colors tend to withdraw from us while warm colors tend to coming towards us. In other words, we can trick the eye easily. (If we stare at a particular color for a long time, it will remain in our vision for a while, and when we look away from the color, we still perceive the same color in objects without the color). With an in-depth studies of the science of color perception artists have created interesting works like this: *Richard Anuszkiewicz, Splendor of Red, 1965. *Georges Seurat (1859-1891), Seated Model, 1887. *Seurat：A Sunday on the Island of La Grande Jatte，1884-86. Seurat found out that the merging of colors by the eye could be reproduced in a painting through optical mixing. Instead of artist’s mixture of colors on his palette, we can let the viewer mix the color while looking at the painting. For example, to depict green Seurat applied tiny yellow and blue dots, each one directly next to the other, which seem from a distance look green. Sunday on the Island is Seurat’s first major painting and the most successful example of using the technique, which is called Pointillism or Divisionism.

In 1666, Isaac Newton discovered that color is light: Thomas Young used three colors (red, blue, and green) to recreate all the colors of the spectrum. James Clerk Maxwell and Heinrich Hertz established that light travels in waves. Hermann von Helmholtz and Thomas Young discovered the physiological mechanisms that regulate color vision. Michel-Eugene Chevreul formulated the laws of simultaneous contrast and color harmony ... The contributions of these scientists enabled us to paint better pictures.

45 Why are tomatoes red? Why are lemons yellow? Why are the leaves on a tree green? To answer these questions we must bear in mind: 1) Color is light; 2) six colors make up white light; 3) these six colors can be reduced to three: red, green, and blue. The answer is that all objects are made up of substances that absorb and reflect colors; in our words, they absorb and reflect electromagnetic waves. So when a white object receives the three primary light colors (red, green, and blue), it reflects them all and together they create white. If the object is black, the opposite occurs: it absorbs the three light colors, leaving the object without light, so it looks black to us. The same thing happens in a darkened room: Although it contains a blue carpet, a red armchair, and so on, we see neither the carpet nor the armchair because the dark negates light and color. White is the total addition of color, because it results when a surface reflects all of the color waves in light to an equal degree. Black is usually called the absence of color, because it results when a surface absorbs all of the color rays equally and reflects none of them. A lemon is yellow because it absorbs all the colors of light except yellow. In short, where there is little light, there is little color; where the light is strong, color is likely to be particularly intense. When the light is weak, such as at dusk or dawn, it is difficult to distinguish one color from another. Under bright, strong sunlight, such as in tropical climates, colors seem to take on additional intensity.

A distinction must be made between colored light and pigment. Mixing colored lights is an addictive process. When all colors are combined, the result is white. Mixing Pigments is subtractive. Combining more and more pigments creates increasingly darker results. The colors of the spectrum are pure, and they represent the greatest intensity (brightness) possible. The pigments or coloring matter the artist uses are not as strong in intensity or as pure as the spectrum colors because pigments usually reflect from their surfaces more than just one dominant color, or they reflect a certain amount of white, which dilutes the intensity of the color. Pigments can only approximate the intensity of the spectrum colors of light. That is why no artists are able to paint a rainbow exactly the way you see in nature.

Color Wheel. Three hues—red, yellow, and blue are called primary colors. (The primary light colors are red, blue and green) Many colors can be created by mixing two other colors. The three colors: red, yellow, and blue, however, cannot be created from mixtures. So we call them

46 primary colors. When the three primaries are mixed in pairs, or all together, in equal or unequal amounts, they can produce all of the possible colors. Children are sensitive to only pure colors. They cannot perceive color variations. That is why toys are mostly painted with primary colors.

Hue— the name of a color Intensity—the saturation or strength of a color determined by the quality of light reflected from it a vivid color is of high intensity; a dull color, of low intensity. Value—the lightness and darkness of color. Local color—the natural color of an object as seen by the eye (green grass, blue sky, red fire, etc.) Secondary colors—mixtures of primaries, such as orange, green, purple or violet. Tertiary colors— mixtures of a primary and a secondary, such as orange yellow, blue-green, red purple, etc. Analogous colors—colors that are closely related in hue. They are usually adjacent to each other on the color wheel. Complementary colors—two colors directly opposite each other on the color wheel. They accentuate one another's intensity when juxtaposed, set up vibrations in the millions of rods and cones in the retina, and may seem clashing or painful Hoffmann, Rhapsody, 1958 (5.18) Van Gogh, Night Cafe, 1888, main coll. Matisse, Red Room (Harmony in Red) 1908, Gardner file Neutral Colors: Black, whites, grays, and colors blended to such an extent that they have become beige or gray. Tend to be calm. Color Combination is very important in painting. Complementary colors will help to increase intensity, contrast. They react each other, vibrate with each other. Red—green (hong hua lu ye); yellow—purple; blue—orange. When we mix the complementary colors they reduce each other’s intensity and we get gray or brown.

47 Chapter 6 Mass, Space and Perspective

I. Mass and Space Mass is solid material, while space is the emptiness between solids. Space is intangible. Yet artists work quite consciously with spatial effects of their creations. 3-D art physically occupies space, while 2-D art creates illusions of mass and space. Mass suggests strength, sturdiness, and unyielding spirit. Space may suggest movement, flexibility, or light- heartedness. The first concern of the ancient sculpture was mass, which suggests power. And this also has to do with their primitive tools. Gradually they started to depict movement, to create naturalistic sculptures, thus space become more and more involved in sculptural works. However, it was not until modern time when space became a serious concern of the artist. Modern sculptors even have claimed spaces as part of their creation. Actually they have never created space per se. They gave considerations for spaces and have opened up their forms to allow spaces.

Slides: Greek and Roman sculptural examples Ployclitus: Doryphorus, 450 BC Rome: Equestrian Statue of Marcus Aurelius, AD 165. Egypt: Senmut with Princess Nefrua, 1450 BC. African: Primordial Couple (3.32) 19th c. Henry Moore: The Arch, 1963 Henry Moore: Sheep Piece, 1971 Henry Moore: Reclining Figure, 1935-6 Elm wood.

In the Spear Bearer, the legs are placed apart and the arms are lifted slightly away from the body. It takes a long time for sculptors to figure out how to open the forms without losing the structural strength of the stone sculpture. The development of bronze casting allowed more open forms, such as the Equestrian statue of Marcus Aurelius. With the horse’s leg raised and the emperor’s arm outstretched, the piece shows surprising support. The space around the horse and between its legs is so opened that it invites walking all the way around to see how the form

48 changes. The tensile strength of bronze allows it to be cast into elongated forms without bending or breaking. In the 20th century, a number of sculptors have gone farther, opening voids through the center of their works. In Barbara Hepworth’s Pendour, the holes piercing the center of the form draw the focus of attention. The voids are in fact ambiguous, in contrast with the solidity and simplicity of the outer form. The white holes are also in contrast with the darker exterior.

Moore strived continually to think of, and use form in its full spatial completeness. He consistently interested in the interplay between positive form and negative space, and in how a piece looks from all sides. He said, “At one time the holes in my sculpture were made for their own sakes. Because I was trying to become conscious of spaces in the sculpture—I made the hole have a shape in its own right, the solid body was encroached upon, eaten into, and sometimes the form was only the shell holding the hole.

Judy Pfaff: Installation using mixed Materials, 1983. This is a complex work. Do you like it. How many do and how many don’t. This is called an installation. The design can now be done by the computer. Installation takes over and alters space, and the work is usually temporary. It is an important aspect of postmodern art, reflecting a tendency among some artists to produce work that is “site specific,” which means that it relates specifically to the place where it was created and would not be the same if moved elsewhere. Installations are often very large, involve creative uses of lighting, and resemble architectural spaces, sometimes filled with objects.

Pfaff’s piece may also be called environmental sculpture. The work is not figurative. Don’t try to figure out what it means. It is abstract. It is like a dream world, a vague memory of a dream whose details you cannot quite recall. Everything in the room comes into play—the walls ceiling, floor, and objects placed or suspended in the composition. Viewers who ventured in are surrounded by a self-contained world of colors and shapes made of all kinds of materials. Because the work is entirely non representational, it is even truer than usual that each viewer experiences the environment differently. The artist controls the visual stimuli, but she cannot control the associations we bring to her work.

Size and Scale: Rene Magritte: The Personal Values R uses disproportions to create a startling image. Pay attention also to the title. Ordinary things become unusual with larger sizes.

49 We are accustomed to objects that are “life-sized.” When an artist presents a familiar form in an unfamiliar size, our interest is often heightened, because the experience is something out of the ordinary. Been to Dallas Museum? There is an installation called Stake Hitch (2.60). It is huge. A 20-inch-thick rope runs all the way to the vaulted roof of the gallery, and the stake seems hammered through the floor and can be seen in the basement. It is a work by Claes Oldenburg. He always presents mundane objects, such as a clothespin, a lipstick, a hamburger, a baked potato etc. They are all colossal monuments, greatly exaggerated in scale. And people take a new look at the usually small ordinary objects that nobody will pay attention to. Scale refers to relative size: horses are relatively larger than dogs. It can also refer to relative proportion. Yves Tanguy’s The Extinction of the Species II, (1938) show weird forms scattered around a plane. The relative position and scale of the forms help to present a vast space. Scale is the word we use to describe the dimensions of an art object in relation to the original object it depicts or in relationship to the environment or objects around it. Hokusai, 36 views of Fuji, Mishima (1829) Fuji from Hodohaya The Great Wave off Kanagawa (Mt Fuji series) (6.3) Southerly Wind & Fine Weather. The immensity and peril of the great wave is enhanced by making Mt. Fuji small, which dominates the landscape of central Japan and which all Japanese know is very large. (2.60; 4.3) Oldenburg, Stake Hitch, 1984; Knife Ship 1985. Making things too big, using wrong colors and textures can be absurd, and will draw our attention to the things and acts that we don’t normally notice. Oldenburg is well-known for experimenting with distortions of scale. By taking an ordinaryobject blowing it up to massive scale, and setting it in a public place, Oldenburg makes the form heroic. Catch great attention. Manipulation scale can make us look at form with fresh perspective. Proportion and scale must be considered together, because they nearly always operate simultaneously. (9.23) Robert Smithson, Spiral Jetty, 1970 (Large scale, geologic time, economy).

Perspective: One of the best known techniques in Western art for creating believable depth in pictures. There are two types of perspective in the west: “linear” and atmospheric.” The former involves a system of lines that converge at vanishing points”—those places in the distance (say the horizon) at which objects seem to disappear. The lines are diagonals based on the principle

50 that two parallel lines (reminiscent of railroad tracks) will appear to get closer together as they go off into the distance and to meet eventually at the vanishing point. This system is used to establish the scale of objects, which appear smaller as they move farther away. Atmospheric perspective involves making objects off in the distance less distinct—less “in focus”—in initation of the eye’s difficulty in seeing details accurately at distances. Linear perspective is achieved by a carefully worked-out mathematical system.

The sense of space in Two-D art is achieved by a number of devices: The primary one is the placement of things in logical relationships to one another. For example, objects that overlaps to one another sequential within a space. Objects depicted above others will be seen as behind them, and vice-versa. Another convention is to pay attention to scale—making a house larger than an apple on the same plane, for example, or an apple close to the foreground bigger than one farther away. Objects in the distance are likely to appear small and fuzzy, as if harder to see. The interactions of colors—darks tending to recede from the viewer, lights to move toward them—is also useful in creating the illusion of logical space. • Position on the picture plane • Relative scale, • Atmospheric or aerial perspective, • Detail in the foreground • linear perspective—portrays all parallel horizontal lines of forms that recede from the viewer’s position as vonverging diagonally toward the same vanishing point in the distance, determining the changing scale of the forms. When parallel lines appear to diverge toward two different vanishing points (as when we look at the corner of a building or the intersection of tow hallways), the visual illusion is known as two-point perspective. Use “Hunters in the Snow” 1565 by Pieter Bruegel the Elder to illustrate the use of the above devices to create spatial illusions.

Beginning in the Renaissance, Western artists often sought to create believable illusions of space and followed certain rules fairly carefully. Often Asian artists employed a different system of rules in depicting space and depth. And many modern artists broke the rules in order to confound expectations: some created believable space, then violated it within a single picture (See Matisse’s Interior with Girl Reading). Some abandoned spatial illusions in favor of flatness—the literal truth of paper and canvas Some of these devices have been used for millennia to indicate space in Western art and some, particularly linear perspective were developed in the Renaissance in Italy. We will define and explore these shortly. But first, let’s look at what other concepts of space preceded

51 the one we most readily accept today, for each has interesting qualities that reveal some fundamental beliefs of their makers about how humans relate to the universe. In many other societies, images show not the space and light that appears to the eye, “Optical reality” but the ideal order of the world. They may believe that the natural world is a reflection of one whose real essence was spiritual, and which possesses a natural order that is more visible in the movement of the heavenly bodies through the sky over time. So they have showed reality not as it appears to the limited perception of the eye, but as they knew it to be from spiritual and intellectual exploration that involves myth, history, and observation. Cavaliar perspective/multiple perspective—in Chinese painting.

The Codex Mendoza, 1565, manuscript, shows the myth that promulgated the foundation of the Aztec empire: eagle-cactus-lake. Also lineage heads in their proper quarter of town, the conquests over other towns that enabled the Aztecs to establish their empire. Also day names signifying the beginnings of years (52) and entire "century", So space is linked with history, genealogy, time, and myth.

1. Position in the picture plane often signifies importance or proximity groundline Victory Stelae Naram-Sin, Akkadian, 2300 BC, Louvre 6'6" Mu Chi, 6 persimmons, China, 13th c Wang Jian: ##### The primary indicator of deep space in this Chinese landscape is the placement of the distant mountains above the closer ones. There is very little difference in scale among the buildings, although clearly some are meant to be farther away than others.

2. Overlapping creates space through kinetic sensation The obscuring of images to be interpreted as farther away by objects designed to appear closer. Cimabue, Madonna Enthroned Jackson Pollock

3. Relative scale. In Chinese painting, the artist Guo Xi (Huo Hsi) 1020-1090, advised landscape painters: There are three sizes for things: the Mountain is bigger than the trees, and the trees are bigger than the men. If mountains are not several dozen times larger than trees, they are not considered big. (Grieder 82). Observer seems to occupy focal point and the world seems to expand outward.

52 * However, with the Isometric projection, equal lengths that exit in nature remain equal in painting, and things do not get smaller in the distance. Therefore, relative scale is not considered, or at least not consistent.

Kumano Mandala, The Three Sacred Shrines, Japan See Henry Sayre’s A World of Art, p. 91. One surface of the object is parallel to picture plane. These three shrines are actually about 80 miles apart, the one at the bottom of the scroll is high in the mountains on Kii peninsula in a cypress forest, the middle on the eastern coast of the peninsula, and the top near a famous waterfall that can be seen to its right. Relative scale (each one smaller as they rise) gives some sense of space, but the point was obviously to show all e. Note that right and left side lines will converge if drawn down toward viewer but not if up away from viewer.

Matisse, Pink Nude 1935 France.

1. Linear perspective: one, two and multiple points. Parallel lines seem to converge on one, two, or three points located with reference to the eye level of the viewer , which is also the horizon line of the picture, known as Vanishing points. The illusion can be very convincing. The more vanishing points are used, the more natural the representation. Perugino, Christ and the Keys to Peter. 1480 Hopper, Nighthawks, 1942 2. orthogonals, horizon line A line imagined to be behind and perpendicular to the picture plane, appearing to recede toward a vanishing point on the horizon 3. Relative scale Breughel (2.47) 1565 Hunters in the Snow Monet, Haystacks 4. Atmospheric/ Aerial Perspective The illusion of distance through the diminution of color intensity, the shift in color toward and almost neutral blue, and the blurring of contours as the intended distance between the eye and object increases. Masaccio, The T ribute Money Bierstadt, The Rocky Mountians, 1863 (2.53) 5. Light and shadow to create an illusion of a natural space occupied by a real sun and atmosphere, or artificial lighting. .

53 Review: Anselm Kiefer, Athanor, 1983 (2.49) Art of Seeing, p.104. Leonardo, Last Supper

Four System of Perspective: 1. Linear Perspective; 2. Eastern Perspective systems: high perspective, level perspective, deep perspective. 3. Isometric Perspective means that the lengths of equal lines in nature remain equal in the drawing; the result is that parallel lines remain parallel and things do not get smaller as they get more distant. This system of scale is especially useful for technical and architectural drawing, so that with a scale ruler it is possible to measure every line and get the actual dimensions. 4. Aerial Perspective Time and Movement: (The Art of Seeing) Art exists in time as well as in space, and time can be considered as an element in itself. Ways in which artists work with time include manipulations of viewing time, actual movement, the illusion of movement, capturing a moment in time, using time as the subject of a work of art, and bringing attention to change through time. Viewing time: A certain amount of time is required for the viewing of any work of art. It is said that the average person spends only ten seconds looking at each work in a gallery of museum. This is not nearly long enough to really “see” them. Some works have ways of calling us to spend more time with them. The Roman Column of Trojan: spiraling band, 150 separate events; Water Garden, Fort Worth: walk around water falls, Op Art—Bridget Riley, Crest, 1964; make use of visual fatigue, if you stare at it a bit longer, the image will start to weave and move about. Captured Moment: Fragonard: The Swing (2.138) an erotic moment when a young woman being swung by a naive old cleric at the behest of her hidden admirer, whose gaze she teasingly acknowledges by kicking off her show toward him. Swirling clothes, dynamic positions of her limbs and the curves of the ropes create a great sense of continuing motion in a fleeting moment. Rodin: Burghers of Calais, 1880’s Muybridge: Galloping Horses, 1878. movie production, early attempt to show movement on a film with camera. Degas: Ballet Dancer (2.55)

54 Toulouse-Lautrec: Cirque Fernando: The Ringmaster (2.139) Jacquies H. Lartigue: Grand Prix of the Automobile Club of France, 1912 Time as Subject: The Limbourg Brothers, October, 1413-16, October, the peasants are planting winter wheat. Change through Time: All works of art change through time. Usually they gradually deteriorate. l Installation: Surface Erosion. Was set up quickly when the tide was out and then inexorably destroyed by waves as the tide returned. One would have to stand close by, watching its disintegration until forces of nature had again cleared the area of human efforts, leaving only the primordial sea, sand, wind, and rocks. The Sun Tunnels (3.52) is composed of four concrete conducts 9 feet in diameter and 17 ft long, aligned to the sunrise and sunset at the solstices. The passage of time is measured by the movement of the sun, is an important part of their meaning. The slow, regular rhythms of the sun and seasons may be the basis of all our sense of time and change. Stonehenge, 3000-2300 B.C. built of practical and theological reasons, originally a burial site, and stones moved in from 100 miles away, Time and space: Aztec, Codex Mendoza, 1541 Codex Fejer Vary-Mayer, 1500’s Geological time: Smithson: Amarillo Ramp, 1973. where he died. Leaning Strata, 1968. Spiral Jetty, 1970.most famous one. created works of art out in the open, free for people to look at and enjoy, no admission fee. “There is no reason that art has to be in museums. Art should be human relationship with nature. Jenny Holzer: Untitled, (Tru-isms) “Analyze History,” 1984. Actual Movement: Some 3-D works move through time themselves Kinetic Art—art that really moves. Kinetic sculpture: Mobiles by Alexander Calder—Lobster Trap and Fish Tail— constructions suspended by a system of wires so that their parts circle around the central point when pushed or moved by air currents. Illusion of Movement: in 2-D works, movement can only be suggested. Marcel Duchamp: Nude Descending a Staircase #2, 1912. Showing a single figure in a sequence of motions, rather like stop-action photographs;

55 A Comparative Study:

Elements of Art: line, color, value, light, shape/form, mass, space, perspective, texture, size/ scale, time, movement. Principles of Design: harmony, balance, rhythm, emphasis, unity, variety, proportion.

Elements of Music: rhythm, melody, dynamics, harmony, texture, form, and color. Rhythm – overall movement or swing. Meter (number of beats in a unit), Tempo (speed). Melody – an orderly succession of tones or musical sounds. Dynamics – force or percussive effects: degrees of loud and soft. forte (loud); piano (soft). Harmony – simultaneous sounding of two or more tones results in harmony. Texture – number of tones played simultaneously (number of instruments played together) Form – the structure of a composition, analogous to blueprint to an architect. Color – the result of the difference in timbre (quality of tone) in the various instruments and voices. If you are thoroughly familiar with the quality of sound of each instrument of the symphony orchestra, you can pick them out even when the texture is quite thick. The strings (violin, viola, cello, and bass) are the most human, can express the most poignant feeling, and can continue playing indefinitely without fatigue. The wood winds (flute, piccolo, oboe, clarinet, and bassoon) are the most decorative, and because they are so different in timbre they contribute the greatest and mellowest of the brasses, which play in the middle register and light the music from within like indirect lighting in a room. Music is often referred to as the “universal language.” Is it true? In a way it is. But generally this characterization is false because music is abstract. It cannot convey thoughts. Only language can express concrete thought. Literature can tell a story, and painting can show a picture. Music cannot tell stories nor paint pictures. It is open to individual interpretation. In ancient Greece, a musician composed a piece of music to represent a storm at sea. Some listened to the music and could tell the storm at sea, but to others the music was not stormy, but peaceful. One critic listened to the music and laughed at the composer. He said there was more storm in my mother’s cooking pot than in this piece of music. Why different people heard different things? Because music is abstract. However, if we give the music a title, then the listening effect is different. Probably most people would hear the storm in the music.

Elements of Literature: Literature results from the communication of thought and feeling through consciously organized language. Words/phrases, sentences, paragraph, plot, form/structure, metaphors, rhythm.

Elements of Theatre: plot (structure of play, determines how a play works, how it moves from one moment to another), character, dialogues, music, setting, lighting, costumes, actor movement, color, line, form/structure, rhythm.

Elements of Dance: Human body, action/movements, line, color, form, structure, rhythm, space, time, music, setting, lighting, costumes.

56 Chapter 7 Principles of Design

Elements of Art : Line, Shape/Form, Value/Light, Color, Texture, Mass & Space, Size & Scale, Time & Movement;

Principles of Design: Unity, Variety, Balance, Rhythm, Emphasis, Proportion.

In the evaluation of a painting the first consideration is composition. What then is its nature, its pragmatic character? The basic elements of composition are harmony and balance; this is simplistic, yet these elements encompass the facets of composition in all their complexity. A painting may be indifferent as regards color and paint quality and still retain a high rank as a work of art, but if its composition is faulty, inevitably the picture becomes defunct. This does not imply, however, that good composition ipso facto establishes the excellence of a work of art. Harmonious composition should be a matter of course; this is expected even in the work of insignificant practitioners. However, the disposition of a pictorial arrangement may be so complex, or so ingeniously organized that only a great master could boast of such an accomplishment. The conditions of harmony and balance are governed by two subsidiary underpinnings: coherence— unity—and emphasis. In a coherent composition, every element of color or form maintains its preordained position in the picture’s plan—nothing can be added or eliminated without disturbing the balance of the whole or creating a vacuum in it. Emphasis brings the narrative to a dramatic climax. A second consideration in the evaluation of a painting is the nature of paint quality. What happens when an artist takes brush in hand fills it with paint and applies the paint to the surface of his painting? Paint quality is generally considered to be the result of craftsmanship— dexterity brought about by diligent application, but in a addition to acquired skill, paint quality is influenced by the personal nervous mechanism of the artist’s hand. To envisage its nature, place side by side a Rembrandt and a Carel Fabritius. Clearly Fabritius’s skill is considerable; yet the paint quality in the work of Rembrandt stands on an incomparably higher level. To define the term we shall have to split it into its components. The difference in the surface appearance of paintings lies in texture, brush stroke, and contour. The difference in the surface appearance of paintings lies in texture, brush stroke, and contour. These characteristics

57 are not entirely the result of manual dexterity, for identical technical proficiency will not yielded equal artistry in the handling of texture, brush stroke and contour.

Composition is the way that lines, shapes, colors, and other elements of art are put together. When you create a piece of music, you compose it by organizing together various elements of music, such as sound/texture, pitch, intervals, melody, scales, tones, etc. The composer or artist is the person who has to put elements together. This process is called composing. The final result of composing a piece of music, a painting or a sculpture is called composition. As viewers, we of course do not do the composing, but it is helpful to know how a work was composed. In other words, when we view a painting, we often have to decompose it in order to see how it was organized, how well, how beautifully the job was done, and how it was made a great painting. In this way we may better appreciate the painting. This process is called analysis, analyzing, as opposed to composing. This is what you are going to do in your formal analysis paper. When we analyze a piece of art, we see the relationships among the elements of art in a composition. These relationships are often called “principles of design,” or rules by which elements are put together.

Unity: a primary consideration in composition. All parts of a work must communicate with one and another, in terms of color, texture, shape, value, size and scale etc. So repetition is a common means to achieve unity. Henri Matisse: Artist and Goldfish, 1915. (4.3) Agnes Martin: Night Sea, 1963. (4.4) Edward Hopper: Room in New York, 1932, (4.5) about isolation of people from each other. Pietro Vanucci (Perugino), The Crucifixion with Saints, c.1485. (3.22) Christ Delivering the Keys of the Kingdom to St. Peter, 1481-83 Symmetrical balance, local color (14.38) In these paintings, we can see how artists manage to hold composition together: The Scream—the swirling energy, circling movement of lines & colors. Perugino: implied triangles, (interlocking triangles, eye lines).(3.24; 3.25) If the overriding message of the artist is balance, harmony and order, as in a devotional picture, the artist will use a balanced, stable composition, the most stable of which is the triangle. (3.26) Pierre Auguste Renoi, the Boating Party, 1881. (3.28) Laocoön, 1st century AD. Marble, 8ft (2.44m) high.

58 Renoi used a series of devices to unify his composition: subject matter, talking and looking, the same table, implied lines, canopy, and cross-canvas gazes. The Laocoön group uses lines, winding serpents, twisted shapes that form curves (implied lines), suffering and struggling of the group, their expressions, and especially the sight lines of the sons. Laocoön is a Trojan priest. The Greeks made up the story that the wooden horse was an offering to the goddess Minerva, whose temple was within the walls of Troy. Laocoön warned the citizen of Troy not to bring the horse into the city; he and his sons were strangled by sea serpents to death. Some say this is because of his defiance of Apollo; others, because he offended Poseidon. The Trojans then thought this is because Minerva was unhappy about Laocoön’s advice and dragged the horse into the city. Remember: Too much unity would be boring; too much variety would be confusing.

Variety: Variety is produced by differences. It is a matter of form. Michael Gallagher: Shuffling, 1980 (4.6) varied in size, shape, color, direction, and placement in space. Red Grooms: Ruckus Manhattan 1976, (4.7) Variety often takes the form of subtle variations on the same theme. Antonio Gaudi’s uncompleted church of the Holy Family show spires with resembling but varied forms. The Church of Taivallahti (excavated as an underground space within living rock) calls us to appreciate both the organic roughness of the stone and the elegant refinement of the organ pipes, the earthiness of the walls and the light of the sky brought in beneath the great copper dome. Jacopo Tintoretto: Leda and the Swan, 1570, A Greek myth tells how Leda, the wife of Tyndareus, king of Sparta, was loved by Jupiter. He came to her by the river in the form of a swan and lay with her. As a result of their union she laid one or perhaps two eggs from which were hatched the heavenly twins Castor and Pollux, Helen of Troy and Clytemnestra. In the ptg. the two figures form two arcs and pull away from each other and twisting through space, accentuating Leda’s movement toward her lover Zeus. Each of the bodies is also twisted in a flowing serpentine movement.

Balance: We are all very sensitive about balance. We can notice anything unbalanced in no time. In the three-dimensional world, things must be balanced or they will collapse. The Leaning Tower at Pisa Cathedral (built in 1050-1272) in Italy did not collapse. So it becomes famous. Some engineers have offered to put it right but were declined by the city. If

59 the tower should be no longer leaning, the city will lose tourist money. It is the result of a settling foundation. There is a strong tendency to fall as we see it, but there is also a supporting force strong enough to keep it leaning without falling. So physically it is balanced. But visually unbalanced. Antonio Gaudi’s Crypt of the Guill Chapel becomes well-known is also for its odd design.

Barnet Newman’s sculpture, Broken Obelisk (1963-67), at the Institute of Religion and Human Development in Houston, is about balance. It seems perilous but it isn’t. Because of the balanced design and the strength of the material, it is both physically and visually balanced. Slide: (2.4) Broken Obelisk, p. 69, The Art of Seeing. Gravity is the principle behind weight; we think heavier things will fall if they are not balanced properly. This is true in painting; it is true in a literal sense in sculpture. If the work is not balanced, it will not stand up. This is an idea the sculptor can play with visually; to increase the feeling of tension in a work. (3.21) Nancy Graves, Trace, (1979-80) Bronze, steel, patina, and paint.

Balance in two-dimensional work is different. It is a Visual Balance. It is different from physical or actual balance. It is the quality of visual weight distribution. It has nothing to do with the actual weight of something, but how it appears. It is the visual weight that matters. As long as you can deceive the eye, you are OK. Example: see-saw, (Draw on the board) When you determine whether a 2-D work of art seems balanced, think of a see-saw. The elements and principles have what is called a visual or psychological weight created by and influenced by our sense of gravity; we perceive tension, stress, and stability as well as weight. Dark and busy areas are often heavier than light or simple ones; for example, a tight grouping of dark lines will seem heavier to you than a white area with no lines. Large shapes heavier than small ones of the same color and value. The center of a composition is the strongest area visually, and anything placed there will be heavier than objects at the edges of the picture plane. The artist weights all aspects during the creation of a work. If you have equal sized objects on each end of the see-saw, balance is easy. If the objects on either side differ dramatically in size, weight, color, apparent energy, etc., there will have to be some compensating factor on one side to make up for the other. If you practice being aware of this, it will become obvious. The central axis of the painting, building facade, sculpture corresponds to the central fulcrum of the see-saw. If you have an elephant on one side and a mouse on the other, we have to extend the board or move the fulcrum for the see-saw to balance. In the same way with

60 paintings, the viewer can act as the fulcrum. When he/she moves, the fulcrum moves as well, thus a visually imbalanced picture may become balanced visually. Example: (3.17) William Blake, The Last Judgment (1808) (3.20) Thomas Gainsborough, Mr. & Mrs. Andrews (c.1749) Gainborough, Mrs. Richard Brinsley Sheridan (1785) So artists create a sense of balance generally by feeling, not by mathematics of course. Manipulating the elements and principles in the composition until they feel right. To start with, there are two very different categories of balance: Symmetrical and Asymmetrical.

Symmetrical balance: If you drop a line down the center of a piece and the side on the right is the mirror image of the left, the visual weight is the same on both sides, You have bilateral symmetry, or two-sided symmetry. That means the two sides look alike. If you fold it up, they overlap. Slide: (3.16) Chest for clothes and jewelry of the Haida tribe, 19th c, wood, tusk, shell. Slight differences can still be found on both sides. In fact only in mathematics can we realize absolute symmetry. Symmetrical balance in visual art is achieved if only the two sides look alike, as in (Slide 3.17). Images on both sides do not have to be exactly the same. (3.17) William Blake, The Last Judgment (1808) (3.22) Pietro Vanucci (Perugino) The Crucifixion with Saints, (c.1485) In fact artists often make each side different in order to add variety to a work. Sometimes artists may break the principle of balance to create the similar effect of the Leaning Tower of Pisa. We have an example in the book Remember that our perception of gravity is the principle behind visual weight; we think things that seem heavier will fall. This is an idea the artist plays with to create tension and movement, important concepts especially in modern art.

Asymmetrical or Non symmetrical Balance Here there are no rules, no central axis, and no center point. Different types of visual weights, placed in different places, balance each other. (compensation & substitutions). Thomas Gainsborough, Mr. & Mrs. Andrews (c.1749) Mass vs. Space: Symmetrical vs. Asymmetrical balance (14.38) Edvard Munch, The Scream (1893) (9.2) Michelangelo, David, 1502 (14.4) Iraq, Tell Asmar, Statuettes from the Abu Temple, 2700 BC, marble. Asymmetrical balance gives a greater sense of life and movement. Symmetrical balance is divine, such as images of God, Buddha.

61 Radial Symmetry—when elements are arranged symmetrically around a central point in all directions. (3.18) Tibetan Tangka, The Wheel of Life, ca. 19th c. Rhythm: Rhythm is the result of the repetition of some elements, such as line, shape and color. And repetitions will result in a sense of movement. Gino Severini: The Blue Dancer, 1912. repeated arms and hands, eyes and curls of hair, so the viewer see and feel the movement. He chose several different shapes and repeated them over and over again (semicircles in the skirt, strips and curves in the arms). Umberto Boccioni: Unique Forms of Continuity in Space, 1913. The powerful flow of muscular action, long curves, smooth shapes Grant Wood: Young Corn, 1931. feeling of calm and stillness. In 3-D work repetition of a single design element can have a powerful effect. Backs (3.2) by Polish fiber artist Magdalena Abakanowicz has a disturbing emotional impact on viewers, not only because of the headless, limbless quality of the hunched-over, hollowed-out torsos, but also because there are so many of them. Jose Clemente Orozco’s Zapatistas (3.3) the similar figures in the peasant army merge into a unified whole. Our eye would pick out the diagonals of the standing figures and their hats as beats in a single flowing movement to the left, with bayonets as counterthrusts pointing to the drum-like repeated beats of the large hats above. We can see that even if one revolutionary falls, the mass of the others still moves forward. Emphasis: refers to the predominance of one area or one element in a design. Emphasis can be achieved when any section contrasts (in terms of any of the elements of art) with its surroundings , or through a focal point.

Focal Point: (3.29) (3.30)Leonardo, The Last Supper, c.1495-8, Monastery of Santa Marie delle Grazie, Milan. (14.17) Giotto, The lamentation of Christ, 1305, Padua, Italy Where is the center of attention and how is it created? Line, diagonals, implied lines, and the color Sacred architecture often develops a single focal point to center worshipers’ attention on the forms used to represent divinity. (3.31) Chapel, from the church of Notre Dame du Bourg, Longon, France. 1126.

62 Chapter 8 Principles of Design

Proportion: Like balance, we are all very conscious of proportion. If anything goes disproportionate, we find it immediately. So keep this in mind, it is rare for a true artist to make a mistake in proportion. When we find something not in proportion, a better idea is to give more thought about it. Artists often use proportions to express their ideas and attitudes, to emphasize or de- emphasize something. They use it expressively. It is a tool of self-expression. Proportion belongs only to art. Scale considers perspective and the representation of distance, while proportion is mainly concerned with solid forms and the relationship between their parts. Proportion and scale both have to do with size. Sometimes the two words are used interchangeably but there is difference. Scale means size in relation to some constant or “normal” size. Normal scale is the size we expect something to be. For example, a model airplane is small-scale in relation to the usual size. Proportion refers to size relationship between parts of a whole, or between one and others in a group or size relationship between an object and surroundings. A very large chair in a very small room seems out of proportion. The Golden Mean: It proposed that the most beautiful division of a line is into segments in which the shorter is to the longer as the longer is to the whole line which results in a proportion of approximate 8 to 13. Human beings are sensitive of proportions. Since the time of the ancient Greeks, people have been seeking the “ideal” proportions in art. Much classical Greek figure sculpture was based on a canon, or set of rules, of ideal proportions in which the figure’s head was to be one- eighth of the total height, the width of the chest one-quarter of the total height, and so on. These proportions would remain the same regardless of the figure’s scale. Similarly, in Greek architecture, vase-making, and painting, proportions derived from what is known as the golden section/mean. a : b = b : (a + b). If a is the width of a temple and be is its length, then the ratio of width to length should be the same as the ration of length to width plus length. For example, suppose you want to build a house, and you want it to be 40 feet wide. How long should the house be to fit the “ideal proportions of the golden section? The answer is about 65 feet. (Golden section: the width of a rectangle is 1.618 times its height. or 1 to 1.618, or less precisely, a ratio of 5 : 8.) Plato regarded this proportion as the key to understanding the cosmos) Many artists cut their vanvas according to the rule of the Golden Section.

63 (3.36) The parthenon Athens, 447-438 BC. It is constructed according to this proportion. (Dedicated to Athena, protector of Athens and goddess of wisdom; made to glorify Athens and thus human achievement by Pericles, the general who helped defeat the Persian in 479 BC. This greatest of all Classical artistic achievements has a special grandeur and poignancy. It was built during year of growing division and hostility in the Greek world--the last sculpture was barely in place before the outbreak of the Peloponnesian War I 431 BC. Shortly thereafter, Athens fell. To the Greeks, the ultimate ideal was that human reason and order could triumph over chaos of the natural world and create a balanced society. The golden Section represents to Greeks the ultimate wisdom of the universe. The Parthenon is reminder between the gulf between Classical ideals and the realities of political existence. (2.21) Polykleitos, Doryphoros, Roman marble copy after a bronze of 450 BC. Greeks believed that beauty was a function of proper proportion and that proportion of man and his products should be tied to absolute cosmic mathematic rules. In Human proportions, according to sculptor Polyclitus’ Canon, (rule) (a book now lost) “beauty consists in the proportion of the parts; of finger to finger; of all the fingers to the palm and the wrist; of those to the forearm, of the forearm to the upper arm; ...” Similarly, the head ought to be one- eighth, the breadth of the shoulders one -fourth, of the total height of figure. Thus according to the Greeks, ideal beauty was not created by nature, but by the human intellect Lysippos, Apoxyomenos, Roman marble copy after a bronze of 330 BC. The figure embodies two important innovations of the time: a new canon of proportions; and the full realization of the figure as if moving in space. Artists may manipulate rules of proportion for the purpose of expression: The Greek proportion was ignored in the Middle Ages and challenged during the late Renaissance. Diptych leaf: The Archangel Michael, 533AD. Jacopo da Pontormo, The Descent from the Cross, 1626-28. oil on wood. Parmigianino, Madonna with the Long Neck. Mannerism seeks instability, restlessness, distortions, exaggerations, and bizarre postures. no focal point as far as composition is concerned. shallow space. In the art of China and Japan, body to be 7 times the height of the head, the head is twice the size of the open palm, etc. Proportion in Pre-Columbian world is uniformly shorter. The body is often 5 times of the head.

Diego Velázquez, Las Meninas (The Maids of Honour), 1656. (An overall examination of the painting with principles of art)

64 In 1656, Spanish court of Philip IV, the court painter, Veslázquez, paints himself in a room with the Princess, the infanta Margarita. The Princess is at the center of the picture, apparently the principal subject. So the most obvious focal point of the composition is the young princess, the infanta Margarita, who is emphasized by her position in the center of the painting, by the light that shines brilliantly on her as on no one else, and by the implied lines created by the gazes of the two maids of honor who are serving her. But the gazes out side the central group, that of the dwarf on the right, who is also a maid of honor, and that of the painter on the left, a self-portrait of Velázquez, are turned away from the infanta. In fact, they seem to be looking at us, and so is the infanta herself. There is another focal point of their attention. Where is it? It lies outside the picture plane. If we move our eyes from the face of the infanta to the painting behind her head we see is a mirror. In the mirror are two figures: the King and Queen, They are what Velázquez and others are looking at. It seems likely that it is the King and Queen who is the subject of the painting, since they are in the position that would be occupied normally by persons sitting for a portrait. The infanta Margarita and her maids of honor have come; it would seem, to watch the royal couple have their portrait painted by the great Velázquez. And Velázquez has turned the table on everyone, painting his visitors instead of his official sitters, the King and Queen, and the viewer, who all observe and are observed. This very clever painting is at the same time a self-portrait of the painter painting the visiting princess and her maids

65 Chapter 9 Drawing and Printmaking

Are you all sure about the meaning of the word “medium” (media)? In art, medium can refer to the material used for making an artwork. For example, what is the medium of printmaking? (Paper, copper plate, colors). Medium can also refer to the characteristic way of using the material (engraving, drawing, and etching). It can also refer to the liquid ingredient of paint, such as water, linseed oil, or egg yolk. We will focus on the medium as the material, the stuff that an artist uses to make an artwork. The medium is basically a dead thing. But it will become alive in the hands of an artist. If you understand it and know how to work with it, it may become extremely versatile; respond the way as you like. Question: Why we say drawing is the oldest of the arts? Before the development of paper, people had made drawings in the dirt all the time. Paper was invented in China in the 2nd c. BC, but was not made commercially in Europe till 13th, when a paper mill opened in Fabriano, Italy. Why we make drawings: 1) Sketch — make an impression of a scene note down ideas or thoughts 2) Study — practice designs, for formal and intellectual exploration. 3) As a piece of art itself. Illustrations. 4) A way for artists to train their hands and eyes. Sketching—a loose, quick rendering of some object, person, or even an idea, sometimes done simply to “warm up.” Study—a slower process that may involve visible changes of mind, redrawn lines, and even erasures; there can be several studies on a page, usually of some facet of the same subject Plan or Layout—initial design or “cartoons” used to guide the creation of large works, such as paintings, murals or tapestries. So Drawing implies something portable, something in progress, and something spontaneous. For viewers, drawings can provide insight into the steps involved in creating, particularly into how changes evolve. While drawings traditionally have been seen merely as stepping stones in a process, and therefore secondary to painting or sculpture, in recent times they have come to be appreciated as fresh, intimate works of art on their own.

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66 PABLO RUIZ PICASSO （1881 – 1973） (Refer back to page 78, Quote from Matisse) When Picasso died in 1973 at the age of 92, he had been one of history's most famous artists, as the co-inventor of Cubism, and also one of the most prolific and wealthiest, despite his poor origins. As a formal innovator and person he was a revolutionary but actually most of his themes correspond to older art: still lives: landscapes; animals; interpretations of myth and literature; human pleasure and suffering But the styles or forms in which he expressed these themes varied tremendously and he constantly explored new media, creating everything from paintings and prints to sculpture to light drawings and found art. No artist or person’s achievements exist without precedent, and Picasso was no exception. For about a century artists had been questioning old rules and insisting that artists had the right to transform and manipulate form to create expression rebellion against the rules created during the Renaissance. This led to Picasso’s own revolution. He broke with the requirement, established in the Renaissance, which art imitate the physical appearance of nature. Picasso was a horrible womanizer, pissed many women off, bad-tempered, real cruel to women, can you separate personal life of the artist from his/her works? But no one is perfect.

Picasso’s Guernica By 1930 Picasso abandoned strict cubistic approach but continued to explore abstraction and distortion of the figure. In 1936, the Spanish government in exile asked Picasso to make a work of art for the Spanish pavilion of the International Exhibition in Paris the following year. Picasso, though he had never sought a government commission, agreed, but did not begin to work on the project right away. Anthony Blunt, Picasso's Guernica.: “On 26 April, 1937, the German air force, acting under the orders of General Franco, bombed and almost completely destroyed the city of Guernica. Six days later Picasso began work on the preparation of the great mural [sic] which bears the name of the city and which was shown at the Spanish Pavilion of the International Exhibition in Paris the summer of the same year. The bombing of Guernica, a town without defenses or military importance, was one of the most cruel acts of the Spanish Civil War. The Times [of London] printed the following account of it, as reported by its correspondent: “Guernica, the most ancient town of the Basques and the centre of their cultural tradition, was completely destroyed yesterday afternoon by insurgent air raiders. The bombardment of the open town far behind the lines occupied precisely three hours and a quarter, during which a powerful fleet of aeroplanes consisting of three German types, Junkers and Heinkel bombers and Heinkel fighters, did not cease unloading on the town bombs...and...incendiary projectiles. The fighters, meanwhile, plunged low from above the

67 centre of the town to machine-gun those of the civil population who had taken refuge in the fields.

What would you paint in memory of such a tragic event? As usual, Picasso produced a flood of Studies. May 1, he started work, did many studies, realized this was a large mural-sized historical document. Picasso did not want images of specific wars, such as the compelling image by Goya of the 3rd of May, 1808 about the Napoleonic invasion of Spain, when some citizens of Madrid fought against the French invaders, the General's French firing squad tried to put down the rebellion by the execution a “token” number of civilians. • Picasso dated each study so that there would be a record of artistic invention • Final form 11 feet 6 in by 25 feet 8 in • Color: Picasso experimented with color but decided to make it various shades of gray including purplish, bluish, and brownish • 3 animals: bull, wounded horse, winged bird in left background • 2 principal humans: dead soldier and woman leaning out of window • secondary "Greek chorus": fingers of three women: 1) screaming woman with dead baby; 2) women rushing in at right; 3) woman falling in a house collapsing in flames ∑ simplified forms, triangles as basis of composition, background is geometric form.

Sources: bullfights, 1924, unpleasant sensations, victims; Greek myths, His attraction to the futility of rational conduct in the face of rising fascism; private myths formation of private myths, rather than a literal interpretation of Greek legends such as Theseus and the Minotaur; Minotaur was to the Greeks a destructive being to whom one was sacrificed. In Picasso's art, he was a pathetic victim, a tender abductor or object of love. Dancing, Three Dancers 1925Internal body imagery intended to show one’s inner sensations in a frenzied dance. Each figure has a second and third self = the black areas. Picasso showed how in moments of great exertion and erotic stimulation a new self-consciousness may emerge; figures are boneless, suggestive of internal organs. • Broken swords No specific reference to modern warfare, instead, swords, explosions • Flower in the fallen soldier’s hand—hope This is clearly an image of war, but where is the scene? No specific locale • Who is the aggressor? Unknown aggressor. Focus is on the agonies of the civilians Figures seem isolated, no links between them What are the images? Pathetic horse is speared

68 • Man fallen from horse is lifeless plaster head or Greek statue; is this the death of art? hopeless eyes. showing probably his sympathy for the life of the woman. • Distortion: the exteriorization of internal distress • Color effect: black, white, gray = nightmarish theme. Don’t want color to reduce the effect of the painting. • Texture—newsprint, apparently photos Cubism may not be attractive to many people, but it changes the ligion between artists and subject. It conveys visually the modern idea of science and incorporates scientific ideas in art. MEANING: For Picasso, symbols are never static, but are multivalent like dream symbols. Once he said the horse represented the people; bull represented brutality and darkness. Guernica is one of those rare works in which years of experience are summed up and given new significance, Its complex imagery is abstract but clearly expresses the helplessness people feel in the face of irrational brutality, the agony of suffering, the emotional as well as the physical atrocities of war In a statement made in December 1937 about his position relative to the Spanish Civil War, Picasso wrote: “I have always believed and still believe that artists who live and work with spiritual values cannot and should not remain indifferent to a conflict in which the highest values of humanity and civilization are at stake.” After the Second World War, he wrote even more emphatically: “What do you think an artist is? An idiot who has only his eyes if he’s a painter, or ears if he’s a musician or a lyre at every level of his heart if he’s a poet, or even, if he’s a boxer, just his muscles? On the contrary he’s at the same time a political being, constantly alive to heart-rending, fiery or happy events, to which he responds in every way. How would it be possible to feel no interest in other people and by virtue of an ivory indifference to detach yourself from the life which they so copiously bring you? No, painting is not done to decorate apartments. It is an instrument of war for attack and defense against the enemy. Guernica is enormous, stark in its black and white tones, shocking images of brutality and vehement political protest—it is like no other painting. So how can it be kept from harm? Picasso always intended it be a gift to the people of Spain but in 1937, he did not trust the Spanish government. So after its display at the International Exposition in Paris, it was shipped to NY, to the MOMA, on extended loan. There it was hung on a wall for 40 years. People could get up close to it, and only one incident occurred—an Iranian artist splashed red paint on it in political protest, but no permanent damage was done. By 1981, eight years after Picasso's death, there was general agreement that Spain had become sufficiently “democratic.” Under tight security, the painting was sent to Madrid,

69 where it was installed in an annex of the Prado. There it was sealed up under bulletproof glass under an armor plated ceiling. The closest one could get was 14 feet away, behind the glass. The huge glass made the 25 foot wide painting seem fragile. It was safe, but practically invisible. In 1992, it was moved in a special 3,500 pound steel box to Reina Sofia museum a mile from the Prado. The trip, with armored trucks and guards, took half an hour and cost $200,000. Again it was secured behind bulletproof glass. Picasso's eldest daughter accused the Spanish art ministry of ‘murdering’ the painting. How do we strike a balance between accessibility and safety?

Many different materials can be used for drawing: 1) Silverpoint: Popular in 15, 16 c, made with rods of silver in a holder. Paper is coated with opaque white pigment or rabbitskin glue and bone dust to get an abrasive surgace that will abrade the silver. The marks are light at first but soon oxidize or tarnish, thereby darkening. Hard to erase. Rogier Van der Weyden, Head of Virgin, 3.1

2) Graphite (shi mo) Inaccurately called “lead” pencil. Graphite was first used in sticks, later in wooden holders. Its greatest virtue is that it is easily erased and it comes in various hardness. Ingres: Portrait of Mme. Ingres, 1855. Graphite on white wove paper. Cassell, Stuart: Chain link disaster, 1972. 4.5

3) Charcoal: Made by reducing wood to carbon in heated chambers from which oxygen is excluded in order to prevent combustion taking place. Cut into pieces like chalk and used in holders; often used as a preparatory medium. Charcoal drawing as a finished work is protected from smudging by the application of a fixative sprayed onto the drawing. Oiled charcoal was used in mid-16th c to increase the permanence of charcoal drawings. Natural charcoal sticks were soaked in linseed oil, wiped and then used for drawing before the oil hardened by oxidization. This type of charcoal produced a rich black line that did not smudge and in time hardened like oil paint. Kollwitz: Self-Portrait with a Pencil 4.7

4) Chalk: derived from earths. Natural grey chalk is obtained from brick clay, red chalk from the red ochre, white chalk from the chalk variety of calcite or soapstone, black chalk from carbonaceous shale. These natural minerals are powdered, mixed with binder, compressed into

70 sticks, used since Renaissance. Numerous Renaissance artists drew in red chalk, and Leonardo, Michelangelo and Correggio were among the most distinguished exponents of the medium. Leo da Vinci: the Virgin and Child with St Anne and St. John the Baptist, 1510, Black chalk heightened with white on paper, 4.9 Rembrandt: Woman with a Snake (as Cleopatra), 1637. Red & white chalk 5) Pastel (Fabricated chalks): Not to be confused with chalk, which is harder. It was originated in Northern Italy in 16th century. Pastel is very soft, made by mixing colored pigments with glue and used in the form of finger-length sticks. It is opaque, better applied on tinted or ribbed papers. The word “pastel” is commonly associated with pale tones, and pale pastels are well suited for creating light and romantic images. Degas: After the Bath, 1895. 4.10

6) Pen and ink, wash: All above drawing media are "dry", but here, ink is wet, a liquid medium. It needs an implement to apply. Sometimes it is difficult to execute: You cannot make mistakes, ink may spatter unpredictably, keeping ink flowing. It is essentially a line medium, value is conveyed by stippling, scratching, hatching, etc. Today’s technical pens can move more easily across the paper like ballpoints, not it is difficult to create free-flowing lines. Alternatively, ink can be thinned with water or distilled turpentine and brushed on as a wash. Lorraine, Campagna Landscape, 1660, 4.14, has both penned and wash lines, brush and ink Li Cheng: Buddhist Temple in the Hills after Rain, Northern Sung, China, 940-67. Ink and slight color on silk. 44 x 22 in 2.63 * * * * * Printmaking: Art made by transferring an image from a original source to another surface, usually paper. Most forms of printmaking involve a press by which one applies pressure to a metal plate, stone, or block, allowing the transfer of the image (impression) to the second surface. Printmaking is a way for artists to make multiples of an image; in other words, many images can be “struck” from the original source, creating what is known as an “edition,” a set of identical prints that are numbered and signed by the artist. The artist will create the image in the first place, but the rest of the process is often collaborative. In such cases, the artist works with specially trained printers to arrive at an image that has the desired look —referred to as an “artist’s proof.” About 1470, the printing press was developed in Europe and papermaking became an important industry. (Still, paper was expensive. In Europe it was made by beating linen or cotton rags into pulp then allowing the pulp to congeal on a wire mesh.) At first, printmaking was used almost exclusively as a mode of illustration. Since the late 19th c. each impression is usually signed by the artist and numbered —for example, the number 3/35 at the bottom of a

71 print means that this is the third impression in an edition of 35. Very often the artist will reserve a small number of additional proofs—trial impressions made before the final edition is run—for personal use. These are usually designated “AP,” meaning “artist’s proof.” After the edition is made, the original plate is defaced by scratching lines across it. This is known as “canceling.” This is done to protect the collector against a misrepresentation about the number of prints in a given edition. Impression was the 6th in an edition of 20 impressions. In the early days of printmaking editions were not limited: so long as demand continued the plate was used until it wore out. The size of the edition (number of prints) depends on several things, including the varying capacity of the source to remain crisp and true. One of the difficult aspects of printmaking is that, aside from those areas of a print that are colored by the paper showing through, each different color comes either from the creation of a separate plate or from colors “mixing” when one is laid over another. The artist can create a print, produce an edition, and then decide to make changes, and a second edition—or more— can result; these are referred to as different “states.” 1) Relief Prints: one of the earliest printmaking methods, the image is arrived at by carving into a surface. The primary example of this is a “woodblock print” where the artist cuts pieces of wood away, leaving an image or design upraised or “in relief.” The raised surface is “inked,” and, when pressed against paper, the ink transfers, leaving an impression. The press is needed to insure even and complete transfer of the ink. As in most prints, the impression will be the mirror image of the design—what is on the left of the carved surface will be on the right of the impression. One visual characteristic of relief prints is their strongly contrasting dark and light areas and powerful, often thick lines and shapes. During the modern era, especially, the grain and imperfections of the wood might be incorporated into a woodblock image. Color can be added to a print by creating a series of different blocks, one for each different color, each of which is registered to line up with the others. Traditional European woodcuts used intricate lines of Hatching, and even Cross-hatching to build up tones and textures, rather like ink drawings. In doing so, superb technical proficiency is required. Dürer: Technically, the virtuosity of his woodcuts never has been surpassed. He often prepared only the drawing, hired the finest artisans of the time to do the actual cutting. In D’s woodcuts we don’t see the wood. Nowadays some artists have chosen to reveal the character of the wood. Different kinds of wood have very different grain patterns, which appear as lines in the printed areas. Wood from the beech tree and fruit trees, such as cherry, apple, or pear, is uniformly hard and even-grained. These woods are often used when the artist wants to create fine details that will stand up to hundreds of printings of the block and to avoid obvious grain lines.

72 In the 20th c., linoleum blocks have been added to the printmaker’s options. Linoleum cuts lack the directional character of wood grain. Lines can be cut equally smoothly and uniformly in any direction, and uncut areas can print in a strong solid black, as in Stephen Alcorn’s Don Juan (6.11). Lines tend to be free-flowing and bold, reflecting the speed of the direct cuts. Although linoleum is easy to cut, it is also somewhat crumbly and cannot be used for ultra-fine lines. Images appear very structural, lacking subtleties

2) Intaglio Prints: the exact opposite of the former. The paper receives ink from the incised lines, not from the surface of the plate. An image is cut into the surface of a wooden or metal plate with a tool called a “burin.” The “incised” areas (the cuts or scratches) are filled with ink, while the raised surfaces are kept clean. The plate is then run through a printing press, which exerts enough pressure to squeeze paper into the tiny lines, transferring the inked image. The pressure is so great that marks from the plate’s edges usually remain impressed into the paper and are visible to the eye. A well-known form of engraving is “etching,” where a metal plate is coated with resin or wax, and, using a sharp point (stylus), the artist carefully draws an image into the coating, scraping some of it away and leaving the metal exposed. The plate is then placed in acid, which eats into (“etches”) the exposed parts, most frequently constructed of lines, such as contours and hatching, although “stippling” (making dots to create shapes and forms) is also used. The plate is removed from the acid frequently so that the artist can keep track of the depth of the etching. The deeper and wider the acid cuts, the stronger the eventual mark. If some lines seem deep enough but others do not, the artist can coat the finished parts of the plate and return it to the acid. When the image is ready, the entire coating is removed. The plate is inked, filling only the etched indentations, and run through a press. A visual characteristic of etchings is their dependence on lines, many of them very thin and delicate, to define the image. “Aquatints,” “mezzotints,” and “drypoint” are variations on this theme, and each has some distinguishing factor making it interesting to artists. For example, in drypoint a stylus but no acid is used to incise the image. Aquatints and mezzotints allow greater variations in density, areas of tone, and texture to give a more painterly effect. Antonio del Pollaiuolo, Battle of the Ten Nudes, c. 1460. Engraving (metal plate) newly developed around the middle of the 15th c. engraving proved to be more flexible and durable than the older woodcut. As numerous prints could be made from the same plate, they were cheap and could be circulated widely, bringing art to all levels of society. Because they were easy to transport, prints were a quick and easy means of inter-artist communication. 3) Planographic Prints: (surface process)

73 Lithography—developed in 1796, is the best known example of planographic print. Prints are made from a very smooth limestone surface rather than one that is raised (relief) or incised (intaglio). The method is based on the observation that grease and water will not mix. It can easily reproduce both lines and tones. In lithography, the artist draws an image with a greasy crayon directly on a flat stone slab (remember that the image must be drawn in reverse or backward). When the drawing is finished, the stone is wet with water. The crayon used to make this drawing contains a kind of grease; water will not stick to it but lithographic ink will. The ink is in turn repelled by the wet parts of the stone. The ink will transfer to paper when run through a press. Today this process is done with metal plates more often than stones. The look of lithographs is varied; in fact the medium is the most flexible of any printmaking medium. In lithography, lines as well as planes can be created with virtually the same range as in drawing; even photographic images can be transferred to the stones. Bavarian limestone is considered the best material for the slab. Sometimes a specially sensitized metal plate is used, but a metal surface will not produce the often-desired grainy appearance in the print. Small particles of crayon adhere to the granular texture of the stone matrix. After the design is complete, a solution of nitric acid is applied as a fixative. The entire surface of the matrix is then dampened with water. The untouched areas of the surface accept the water, but the waxy crayon marks repel it. A roller is then used to cover the stone with an oily ink. This ink adheres to the crayon drawing but resists the water. When the artist rolls oily ink onto the plate, the ink is resisted by the water on the limestone, but received by the crayon lines that are eventually transferred to the paper. When paper is pressed to the stone surface, the ink on the crayon is transferred to the paper, revealing the image. Because the final print reflects the marks of the crayon, a lithograph tends to resemble a drawing made with crayon or charcoal. So a lithograph looks as spontaneous and direct as those in images done in drawing, in charcoal. In modern lithography, the artist may use liquids instead of crayon, and zinc or aluminum plates instead of stone. Different lithographic methods yield different results. Black crayon on grainy stone can look quite like the crayon drawing it is. Color lithographs employing brush techniques can be mistaken for paintings. Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, a 19th c. French painter and lithographer, was well versed in the medium’s flexibility, as is evident in his portrait of a clowness (The Seated Clowness). The outlines of the figures were drawn with a crayon, and the broad areas of her tights and ruffled collar were brushed in with liquid crayon. The overall spray effect that dapples the surface of the print was probably achieved by his scraping a fingernail along a stiff brush loaded with the liquid substance.

74 4) Serigraphy: or silk-screen printing, a variety of stencil printing. A gauze screen, fixed tautly on a rectangular wooden frame, is laid directly on top of a sheet of paper or canvas. The screen is usually of silk, but it can be a cotton, nylon or metal mesh. You may cut a stencil of paper and attach it to the underside of the screen; or paint images on the screen with a varnish- like substance that prevents paint or ink from passing through the mesh. This technique allows for more gestural images than cutout stencils would provide. The artist forces paint through the open areas of the stencil with a flat, rubber-bladed implement called a squeegee, very much like a window-cleaning squeegee to squeeze ink through the open (unblocked) mesh of the silk onto the paper beneath. The image on the support corresponds to the shape cut out of the stencil. Several stencils may be used to apply different colors to the same print. Recently a serigraphic process called photo silkscreen has been developed; it allows the artist to create photographic images on a screen covered with a light-sensitive gel. The size of the image is not limited by presses or stones, so they can easily be very large. With silk screens, the transfer does not reverse the image; therefore it is easy to use where text is included. It is frequently used to print on cloth, including T-shirts. Serigraphy is an easier, cheaper process than others. It was first developed as a commercial medium and is still used as such to create anything from posters to labels on cans of food. The American Pop artist Andy Warhol raised the commercial aspects of serigraphy to the level of fine art in many of his silkscreen prints of the 1960s. 5) Monoprint is an image that can be reproduced exactly only once. Most often the image is painted in oil paint onto a sheet of metal or glass and then transferred to paper with the aid of a press. Most of the paint transfers with this first “pull.” Sometimes additional prints might be attempted, and they are called “ghosts.” Another way to make monoprints is to use a traditional technology to create an image that an artist then hand colors, or otherwise draws or paints on freehand to create a unique image. The suffix “-type,” as in monotype or linotype, is used interchangeably with “print.” In prints that are made through the process of carving in relief, the suffix “cut” can be substituted “print,” as in woodcut. Color printing: Intaglio plates printed in colors may either be printed from one plate inked in different colors or from several plates each inked in a separate color. Color woodcuts, Lithographs and Screen-prints are normally produced using different stones or screens for each color. color prints —printed with inks of different colors; colored print — printed in ink of one color and has had extra coloring added by hand.

75 Chapter 10 Photography & Computer Arts

Photography is a science and an art. The word is derived from Greek roots, “photo” (light) and “graph” (writing). It is sometimes difficult to see photography as an art form because it is used in so many other circumstances—from illustrating newspaper stories; assisting many forms of science, industry, and advertising; to documenting events of our personal lives. So it seems to us that painters and sculptors create forms; photographers only find and record forms. But we know a painter uses his brain to tell the hands what to and how to paint. In the same way a photographer needs to use his brain to tell the camera what to do. An average person may walk through the street and land seeing trees and buildings, a photographer will see compositions here and there. They are constantly composing pictures. So photography is not a mechanical thing. It is an art form. An important thing is that you should be able to capture images that others will miss. Focus on people or objects in unusual ways, catching them at a particularly interesting moment or form a surprising point of view. And as viewers we must look not only for what is in the photograph—its subject—but also at the photographer’s technique—how he or she frames, composes, captures, and prints a picture. We need to understand a photographer’s intentions by examining his or her viewpoint, by looking carefully at the angle, the light, how close or far away from the subject the artist was standing, and so forth. Camera is the Latin word for “room,” a little room with a view of the outside world. The human desire to record and preserve images is probably as old as civilization. Hence painting was developed. But it requires so much training. Not until the 16th century did anyone manage to construct a practical device that could harness the image-transferring property of light. This device came to be known as the camera obscura. Your can make a camera obscura yourself. Find a light-tight room, even a closet or a very large cardboard box. Arrange for a small hole, no bigger than the diameter of a pencil, in one wall of the room to admit light. Inside, hold a sheet of white paper a few inches from the hole. You will see an image of the scene outside the room projected on the paper --- upside down and rather blurry, but recognizable. That is the principle of the camera obscura, which simply means “dark room.” Except for the missing shutter, camera obscura almost has all the necessary elements of a modern camera. As early as the eleventh century the principle had already been applied to view

76 solar eclipses. And in 1544, there appeared the first published illustration of a camera obscura being used to observe an eclipse of the sun. Even Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519) had made descriptions about the magic of the dark chamber. As the image formed through a simple hole was often neither brilliant nor sharp, and a bigger hole increased the brightness but made the focus worse. In 1558, the Neapolitan scientist Giovanni Battista Della Porta (1538-1615) made use of a concave len to produce enlarged and brighter images with sharp focus. He also made the reflected images in the dark chamber right way up with the addition of a concave mirror. With this discovery Porta suggested for the first time the use of the apparatus for drawing the outlines of images, which brought about the practical application of the camera obscura to painting.1 In doing so the sitters would be placed in front of the pinhole under direct sunshine. By 17th c. the camera obscura became more widely known among artists as an aid to painting, especially as a guide to outline and perspective. It was no longer always a room in a house. Portable versions were developed to make the camera obscura practical for use by artists. They were made from small wooden boxes or in the form of a tent with a moveable lens and a reflecting mirror to transfer the image onto a horizontal table surface so that artists could copy or trace the image.2 The realism and purity of Vermeer’s paintings have always impressed the viewer with a strong sense of mystery. Vermeer’s mystery does not lie in the type of scenes he depicted or the kind of subject he chose, but in the way his images were portrayed, in the manner he conceived and depicted them, and also in his application of light and color, and in his use of proportion and scale. Vermeer’s art is close to the effect of photography. Perhaps it is for this reason that no convincing definition is possible about his style of painting. Meticulous as his painting was, we can barely see any obvious sign of his drawing or depicting. The outline and modeling of his figures are there but somewhat allusive and invisible. In his Lacemaker , View of Delft, The Little Street, etc. such elements are clear. The device is an integral part of his artistic creation. Vermeer was not simply reproducing what he saw in the camera obscura. Instead, the device served him as a guideline or as a kind of preparatory sketch. He made his own aesthetic choice and used a creative mind in painting. The earliest still photographs were called “daguerreotypes.” They were made by a Frenchman, L.J. M. Daguerre in 1837. He produced a positive image on a thin sheet of silver-

1 Ibid. p.6-7. See also, Josef Maria. History of Photography, 1972. p.40-41. 2 Focal Encyclopedia of Photography, 1969, p.151

77 plated copper that had been treated with iodine. It is then named as the “daguerreotype.” The chemically treated copper plate was, of course, placed in a camera obscura, and exposed to a narrow beam of light. After exposure, the plate was treated chemically again. Daguerre’s invention caused great excitement throughout Europe and North America. He presented his process at the International scientific convention in France and the process was made available round the world within a few years. Portraiture had be confined to the rich, but now everyone was able to have their portrait made. Portraiture became an instant industry. In 1840 a daguerreotype gallery for portraits had opened in New York. In 1841, one could get a daguerreotype portrait in France for 15 francs. In 1849, 100,000 daguerreotypes were sold in Paris alone. The portraits were generally stiff and posed, because subjects had to remain motionless without blinking, for between half a minute and a full minute (the minimum exposure time). The daguerreotype had some disadvantages. It had to be exposed for 5 to 40 minutes, requiring long sittings. The recorded image was reversed, lift to right, and was so delicate that it had to be seated behind glass to remain fixed. The image was captured on a metal plate that took considerable time to prepare, expose, and develop. There was no negative, and consequently, copies could not be made. To sensitize the sheet, iodine was vaporized on a copper sheet to create light sensitive silver iodide. The plate had to be kept in total darkness until exposed by the camera. However, within ten years the exposure time had been reduced to about 30 -60 seconds, and the process had become so inexpensive that families could purchase two portraits for a quarter. Daguerreotype studios opened all across Europe and the United States, and pictures became less and less rigid, stylized. The plate was developed by suspending it in heated mercury, which deposited a white film over the exposed areas; the unexposed silver iodide was dissolved with salt. The plate had to be rinsed and dried carefully. The biggest disadvantage was that only a single unique image was produced, and it could not be reproduced. The negative was invented in 1839 by British scientist William Henry Fox Talbot. Talbot found that sensitized paper, coated with chemicals called emulsions, could be substituted for the copper plate of the daguerreotype. He would place an object, like a sprig of a plant, on the paper and expose the arrangement to light. The paper was darkened by the exposure in all areas, except for those covered by the object. Translucent areas, allowing some passage of light, resulted in a range of grays. Talbot’s first so-called “photogenic drawings”, created by this process, seem eerie, though lyrically beautiful. The delicacy of the image underscores the impracticality of the process. However, this talbotype process is the basis of modern photography.

78 Talbot improved on his early experiments with his development of the “contact print.” he placed the negative in contact with a second sheet of sensitized paper and exposed them both to light. The resultant print was a positive, with left and right, and light and dark, again as in the original subject. Many prints could be made from the negative. Unfortunately, the prints were not as sharp as daguerreotypes, because they incorporated the texture of the paper on which they were captured. Subsequent advances led to methods in which pictures with the clarity of daguerreotype could be printed from black and white as well as color negatives. Daguerre: The Artist’s Studio (1837) was the first successful daguerreotype. Remarkably clear images could be recorded by this process. Le Boulevard de Temple, (1839) was exposed for so long (8-10 min) that none of the people on the street left any impression on the plate except the person getting his shoe shined.

The degree of creativity or artistry of the photographer has always been under assault by people who define art as the individual mark of an artist. Photography has always had several purposes: • As a way to make portraits for the masses, • As documents of events and places and circumstances, • As artistic expression. The Pictorialist Tradition

Julia Margaret Cameron, Iago 1867 (8.4) At first, some photographers tried to make better paintings with the camera. They produced soft-focus romantic pictures. Julia Margaret Cameron was an English woman who had friends among the creative people of Europe, and kept in touch with them through writing an average of 300 letters per month. At age 49, she was given a camera and she threw her considerable energy into producing images that captured the depths of character. She transformed a chicken coop on her property into a “glass house” and made people take on all kinds of positions and costumes so she could get her image. Artists can combine photography with other arts, such as printmaking, to create, for example, “photo engravings” or “photo silk screens.” Steichen Moonrise, Mamaraneck, NY (1904) (8.7) Rodin: The Thinker 1902 (2.83) Steichen began with soft-focus photos, 1902. He was at his best photographing art world figures, his friends, such as Rodin and Matisse, in their studios. Soft-focus nudes against black grounds aroused negative criticism by GB Shaw.

79 Steichen consorted with painters in Paris, and with photographers who were self- conscious about making photos when they felt painting was a superior art. He mixed chemicals to make special photo-sensitive emulsions that would produce the colors he was after, not necessarily the colors that existed in the subject. Platinum, cyanotype, and ferro prussiate print. Photography always served a documentary function as well. Matthew Brady spent the entirety of his fortune onto outfit a band of photographers to document the civil war in the US. Matthew Brady, Lincoln O’Sullivan, Where General Reynolds fell, Gettysburg, 1863. He was apparently unflappable in the battlefield, even during horrendous bombardments, when shells were coming his way. Timothy O'Sullivan was one of the first great photojournalists, working during the civil war. After the war, he packed his wagon, with glass plates, chemicals and camera and joined Clarence King's Survey of the 40th parallel to document a landscape few Americans had ever seen. He quickly realized that on the 2-D surface of the photo, landscape yielded stunningly beautiful displays of lines and texture. A geological up thrust, through which the river has apparently cut its way, sweeps up from the left, ending abruptly at the pictures center, like abstract expressionist. Every photo is an abstraction or a simplification of a reality that is a substitute for 3D space, an instant of perception instead of seamless continuity of time, and in black and white instead of color. If the photographer also manipulated the space in order to emphasize formal elements over representational concerns, as O'S did, then this abstract side is further emphasized. One of photo’s hold on popular imagination lies in this ability to aestheticize the everyday —to reveal as beautiful that which we normally take for granted. Steiglitz and straight photography Steiglitz, the Terminal, 1915 (8.8) A moment in time.

Equivalence: Accused of controlling his subjects, Steiglitz photos clouds to emphasize his lack of control and the non-literal appreciation of the associations, feelings and moods created by contemplating massages (like listening to music). Steiglitz penned the first major photo gallery in New York, called 291 after the address. He was very influential in bringing the exciting world of turn-of-the-century modern art from Paris to NY and for challenging the artists of the United States to find their own identity. Henry Cartier Bresson, Athens, 1953 Sunday on the Banks of the Marne, 1939

80 “ The decisive moment” sees the scene with human column, waits for people, later sees parallels and harmonies between street and balcony, antiquity and present, b and w, youth and age, stasis and change. Weston, Artichoke Halved, 1930 (The Art of Seeing, 8.15) [From Beaumont Newhall, 188] One American photographer that wanted to do straight, unmanipulated photos of the monumental and sculptural qualities of natural forms, was Edward Weston. He made images that were clearer than the view of the unaided eye. Everything is sharp from the immediate foreground to the extreme distance: looking at the same scene in nature, our eyes jump from spot to spot, shifting focus. In Weston's photos the details are so compressed and reduced that the scanning process required much less muscular effort on the part of the beholder, who unconsciously feels a physiological release. In 1932, a group of younger photographers, impressed with Weston, formed a society named f/64, referring to the aperture which secures maximum image sharpness of foreground and background. Angel Adams and others were members. In retrospect their aesthetic seems dogmatic in its strict specifications: any photo not sharply focused in every detail, not printed by contact on glossy paper, not mounted on a white card, betraying any handwork or avoidance of reality in choice of subject was “impure.” It was a violent reaction to a painterly, blurry, sentimental style then popular with pictorial photographers in CA. Adams, Clearing Winter Storm, Yosemite (The Art of Seeing,8.12) Adams began to photograph as a hobby. Realized the validity of the straight approach, of photographic what is out there rather than posing subjects. People thought that stone, glass and flesh had never been so brilliantly rendered as with the images he produced. However, what he said was not what he did. He said he did straight photography, records of the beautiful parts of the world that few Americans had seen. But really he manipulated images both during the exposure and during the printing. His zone system of exposure allowed him to control what the negative would look like. He eliminates guesswork by finding the range of tones in the subject and exposing for the middle value. He also used filters to make the desired contrast while shooting and printing. The result of this technical control was a very crisp, sharply focused image that seemed more real than human vision. Another form of manipulation was choosing the vantage point from which nature seemed at its best. His images are of pristine places, No trash, phone wires, etc., so it doesn’t represent what he claimed to do, reality. Contemporary or postmodern issues: The photograph always distorts reality Lee Friedlander, Mount Rushmore, SD. 1969, Nature al Site has become acculturated Sight. Man has carved the mountain in his own image. The tourist looks at it through lenses. Like the photographer. The scene appears only as a reflection, mirroring or doubling the

81 condition of photographic appearances. It is framed cropped by windows, just like a photo. The photo suggests that our image of reality is made up of images. Cindy Sherman is interested in costumes and masks and the creation of self-identity. The 8 x 10 in glossy (Untitled Film Still Series) is used as the model from which the artist manufactures a series of masks for herself. In the process, Sherman unmasks the conventions of film noir and of woman-depicted-as-object. Stilted submissiveness refers to stereotypes in the depiction of women and questions the whole idea of personal identity, male or female. She uses herself as subject of photos, so we might call these self-portraits, but in essence they deny the self. Sherman’s work creates surrogates, emphasizing the masked or making quality of postmodernist photographic practice. Barbara Kruger, appropriates photos from other sources, billboards, newspapers, etc., and then blows them up to billboard size. He then overlays the images with messages drawn from advertising ─ juxtapositions of mass-produced values with human sensitivity. Today’s art photos are on the forefront of the issues of contemporary art and life.

82 Chapter 11 The Graphic Media Film: Motion-picture film is not real motion but a series of still images projected at a speed of 24 frames per second, which makes the action seem continues. A single frame of film is pulled into position behind the shutter, the film stops, the shutter opens, and a single image is exposed. This is repeated twenty-four times a second—the standard rate of speed for sound film. In addition to lighting and the placement of people and objects within a frame, the filmmaker must also consider the movement of people and objects. Film was first made in the United States. In 1888 the American Geroge Eastman introduced celluloid film, which made it possible to string images together. In 1894, Thomas Edison his technicians created the first genuine motion picture. The film lasted only a few seconds. The first movie star was one of Edison’s technicians who made his amusing sneezes in the film. Its title: Fred Ott’s Sneeze. However, one major problem remained. There was no way to show the film to an audience. It was two Frenchmen who solved the problem. They built the first film projector in 1895, and they also made films. On the night of December 28, 1895, in the basement of a Paris café, a group of lucky audience watched the first movies in the world. And this café became the first commercial movie theater in history. Several very short films were shown. including one of a baby being fed its dinner, another of a gardener being doused. One film did cause a strong reaction. It was entitled, “The Arrival of a Train at the Station.” This film simply set the audience to screaming, ducking for cover, and jumping from their seats, because it featured a train hurtling directing toward the viewer. Never before, except in real life, had people seen anything of the kind, and they responded automatically. So from the very beginning, motion pictures could make an image on a screen appear real. And as you all know these were all silent films. The era of silent films lasted for over 30 years. Yet still, a new class of creatures called “Movie Stars” came into being. They lived and behaved like royalty. Some had long careers and others are extremely short-lived. In 1927, sound film was finally introduced. Some leading stars, men and women, immediately fell out of fashion, because they were found to have terrible voices. And film-making in 19 twenties and thirties were amazingly inexpensive. Just tiny budgets, and the production time was also very short, usually need only a few weeks of

83 shooting; involving a small number of people. Today a major film may cost tens of millions, be in production for a year or more, and involve hundreds of people. In the past, a classic film is the creation of one single mind, usually the director. Nowadays, it is the result of teamwork. Talking about the history of cinema, one person you must know—D.W. Griffith. He is the pioneer of the epic film. His Birth of a Nation took a long time to shoot—nine weeks. And he spent a record amount of money at the time—$125,000. The world “epic,” in films, suggests a picture that is long, crowded, and grand. Usually, an epic film has a story taken from some significant point in history, or perhaps from the Bible. It will employ many actors—maybe thousands of them, involving considerable action, battles, riots, or natural disasters. Birth of a Nation is set in the American South before, during, and after the civil war. It interweaves the histories of two families—one northern, one southern—whose paths cross and whose members fall in love with one another. The plot allowed for many battle scenes and a particularly effective staging of President Lincoln’s assassination. Remember this was still a silent film. All action, all plot, all emotions had to be conveyed by visual images only, without dialogue or sound effects. (There was usually live musical accompaniment in the early movie theaters. The film was a controversy for its racial prejudice. And its morality was too simplistic. But if we are to evaluate the film as a film, we will see that Griffith did revolutionized the mechanics of filmmaking. Before Griffith, the standard in films had been the full shot, showing actors from head to toe. G. experimented with a full range of shots for dramatic effect: the medium shot (from the waist up), the close-up (head and shoulders), the extreme close-up (part of a face), the low-angle shot, and the long shot (seen from the distance). Dissatisfied with the camera as immobile observer of a scene, Griffith developed the pan shot (camera moving from side to side) and the traveling shot (camera moving from back to front on a track). He also perfected the technique of cross-cutting, in which two or more scenes are alternated to advance the action of the film. For example, he might film scenes of a heroine in distress and her hero rushing to save her, and then cut back and forth rapidly between the two in order to build suspense. This last shows Griffith’s mastery of film editing, or assembling the film creatively after all scenes have been photographed. In this film Griffith also made effective use of the iris shot, in which the edges of the film are blacked out to create a circle of interest. The film even has flashbacks, or cuts to episodes that are supposed to have taken place before the main action of the film. To sum up, G. had virtually written a menu of possibilities for future filmmakers. From then on other filmmakers could focus more on the story line. The next great genius of the film was a man who tapped the endlessly entertaining possibilities of the human condition—of laughing at oneself and the ridiculous situations one encounters in daily life. His

84 name was Charles Chaplin. He was not only acting, but writing, directing, and producing as well. Editing is one of the creative parts of filmmaking. It consists of cutting and splitting segments of film to compose the final product. One minute of final product is edited from several minutes of the film shot. Art films may be shot and edited by a single person. Commercial films like Star Wars are the creation of a director who supervises an army of people: writers, artists, musicians, carpenters, camera operators, sound technicians, editors, stunt men and women, not to mention actors and actresses. Think of it. All of these people are involved in the making of an illusion. Video: seen in galleries or on public television. Nam June Paik is one of the pioneers of video art. He began making works for galleries and public television as early as the late 1950’s, long before camcorders hit the market. He manipulated images electronically to create moving geometric patterns—what some have jokingly referred to as “moving wallpaper.” He also incorporated television sets into novel sculptures, a type of mixed media art. Computer Art: Like video, computer art is electronic. The technology for computer art is developing even more rapidly than that for video art. Presently, two-dimensional images in color can be produced with personal computers—small systems that individual artists can afford. But sophisticated 3-D images and animated art can be produced only by artists with access to large systems that only government, industries and universities can afford. Most computer operators feed information into a computer by means of a keyboard device like a typewriter or desk calculator. But an artist-operator draws his or her lines with a light pen on a digitizing tablet. If the computer and video monitor have color capability, the artist can make lines in color. To create convincing 3-D pictures—that is, to create the effects of foreshortening, perspective, aerial perspective, chiaroscuro, texture, cast shadows, and reflections, requires special programs. And each of these programs, usually written by engineers or mathematicians, contains long columns of mathematical calculations. For animation—the illusion of objects rotating and moving through space—even more sophisticated programs are required. You have probably seen computer-generated animation, such as 3-D images of company trademarks rotating and zooming through space, in television commercials. Such an animation, even if it lasted only ten seconds, would require the efforts of a team of designers and engineers working with a powerful computer.

85 Chapter 12 Painting

We have discussed about the Graphic media, which includes drawing, printmaking, photography and cinema. Today we go on with Art Media. Each medium has its special capabilities and limitations. An artist must learn about them as much as he can. For example, carved stone would not be a very good medium for expressing the qualities of a landscape. Oil paint will be excellent for representing colors, tones, sky, clouds, hills, and trees—all of the objects and elements associated with landscapes. Both the sculptor and the painter can do portraits. However, the effect will be different. Before we get into painting as a medium, you need to have some idea about the pigment. Pigment is colored powder, usually made of minerals, obtained from minerals. Nowadays it is also produced artificially. To make paint, pigments are thoroughly mixed with a binder. Binder is a kind of glue to hold the colored pigments together and to attach them to a surface. The painting may be able to survive outdoors, or it may need to be protected from bright light, depending mainly on the binder. Linseed/walnut oil is the binder for oil painting. Gum Arabic is the binder for Watercolor painting. Egg is the binder for Tempera painting. (Dye or stain has color from plants) Solvent or thinner: each binder requires a different solvent. Encaustic uses pigments mixed with melted wax, the solvent being heat. Encaustic was commonly used for decorating Egyptian mummy cases. Solvent for oil painting is turpentine. Depending on their nature, solvents are employed to dissolve Resins: they are also used to clean paintings and to soften paint-hardened brushes. Five major painting media: fresco, watercolor, tempera, oil, and acrylics. Fresco—a kind of mural, to paint water based pigments directly onto a wet plaster wall, more or less as one would paint to a canvas. The image becomes part of the wall’s permanent surface. From the 13th to the 16th centuries, there was a significant increase in the number of monumental fresco cycles, especially in Italy. Fresco cycles were typically located on plaster walls in churches or private palaces, and large scaffolds were erected for such projects. First, the wall was covered with a coarse plaster, called the arriccio, which was rough enough to hold the final layer of plaster. When the first layer had dried, the artist found his bearings by establishing the exact center of the surface to be painted, and by locating the vertical and

86 horizontal axes. He blocked out the composition with charcoal, and made a brush drawing in red ocher pigment mixed with water. These drawings are called sinopie. Once the artist had completed the sinopia, he added the final layer of smooth plaster, or intonaco, to the walls one patch at a time. The artist applied the colors to the intonaco while it was still damp and able to absorb them. Thus, when the latter dried and hardened the colors became integrated with it. Each patch was what the artist planned to paint in a single day, and so it was called the giornata, the Italian word for a day’s work. Because each giornata had to be painted in a day, fresco technique encouraged advance planning, speed of execution, broad brushstrokes, and monumental forms. Sometimes small details were added in tempera, and certain colors, such as blue, were applied secco (dry). Such additions have been largely lost or turned black by chemical reaction. Watercolor—often with gum arabi as a binder and drying agent. It is transparent, so one color overlaid on another can create a wash effect. The most common ground for watercolor is paper. The paint itself can be so dense as to appear opaque against the paper. Since watercolor paper is often white, it is the paper itself that creates the lighter areas within a painting. Because the medium is transparent, the natural color of the paper also contributes to the image. Watercolor had been known in China as early as the third century A.D., but was only occasionally used in Europe before the late 18th and early 19th centuries. At that point it became popular, particularly with English artists such as Constable and Turner, for landscape paintings on a small scale. In the second half of the 19th century, watercolor became popular among American artists. It was favored by those who preferred to paint directly from nature rather than in a studio, and needed a more portable, quickly drying medium. Gouache is Gouache—paint created by mixing water directly into powdered pigments. Unlike regular watercolor, which is transparent, gouache is “opaque” —the paint forms a solid surface when it dries, obscuring anything beneath it. It is commonly used on its own or in combination with transparent watercolor. Tempera—a form of watercolor paint made from mixing colored pigment into a sticky base—egg yolks in the past, a kind of glue today. Although it is relatively inexpensive, tempera makes subtle color effects difficult to control because it dries quickly and permanently. Tempera was often used in early medieval paintings on wood panels; today it is a popular choice for use by young people because it is water soluble and easy to clean up. From the Medieval period through the 15th c. tempera was the preferred technique for wooden panel paintings, especially in Italy. For large panels elaborate preparations were required before painting could begin. The wood must be sanded smooth, sealed with several layers of size, and addition of several layers of gesso, sanded again, smoothed, and scraped. Then the artist would use a brush to lightly outline the figures and forms in charcoal. Brushes

87 are small made of animal hair. pigments are mixed with water and egg. Because tempera dries fairly quickly, only a limited area could be painted at one time. The tempera medium lends itself to precise details and clear edges. Once the artist had completed the finishing touches, the painting was left to try—a year was the recommended time—and then it was varnished. Oil Painting— paint made from mixing pigments into an oil base. It can be made in different degrees of thickness allowing different textures to be created. Oil dries slowly, so that gradations of a color can be mixed and mistakes can be wiped away or even scraped or sanded off later. It is often protected from dirt and fading by a coat of clear varnish. Unlike acrylic, which is opaque, one oil color can be painted over another once the earlier has dried somewhat, and some of the original color will show through. Fifteenth-century artists were leaders in experimenting with oil-based paint. It is still preferred by many painters. There are several advantages of using oil paint. It can be applied more thickly than fresco or tempera, because the brush will hold more paint. Oil dries very slowly, which allows artists time to revise their work as they go along. Oil also increases the possibilities for blending and mixing colors, opening up a much wider color range. Modeling in light and dark became easier, because oil enabled artists to blend their shades more subtly. As the oil enabled artists to blend their shades more subtly. As the oil paint tended to retain the marks made by the brush, artists began to emphasize their brushstrokes, so that they became a kind of personal signature. Tempera, a brittle medium, required a rigid support. Oil, on the other hand, was very flexible, so canvas became popular as a painting surface. This meant that artists did not have to worry as much about warping. The woven texture also held the paint better than wood. Primer—before beginning to paint, artists prepare their canvases with a liquid or smooth paste called “primer.” “Gesso” is one common primer. When dry, it creates a firm, smooth, consistent surface on which to paint. The paint will adhere properly to the primer and maintain its original color. Paint dries in unexpected ways on “unprimed” canvas. The resulting surprises have been of gret interest to some modern artists. Acrylic—a water-based paint with a synthetic base that dissolves in water and into which colored pigments is mixed. It is one of the most popular of the modern synthetic media. Acrylic comes in bright colors, dries quickly, and does not fade. It can be applied to paper, canvas, and board with either traditional brushes or airbrushes. It can be poured, dripped, and spattered. When thick, acrylic approaches the texture of oils. When thinned, it is fluid like water paint. In contrast to water paint, however, which mixed when more than one wet color is applied, acrylic can be applied in layers which do not blend even when wet. It is possible to build up several layers of paint, which retain their individual hues, and thus to create a structure of pure color.

88 Acrylic can be used in many ways, but the resulting paint is both cheaper and in many ways easier to use than oil. Acrylic has a different texture from oil paint and produces a different surface as a result. It dries much more quickly, too. It is easier to use on large canvases because it spreads more easily. Acrylic is opaque, so that colors tend to be mixed by the artist before application; with oil paint, which is more transparent, layers of paint are built up to create the final picture.

If acrylic is the newest paint medium, fresco is one of the oldest. Varieties of fresco have been employed by various peoples since the Egyptians to make murals (pictures on walls). As opposed to true fresco, many cultures used secco methods—painting on a wall or ceiling after the plaster had dried. The first people to use true fresco were probably the Minoans, a seafaring culture that flourished on the island of Crete around 1500 B.C. It was already practiced by Byzantine artists in the Romanesque murals of the Middle Ages, but it reached the height of its splendor during the Renaissance. The most famous examples of fresco were made by Italian artists from the early 1300’s to the mid-1500. The technique of true fresco consisted of mixing pigments in water, spreading an area of wet plaster onto a wall or ceiling, painting directly on damp plaster so that the colors used would be absorbed by the plaster and become part of the wall. The procedure for painting in fresco: First, the wall is plastered with a coating of lime and sand (plaster mixed by sand and lime), then a second coat is applied; following this, a wooden float is used to smooth the surface. having previously determine the zones of interruption and union, the outline of the drawing, done on thick paper, is gone over with a perforating wheel; the image is then transferred onto the wall by gently tapping the outline with black pigment powder to finish, the outlined image is painted in fresco, while the plaster is still damp. As you know, plaster dries quickly. Therefore the artist must plan ahead, and not spread an area larger than he or she is capable of completing within a few hours. A large mural, such as Sistine Chapel, had to be painted in sections. To avoid leaving water mark, Michelangelo probably planned each section to end at the edge of, rather than in the middle of a figure or object. Because of the difficulties of working with the fresco method, the artist cannot easily make in-process changes or add fussy details. So unlike oil or acrylic, fresco is not flexible and versatile. But it has at least two advantages: durability and permanence. Because it is in the plaster (and not a film of paint on the plaster), it can better withstand the effects of air pollution, as well as wear and tear in general. A fresco is part of a wall or ceiling, and will survive as long as the building or the wall.

89 Fresco painting all the great masters, from Giotto to Raphael and Michelangelo, painted murals in fresco. The most famous are Raphael’s Le Stanze, and the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel by Michelangelo, both of which are in the Vatican. Sistine Chapel The Sistine Chapel is not the same—As a result of the restoration sponsored in the late 1980s by NTV, the Japanese Television Network Corporation, we now know that Michelangelo’s palette included light, lustrous, luminous colors that bear no relation to the brownish hues that once covered his 314 figures. There is really no need to be surprised, though: Since Michelangelo completed the Sistine Ceiling in 1512, and Edison invented the electric light in 1878, Michelangelo’s work had been darkened

II. Michelangelo, Julius II, and Sistine Ceiling (1508-12)

M was important because he developed his own individual emotional and spiritual response to some fundamental concerns of Christian and other cultures. Who is God? What is that force we call God? What is the ideal human relation to God? What are the pitfalls of life on earth that should be avoided if one wants to experience the bliss of union with god? 1475 born in Caprese, near Florence; lost mother age 6 1488 Age 13. Was apprenticed to Ghirlandaio in Florence Michelangelo gave the figure the body of Hercules, and made it nude to express athletic virtue, He believed the nude male body was divine. Its ideal rendition in art would approximate the prototype conceived by God: “And who is so barbarous as not to understand that the foot of a man is nobler than his shoe, and his skin nobler than that of the sheep with which he is clothed.” In 1505, the Pope Julius II, who wished to remake Christian Rome as grant as Imperial Rome, summoned M to the Vatican, promising that he could do a grand tomb with 40 figural sculptures in marble. Yet the tomb project was cancelled and M. was asked to paint the Sistine Ceiling. M protested vehemently, saying he was not a painter but a sculptor. The Pope’s (Julius II) original notion was for Michelangelo simply to paint the figures of the twelve Apostles on the ceiling, and then fill up the rest of the space with conventional decorative motifs, but M protested that it was not grand enough a theme. He bargained with the Pope and finally got a free hand to do what he would like to do with the ceiling.

Over the entrance door, M painted the prophet Zecharias in the likeness of Julius II and a cluster of oak leaves and acorns. Thus JII presides over the entire scene of God's creation!

90 Nine principal scenes: in rectangular frames, do not follow the chronology of Genesis. 1) Drunkenness of Noah Noah was first man to plant a vineyard and get drunk. One of his sons, Ham, saw his drunk father naked and mocked him. 2) The flood 3) Sacrifice of Noah, separating clean from unclean animals, or Cain and Able who dies prefiguring Christ’s death 4) Adam and Eve and Expulsion from Paradise God chastises a world that has betrayed him through false offerings and disobedience 5) Creation of Eve, who symbolized the Church as mediator between humanity and god Theme of next 4 subjects is the creative power of divinity and evokes the creative process of a great artist, of whom God is the archetype 6) Creation of Adam Like M giving the appearance of life to a figure 7) Separation of Water from Earth 8) Creation of sun, moon, planets. Copernicus was M.’s contemporary and at this moment was expounding his theory that the earth revolves around the sun 9) Separation of Light from Darkness. A nebulous chaos which a preconscious spirit vivifies with movement.

In total: there were 175 picture units: Four from the Old Testament histories in the spandrels; Seven prophets; Five sibyls; Forty ancestors of Christ in the lunettes; Ten Old Testament scenes of the Sins of Man in golden medallions and many nudes. Themes: Man’s sins and stupidity, creativity as a divine act, Mary as fulcrum, union God/church, man

The challenge of frescoing the ceiling:

How to paint a curved ceiling of a barrel vault 65 feet above the floor in a dark chapel without electricity while services continue to be held below?

At first, the pope’s architect (a rival of M) Bramante, built a flat wooden scaffold that hung from the ceiling. But there were two problems: 1) no light admitted from below; 2) it was flat but ceiling was curved

91 So M had to design own scaffold, which was a narrow arched bridge supported on wooden poles stuck into small holes in the walls. He moved this as necessary. M worked quickly: Adam took 4 days, God only 3. Up close, the brushwork is incredibly economical. Adam’s penis was only 2 brushstrokes. The mural was completed 4 years later on All Hallows Eve. He painted simply the entire Old Testament (Slides 2-10): God Divides the light from the Darkness. God Creates the Sun and the Moon; God Creates the Plants. God Divides the Waters from the Land.

God Creates Adam. God Creates Eve. Adam and Eve Sin and Are Expelled from the Garden.

Noah Makes Burnt Offerings to God. The Flood. The Drunkenness of Noah.

(Slide 11, Ceiling) Michelangelo was 33 when he started painting the ceiling. 24 years later after the completion of the ceiling, Michelangelo began his work on the “Last Judgment.” (Slide 12) We may say that a quality peculiar to Leonardo is the sense of mystery, (Slide 13, the Virgin of the Rocks) the secret behind the smile of his women, the secret hidden in his background landscapes, and the smoky effect of his canvas. Raphael is the artist of balance, of measure, of clarity and of the just proportion. (Slides 14-15, Marriage of the Virgin, the School of Athens) The Italians used this word for Michelangelo’s distinguishing quality: terribilita., meaning formidable. The moment the Pope saw the completed painting, he fell on his knees in pray. It was the great age of the High Renaissance that facilitated Michelangelo’s creation. Pope Sixtus IV built the Chapel in the 1470s and unconsciously determined the scale, shape and to some extent the iconography of painting for Michelangelo. Artistically there was the art of Masaccio and Donatello before him and also the proto-Renaissance of Giotto and Giovanni Pisano. During his early years, like many other Florentines, Michelangelo came to admire Dante. His mind was influenced by the Neo-platonic philosophers, artists, poets and men of letters. This cultivated his impulse to write lyric poetry. In the course of his life he completed about two hundred poems. When he worked on the Sistine ceiling, he wrote this sonnet:

Like cats from Lombardy and other places Stagnant and stale, I’ve grown goitre here; Under my chin my belly will appear, Each the other’s rightful stance displaces.

92 My beard turns heavenward, my mind seems shut Into a casket. With my breast I make A shield. My brush moves quickly, colors break Everywhere, like a street mosaic-cut.

My loins are thrust into my belly and I use my bottom now to bear the weight Of back and side. My feet move dumb and blind. In front my skin is loose and yet behind It stretches taut and smooth, is tight and straight.

I am a Syrian bow strained for the pull— A hard position whence my art may grow. Little, it seems, that’s strong and beautiful

Can come from all the pains I undergo. Giovanni, let my dying art defend Your honor, in this place where I am left Helpless, unhappy, even of art bereft. Michelangelo also wrote quite some poems on sheets on which he had made drawings. (Transparency 1-2) This fact alone shows a relationship between his poetic thinking and artistic creation. His approach to poetry was sculptural. Michelangelo said he would feel the presence of an imagined statue in a block of marble. And he would use his chisel to release the statue. Similarly he felt the presence of an imagined poem in a mass of thought and words that he must release with a chisel of a pen. Michelangelo’s poems show his deep feeling and strong emotion, which are fully expressed in his painting and sculpture. (Wilkins, 1954:196-8) Michelangelo’s love of poetry naturally leads him to music. He had contacts with the most important musicians of his time. He even had some of his poems set to music. (Transparency 3) The first piece is set by Tromboncino. Besides, Michelangelo also had connection with several other major composers, who also set madrigals for Michelangelo, such as Arcadelt. (Transparency 4) This is a significant intellectual bond, a link between the notion of harmony in music and visual art. And with a broader view, this kind of association is part of the Renaissance attitude. Of course these relationships between Michelangelo and musicians do not imply any conscious derivation by the artist in his painting, but they indicate a general analogy of taste, and a reflection of the harmony of the universe. (Pirina, 1985:378) As far as religion is concerned, during the sixteenth century, many devout Catholics were very angry about the Protestant Challenges to their church’s practices and doctrines. So the church paintings were in a way meant to be an answer to the challenge, a way to recapture the minds of men. Hence there was the generous patronage that enabled Michelangelo to carry out the complex work of painting on such a grand scale and quality.

93 Also during Michelangelo’s time the most varied, original theological work was being done in all Europe. This greatly enriched people’s religious thought. Michelangelo himself was a pious reader of the Bible. So he was able to become such a great interpreter of the religious subject. He summarized in the painting the entire story of humanity from the creation to the judgment. To some extent, the ceiling is a representation of the intellectual development of the time. Economically, Italy was the most advanced and richest areas of Europe. This also enabled more support to the Church. And together with the revival of classical culture, there appeared a greater demand for works of art, and as a result, a greater number of artists. Politically, the unity of Europe provided by the Roman Empire had never been re- established. Similarly with the Church, the Byzantine traditions of the domination of the Church by the ruler were no more. On the one hand, the special position of the papacy under a unified church disappeared; on the other hand, priests had greater say in their own churches. In a word, there was a political and cultural fragmentation in Europe. This marks one of the great differences in the history of Europe and China. This fragmentation allowed greater variety and freedom in cultural development. Monarchies needed the cooperation of local nobility. Hence there was less political control and greater freedom for artistic creation. (Example of Lang Shi- Ning).

Christus, Petrus (c. 1400-73), Portrait of a Carthusian Monk, 1446, shows interest in the depiction of space and cubic form. The slow drying of linseed oil permitted the artist to blend colors for several days, getting very subtle gradations of light and shadow and amazingly lifelike textures of skin, hair cloth, and metal.

94 Chapter13 Sculpture

We cannot define what art is. There has also been argument what better form of art is? Music, poetry, literature, theater or visual art. And among visual art itself, people also differ as to which is better. Sculpture or painting? Leonardo da Vinci would prefer painting. From his diaries we know he held the opinion that painting surpasses all other forms of art, such as music, poetry or theatre. Michelangelo of course would prefer sculpture. He first studied painting but dropped it and devoted most of his life to sculpture. I bet you all have your own preferences. Anyway, competition between the arts has a long history in the West. For instance, when somebody say Sculpture is 3-d and you can enjoyed it from all around. Whereas painting has only a single vantage point. Hearing this, Giorgione, the very famous High Renaissance painter who painted the Sleeping Venus , set out to prove that painting could do just as great as sculpture even in that respect. He said to view a sculpture you had to walk around. while painting can present all aspects on a one plane. You don’t have to change your position, you don’t have to change your point of view, and you see everything at one single glance. So he said painting is better than sculpture. Giogione demonstrated this by painting a nude man from the back. In a pool of water at the man’s feet, Giorgione painted the reflection of his front. On the man’s left was a shiny cuirass that reflected his left side, and on his right, a mirror reflected his right side. Unfortunately Giogione’s painting is lost. But actually the medium is basically a dead thing. It will only become alive in the hands of an artist. If you understand it and know how to work with it, it may become extremely versatile, and respond the way as you like. Each medium has its special capabilities and limitations. An artist must learn about them as much as he can. For example, both the sculptor and the painter can do portraits. However, the effect will be different. I think a carved stone portrait statue is generally more impressive than a painting. It occupies actual space. It has real depth and textures you can not only see, but also feel the forms and textures. It provides both visual and tactile experience. What’s more, the viewer can move around the sculpture, observe the figure from different angles for more information. But unlike the painting, the sculpture does not describe an environmental setting very effectively. Painting will be excellent for representing colors, tones, sky, clouds, trees, and landscapes.

95 Our topic today is “three dimensional media.” When we say 3-D, what media come to your mind (stones, wood, metal or pottery made from clay, papier mâché and plaster)? How many categories of sculpture do we have? (carving, casting, modeling, construction, forging, moulding, or welding, some environmental art and earthworks. All sculpture is three-dimensional. right? What do we call sculpture that is created to be walked around and seen from all sides? (David by Michelangelo is called sculpture in the round). But what about sculpture that is attached to a surface? (called relief). In a low relief, the shapes project slightly. High relief figures project a great deal.

Sculpture—the art of carving, casting, forging, molding, or welding material such as stone, wood, clay, or various metals into statues or other objects. Many sculptures are built around a structure called an “armature,” which—much in the way a skeleton works—supports the weight and shape of the finished work. Much early sculpture was religious, and much of it through time has been created as part of some architectural setting. Some of the earliest sculptures we know of were created by the Sumerians, who lived in present-day Iraq more than five thousand years ago. One frequent sculptural form is the figure, including “busts,” which are only the head and shoulders of humans. Much sculpture is commemorative. Relief—a form of sculpture that is not fully three-dimensional. For example, relieves might protrude from the surface of a stone building. Relieves traditionally are carved or cast and can be in “low” (bas) relief, as in the profile of a figure on a coin or as used in some printmaking. They can also be in high relief, meaning that they have greater physical depth. Relieves are often illustrative or commemorative, depicting religious scenes as well as people and events from history. Most historic site markers are low relieves; many architectural “friezes”—contained spaces above doorways or within the triangular space created by a peaked roof—are in high relief.

Michelangelo: (1475-1564) When we talk about painting, we cannot avoid Michelangelo’s Sistine Ceiling. When we talk about sculpture Michelangelo is even more important. And he was also a first-class architect. Michelangelo was born in 1475, lost his mother when he was only 6 years old. In 1488, when he was 13 was apprenticed to a painter to learn painting. But a year later he turned to a workshop in sculpture. At age 21 Michelangelo was already well-known as a sculptor. In 1498 in Rome, M. was commissioned to do Pietà for a cardinal in the Vatican. At once M. established his reputation as the foremost living sculptor. With David, Michelangelo was

96 simply the best sculptor ever. The 131/2-foot-high David was carved from a single piece of almost unworkable marble. In 1501, at the age of 26. Back in Florence, received commission for the David: a public sculpture to celebrate the new civic constitution in Florence and demonstrate the city’s artistic leadership, which it had enjoyed for about 50 years. M considered himself a son of Florence. His family has been there for 300 years, has occasionally held minor public offices, and refers to Florence as “my nurse,” “My precious joy,” “lacy of angelic form.” Michelangelo, confident of his abilities after the Pieta, specified in his contract that his sculpture would be of unsurpassed beauty, despite the unusually thin block of marble “the Giant”: 13 ft 5 in high, very thin—many thought the piece was useless. When the completed David was unveiled, the committee was thrilled. They liked the portrayal of vigilance, fortitude and anger against aggression, all regarded as great civic virtues, and voted to place it in front of the city hall. This figure combined the characteristics of the active and contemplative lifestyles that were the archetypes of the Renaissance. In the combination, M expressed heroism. He gave the figure the body of Hercules, and made it nude to express athletic virtue, He believed the nude male body was divine. Its ideal rendition in art would approximate the prototype conceived by God: “And who is so barbarous as not to understand that the foot of a man is nobler than his shoe, and his skin nobler than that of the sheep with which he is clothed.” The David established M’s career as a creator on a par with the Divine. Slide: (9.2) David, (1501-04) With the David, M began with a block of marble about 14 feet long. It was very narrow because the sculptor who tried to carve a giant and, with a wrong blow of the chisel, slaked a huge chunk out of the width of the block. The block was abandoned, considered to be unusable for the human form. Michelangelo He received permission from the city of Florence to transform the block into a figure of David, the patron of the City of Florence, in commemoration of Florence's new civic constitution. In his contract, M, age 26, specified that he would create a sculpture of unsurpassed beauty that would rival any of antiquity. Unlike the Davids by Donatello and Verrocchio, Michelangelo’s hero is not shown after conquering his foe. Rather, David is portrayed as getting ready to fight. Your first impression may be that the figure is at rest. But if you take a closer look you will see the tensed muscles, his furrowed brows, exposed veins and the stone grasped firmly in his right hand. It seems that M. worked from front to back, allowing the figure to “step out of” the marble block itself. Michelangelo said that in carving away excess material he was releasing a form already existing in the block of stone.

97 1) Carving is subtractive, aggressive and direct way to make a form. We know that humans have carved forms since the Stone Age, using materials such as bones, horn, antlers, wood, and stone. The earliest sculpture in existence is the little figure known as the Venus of Willendorf, limestone, carved about 15,000 years ago, during the Ice Age. Imagine the difficulties the hunter artist must have had in carving this statuette from stone with crude and clumsy tools made of stone. Over 4,500 years ago, Egyptian artists produced life size figures in both wood and stone, using tools made of bronze. Slide: Mycerinus and his Queen, ca. 2470 B.C. forth dynasty, Slate, Because the difficulties of carving, drawing and small clay models are usually made to show what the sculpture will look like from all sides. (Unlike what you saw in the clay studio, where artists would often let the clay decide what is going to be done—only making a general plan before hand). Jade carving: Pi, Late Chou Dynasty, 5th B.C. Jade Dragen, 2nd century AD.

2) Casting to produce a sculpture requires a mold, a hollow model; so that molten metal, plaster, or plastic can be poured and held until it hardens to produce the cast, or the sculpture. The simplest casting procedure is a one-piece mold for a solid cast. (Press you hand in wet sand to make a mold, and fill it with plaster to produce a cast). The most complex casting procedure is the lost-wax process. plastic casting (polyester resin, reinforced with fiber glass) make molds by applying plaster gauze strips directly to various parts of the body of a person, (skin and hair is heavily greased so the plaster will not stick), then flesh-colored polyester resin is painted into them and laminated with several layers of glass cloth. The hardened casts are assembled to create figures that are sometimes mistaken for real people.

Benin, Altar of the Hand, Nigeria, Africa, 1550-1680(Gardner 14-46) As the book says, easily shaped materials, such as clay, wax, or plaster, are used to create a negative mold into which molten metal or plastic is poured then allowed to harden. Usually a large cast piece must be hollow. Casting metal has been done since very ancient times. (Quoted from Fichner-Rathus, Understanding Art, 4 Ed. 483 - 4): African art is as varied as the cultures which have populated that continent. The kingdom of Benin, which, during the 14-19 c occupied what is now Nigeria, was rich in sculpture of many media, including iron, bronze, wood, ivory and clay. Works such as the Altar of the Hand illustrate the skill with which the Benin manipulated bronze, as well as the importance of symbolism in their art. The many figures that are cast in relief around the circumference of this

98 17 in tall work are meant to venerate the king and his divine office. The king is the central figure in both the relief and in the free-standing figures on top of the altar. He holds the staffs of office in his hands, and his head is larger that those of his attendants. This deliberate distortion signifies the head as the center of being and a source of intelligence and power. The king's importance is underscored by his placement within a triangular fame of sorts, his head at the apex. The entire altar is cast with symbolic forms or incised with decorate motifs, all arranged in a symmetrical pattern. When looking at a slide of this piece, one imagines it is several feet high instead of 17 inches. That quality of seeming large and impressive is called monumentality.

The bronze vessels of Shang China, about 1700 BC, are not the earliest cast metals but they were highly developed and one of the major art forms of the most ancient dynasty of China. Bronze Container with fantastic animals, 6th century BC., Eastern Chou period.

3) Modeling is an additive process in which a sculpture is built up using a pliable material like clay, papier mâché, wax, or plaster. Clay is taken through four stages to produce either sculpture or pottery: preparation, shaping, decorating, and firing. Preparation involves mixing water with the clay, aging it for several weeks until it becomes workable, and wedging the clay against a plaster or canvas surface to force out air bubbles. Shaping the clay is done by hand- building methods or on a potter’s wheel. Decorating the form can be accomplished with clay knives to create desired patterns; Firing the clay form is done twice --- once to harden it, and a second time to fuse a glaze, a transparent or colored glassy coating, to the work. Solid modeling. With a lump of clay, you probably will make a solid sculpture. But remember, any parts of a solid clay sculpture that are thicker than one inch should be hollowed out to prevent the work from exploding when fired. Coiling: the procedure was used by the Chinese over 2,000 years ago to create life-size figures such as the warrior and horse. Coils are made by rolling ropes of clay to a desired thickness on a canvas covered surface. The desired form is built by pressing coils together as they are progressively placed one upon the other. Coils are made longer or shorter as the developing work requires. The artist smoothes joints on the inside and outside with vertical wiping movements, and finishes the surface by scraping, pressing or by beating it with a paddle. Papier mâché is an ancient modeling medium said to have been used by Chinese soldiers to make armor prior to the Bronze Age because of its strength and light weight. It can be mixed by soaking paper in water overnight, mashing the paper in a strainer to remove the water and

99 adding white glue as a binder. The clay-like medium can be modeled into all kinds of shapes, formed in molds and over armatures of wood, rods and wire.

Many sculptures are built around a structure called an “armature,” which—much in the way a skeleton works—supports the weight and shape of the finished work (when sculpting a figure in clay). Slides: Buddha A figure from the terra-cotta army Maya Incensario, (9.11) Arch for Private Residence.

4) Constructions are sculptures built from parts that may be of the same or different materials. This procedure is a 20th century development brought about by the sudden increase in materials and techniques available from modern industry, and by modern attitudes regarding the nature of the art object. Assemblage: sculptures constructed from a variety of found objects and materials that, in their original states, were not necessarily meant to be used in art forms, and are called assemblages. Objects are selected for their similarities or contrasts, or for what they may suggest, depending on the artist’s intent. (Nailed, glued, and pegged together) There is the freedom to combine all kinds of materials to express their ideas. Forging: A process of shaping metal by heating it to very high temperatures and then hammering it into a desired form. Wrought iron is forged, for example. Molding: The act of manipulating a soft material in order to create an object, such as forming a lump of clay into a head. Molding can also refer to raised-plaster decorations on ceilings as well as wood panels that divide a wall surface into sections. A “mold” is a form in which soft or molten materials can be placed and left to harden, to produce objects such as cast sculpture and glass or ceramic objects that might be needed in large quantities. Welding: A means of combining metal elements by heating the edges of two pieces (at the join) and fusing them to each other with additional molten metal. When cooled, the bond can be enormously strong. This has greatly increased the capacity of artists to build very large works. It also makes it easier to create works with asymmetrical balances, as we can see in much abstract, modern sculpture.

Magdalena Abakanowicz: a Polish sculptor works in fiber. “I see fiber as the basic element constructing the organic world on our planet, as the greatest mystery of our environment. It is from fiber that all living organisms are built—the tissues of plants and us. Backs: headless, limbless quality of the hunched-over, hollowed-out torsos. Each piece was

100 made by pressing layers of natural organic fibers into a plaster mold depicting the slumping shoulders, back, and arms of a figure of indeterminate sex, which rests legless directly on the floor. The repetition of a single design element gives a powerful effect, reflecting human oppression—individual in society, lost in the crowd yet retaining some distinctiveness. The repeated pose of the figures suggests meditation, submission, and anticipation. Although made from a single mold, the figures achieve a touching sense of individuality by means of the slightly different posture each assumed as the material dried and as a result of the different pattern of fiber texture imprinted on each. Backs have a rough, primitive look, yet they clearly are the work of a highly trained artist. Their rough quality reminds us that many 20th c. painters and sculptors admire the powerful, direct vision of artists who create without traditional academic training in art.

Earth Art: sculpture created in nature, often very large and referring to phenomena such as the slow process of erosion or the movement of planets or starts, especially the sun. Many earthworks intend to help us understand nature better. Some demonstrate the inherent differences between natures an civilization, often pointing out humankind’s desire to understand, conquer, and control natural processes. A leading member of the group was Smithson (1938-73) who used industrial construction equipment to manipulate vast quantities of earth and rock on isolated sites in order to express his ideas about the meaning for our lives of natural systems, geological time, and entropy Spiral Jetty: April 1970, a vast coil of earth and stone symbolizing the reality of time, on a monumental scale, so that it extended out into the lake. unity of art and nature. People know of such works mostly through photographs, and artists working in this mode have become increasingly self-conscious about how they document their work visually. Smithson not only recorded Spiral Jetty in photographs, but he filmed its construction in a movie that describes the forms and life of the whole site, including its relative inaccessibility. The photographs and the film have become increasingly important because shifts in the water level of the Great Salt Lake have placed Spiral Jetty underwater for several years.

Environmental/Site Art: began in 1960’s. As with assemblages and collages, the media and procedures used to create these forms are mixed. The basic idea is to involve the spectator in the artwork, or make the work a part of the environment surrounding it. Paradoxically, while sculpture is the most physically tangible and tactile medium, it is also one that modern artists have used to challenge notions of permanence, the concept that art should exist in a space separate from our daily world, and one which can be the most ephemeral. Sculpture most closely replicates the cosmic act of creation, for from an idea and

101 the will to make an object, the sculptor creates something unique that occupies space like humans do.

One of the most exciting and courageous modern sculptors is Christo. His idea is to show how sculpture exists in real space and time. Surrounded Islands: (1980-83) for only two weeks in May of 1983. For this project, 11 small man-made islands in the bay were surrounded with specially fabricated pink polypropylene fabric, following two years of preparation to gain the required permissions, assemble the necessary troop of ordinary and professional workers, and raise the $3.2 million cost of the project entirely through the sale of preliminary drawings, collages and models of the piece made by Christo). Despite its short actual life, Surrounded Islands lives on in the host of stunning photographs and books that document the piece.

Umbrellas: (Blue and yellow) (From Sayre) Throughout the morning of October 9, 1991, in California, along a 19 mile stretch of Interstate 5 at El Tejon pass through the golden Tehachapi Mountains,, just 60 miles north of LA, 1,760 yellow umbrellas were slowly opened. Sixteen hours earlier, but on the same morning, 1,340 blue umbrellas opened in the prefecture of Ibaraki, Japan, 75 miles north of Tokyo. (0 of these were in the valley’s river. These 19 ft. 8 in. tall umbrellas were 28 ft. 5 in. in diameter each. They were large and had heavy bases so they could withstand gale-force winds of up to 65 mph. The artist, Christo, intended for them to remain in place for 21 days but on October 27, in Calif., an unseasonably violent wind ripped one umbrella from its base and propelled it across a road where it crushed a woman visitor to death and injured two other bystanders. In shock, Christo immediately ordered all umbrellas closed and removed. Unfortunately, in Japan, a worker removing a closed umbrella was killed by electrical shock when a current from a 65,000 bolt high tension wire was drawn down to the boom of the crane he was operating 6 ft. below the wire. These tragedies underscore one of the fundamental characteristics of sculpture: unlike painting or photos or prints, it exists in real space. Its shadows are real shadows, It is something that is as physical as we are, and so we must walk around it to see it all. Christo is a controversial artist. He escaped from Communist Bulgaria as a youth, then began to wrap things, eventually wrapping big public things, including Running Fence, wrapping the Pont Neuf in Paris, and Surrounded Islands in Biscayne Bay, Florida. These works cost him millions of dollars to execute, which he raises by selling drawings and plans and videos. for the pieces. Like Bill Young, his art is about process, not product. To do each of these, he spends years going through legal channels and battles to get permissions to use the

102 areas, which often belong to many owners. For surrounded islands he spent millions on environmental impact studies—how would the nylon impact the wildlife of the Florida Keys? The work is about dealing with the restrictions and concepts of ownership, land rights and propriety in our own society, of working through the channels, to create something stunning, lovely, and very brief. With the Umbrellas, the work existed in two parts of the world simultaneously. As you viewed one area, you knew that there was a sister installation far away, that was similar but different. The CA umbrellas were golden like the color of the land, and spaced far apart on the hills, like the population density in California. All along the road, were entrepreneurs selling posters, T shirts, and coffee mugs of the event. Over 2.5 million people passed through and visited the site, everyone congenial and courteous as if in respect for the event. The blue Japanese ones blended with the verdant river valley in which they were placed. They were close together like the small farms, villages, and gardens in this rural section of Japan, and like the limited and precious space in Japan today. Also, these distinctions made people think about similarities and differences of two of the world’s largest cities: Tokyo and LA.

103 Chapter14 Art Media: Architecture-I

Architecture is the art and science of designing spaces for human and spiritual use, such as shelters, bridges, places of worship and communion, and theaters for learning, exchange, and power. Of all the arts, architecture probably has the greatest impact on our daily lives, and yet most of us rarely look at it or think about its potential to provide us with a way of life. We will consider both the sacred and secular functions of architecture, some of the fundamental forms of structure, and the impact of new materials on design today. People of the art world often say that a city is a reflection of the people who inhabit it. Do you agree? The architecture of the city expresses the values and priorities of the society; and in turn they influence that society. 1) express concept of power; 2) identity; 3) family; 4) show quality of life and mind; 5) shelter; 6) relationship with nature.

1. It expresses humanity’s relationships to self, society, nature, and the spiritual. It contains the family and objects and activities that make up an individual’s identity. It establishes a relationship to nature, either attempting to control it or echoing and embracing it 2. It contains human life Shelter; Shape and quality of life and the mind; Most other arts are in or around buildings. Architecture is the building itself. 3. Public buildings express their patron's concepts of power, whether the patrons are Churches, governments, businesses, or rulers. Cantilever—projecting beam, which is anchored at one end by the weight of the structure above, and can therefore carry loads throughout the rest of its unsupported length. Post-and-lintel construction is fundamental to all Greek architecture. As can be seen in the Parthenon. The columns or posts, supporting the structure were placed relatively close together. This was done for practical reasons, since if stone lintels, especially of marble, were required to span too great a distance, they were likely to crack, and eventually collapse. Each column becomes thinner toward the top and slightly toward the bottom, an architectural feature known as entasis. Entasis deceives the eye and makes the column look absolutely

104 vertical. It also gives the column a sense of almost human musculature and strength. The column in fact suggests the bodies of human beings, holding up the roof like miniature versions of the giant Atlas, who carried the world on his shoulders. The Parthenon (448-432 B.C.) was constructed in honor of Athena Parthenos, Athen’s patron Goddess. It is built on top of a mountain, Acropolis. The geometrical order of the Greek temple suggests a conscious desire to control the natural world. 1) Architect—Ictinos and Callicrates 2) Sculptor—Phidias. 3) 14 years in construction, decorated with carved and painted sculptures. 4) The architects used the Golden mean—rules of geometry—but broke them to make it visually perfect to the imperfect human eye. 4) The exterior construction is a post and lintel system. The columns are not spaced evenly; they are closer at the corners. And they change in diameter, wider at the corners. And they taper and bow like human limbs. 5) For centuries, the Parthenon served as the epitome of a perfect building, and it influences our architecture even today. 6) housed a treasury and a 40-foot-high statue of Athena made of ivory and gold. At first glance, the architecture appears austere, with its rigid progression of vertical elements crowned by the strong horizontal of its entablature. Yet few of the building’s lines are strictly vertical or horizontal. For example, the stylobate, or top step of the platform from which the columns rise, is not straight, but curves downward toward the ends. This convex shape is echoed in the entablature. The columns are not exactly vertical, but rather tilt inward. They are not evenly spaced; the intervals between the corner columns are narrower. The shafts of the columns themselves also differ from one another. The corner columns have a wider diameter, for example. In addition, the shaft of each column swells in diameter as it rises from the base, narrowing once again before reaching the capital. This swelling is called entasis. The reasons for these variations are unknown, although there have been several hypotheses. Errors in construction can be discounted because these variations can be found in other temples. Some art historians have suggested that the change from straight to curved lines is functional. A convex stylobate, for example, might make drainage easier. Others have suggested that the variations are meant to compensate for perceptual distortions on the part of the viewer that would make straight lines look curved from a distance. Regardless of the actual motive, we can assume that the designers of the Parthenon were after an integrated and organic look to their building. The wide base and relatively narrower roof give the appearance of a structure that is anchored firmly to the ground, yet growing dramatically from it. While it

105 has grandeur based on a kind of austerity, it also has a lively plasticity. It appears as if the Greeks conceived their architecture as large, free-standing sculpture. The subsequent history of the Parthenon is both interesting and alarming. In the sixth century A.D. it was converted into a Christian church, and afterward it was used as an Islamic mosque. The Parthenon survived more or less intact until the seventeenth century, when the Turks used it as an ammunition dump in their war against the Venetians. Venetian rocket hit the bull’s eye, and the center portion of the temple was blown out in the explosion. The cella still lies in ruins, although fortunately the exterior columns and entablatures were not beyond repair. Phidias was commissioned by Pericles to oversee the entire sculptural program of the Parthenon. Although he was involved in creating the cult statue and thus had no time to carve the architectural sculpture, his assistants followed his style closely. The Phidian style is characterized by a lightness of touch, attention to detail, contrast of textures, and fluidity and spontaneity of movement. As was the case with other Doric temples, the sculpted surfaces of the Parthenon were confined to the friezes and the pediments. The subjects of the frieze panels consisted of battles between the Lapiths and the Centaurs, the Greeks and the Amazons, and the Gods and the Giants. In addition, the Parthenon had a continuous Ionic frieze atop the cella wall. This was carved with scenes from the Panathenaic procession, an event that took place every four years when the peplos of the statue of Athena was changed. The pediments depicted the birth of Athena and the Contest between Athena and Poseidon for the city of Athens. The Three Goddesses, a figural group from the corner of the east pediment, is typical of the Phidian style. The bodies of the goddesses are weighty and substantial. Their positions are naturalistic and their gestures fluid, despite the fact that limbs and heads are broken of. The draperies hang over the bodies in a realistic fashion, and there is a marvelous contrast of textures between the heavier garments that wrap around the legs and the more diaphanous fabric covering the upper torsos. The thinner drapery clings to the body as if it was wet, revealing the shapely figures of the goddesses. The intricate play of the linear folds renders a tactile quality not seen in art before this time. The lines both gently envelop the individual figures and integrate them in a dynamically flowing composition. Phidias has indeed come a long way from the Archaic artist for whom the contours of the pediment were all but an insurmountable problem Some of the Parthenon sculptures were taken down by Lord Elgin between 1801 and 1803 while he was British ambassador to Constantinople. He sold them to his government, and they are now on view in the British Museum.

106 Pont du Gard, France, late 1st c. B.C. The development of the arch and the vault revolutionized architecture. We cannot say the arch was invented by the Romans. But it was the Romans who perfected the technique and form. The arch allows structures to have a much larger span than was possible with post-and- lintel construction. The weight of the whole arch is transferred downward to the posts. One of the most successful Roman structures is the Pont du Gard, an aqueduct used to carry water. It is still intact today, remarkable not only for its durability, but for its incredible size. Barrel/Tunnel vault is essentially an extension in depth of the single arch by lining up one arch behind another; the Romans were able to create large, uninterrupted interior spaces.

The Pantheon (c. A.D. 118-28) a temple for all gods Rome, Pantheon, AD 118 - 25 During the rule of Emperor Hadrian, 117 - 138, Romans revealed the full potential of concrete and were also the first to perfect the dome, which is a roof in the shape of a hemisphere. With these two materials, they pioneered the architecture of interior space. India, Mexico: humans remained outdoors to honor spiritual presence. In Rome, humans were protected from the exterior world, in fact, could only see out through the oculus. Artificial cosmos was created.

In the Pantheon, or temple to all the gods, the builder created a single, entirely open, interior space of overwhelming size. The scale of the interior is not suggested by the facade, which is simply a porch surmounted by columns and a pediment. Monumental simplicity and great scale. Dome is 144 feet in diameter. Summit is 144 ft high, so design is based on the intersection of two circles, or a sphere. The dome is a shell of concrete that is thicker at the base and thins to four feet at the opening of the oculus, 30 ft in diameter, open to the air. Supporting the dome are very thick piers conceived on this inside as a series of rectangular and rounded niches. Coffered dome of square shapes makes a geometric foil to the spherical surface.

The Pantheon was one of the most influential constructions of the Western European world. The grandiose, breathtaking space, the creation of an artificial universe, the impression of order, regularity, and mastery that it implies, have been used extensively by builders of other times and places to suggest Order, Power, and human ingenuity.

107 The Romans were also the first to perfect the dome, which is a roof in the shape of a hemisphere. Conceived as a temple to celebrate their gods, the Pantheon—from the Greek words pan (every) and theos (god) —consists of a 144-foot dome set on a cylindrical wall 144 in diameter. Every interior dimensions appears equal and proportionate, even as its scale overwhelms the viewer. The dome is concrete, which was poured in sections over a huge mold supported by complex scaffolding. Over 20 feet thick where it meets the walls—a point called the springing—it thins to only six feet at the circular opening, 30 feet in diameter, at the dome’s top. The opening is the only source of illumination. One of the best preserved and most influential buildings in the history of architecture. The front face of the building is a simple porch with columns topped by a pediment. Behind it lurks the heart of the Pantheon 1) the use of Concrete and Dome; 2) single open interior space of great scale; 3) it is only partly freestanding, its back and one side are hidden by older structures. 4) The hemispheric dome is 144 feet in diameter. 5) The summit of the dome is also 144 feet high from the floor 6) The dome is a shell of concrete that gradually thickens toward the base. 7) There is a round opening at the summit, 30 feet in diameter—the only source of light for the interior. 8) Accordingly the floor is slightly convex with drains cut into it. The basic architectural inventions of the Romans provided the basis for building construction in the Western world for nearly 2,000 years. The idealism, even mysticism of the Pantheon’s vast interior space, with its evocation of the symbolic presence of Jupiter, found its way into Christian religion came to dominate the West.

Egyptian architecture is one of mass, and solids. Its space is negative. So is Greek architecture, which also primarily concerns with solids and masses, sculptural architecture. Romans conceived architecture in terms of space, a single unified whole. There must have always been the desire to open greater spaces, without columns getting in the way. Large congregations could gather beneath the high barel vaults of churches, which were constructed on Roman architectural principles. The culmination of the spiritual direction is the immense interior space of the great Gothic cathedrals, which arose throughout Europe beginning in about A.D. 1150. As if in response to the dark and dreary climate outside, the interior of the Gothic cathedral rises to an incredible height, lit by stained-glass windows that transform a dull day with a warm and richly radiant light.

108 The great height of the interior space of the Gothic cathedral is achieved by means of a system of pointed, rather than round arches. The height of a rounded arch is determined by its width, but the height of the pointed arch can readily be extended by straightening the curve of the sides upward to a point, the weight descending much more directly down the wall. By utilizing the pointed arch in a scheme of groined vaults, the almost ethereal space of the Gothic cathedral, soaring upward as if toward God, is realized. All arches tended to spread outwards, creating a risk of collapse, and early on the Romans learned to support the sides of the arch to counteract this lateral thrust. In the great French cathedrals the problem was solved by building a series of arches on the outside whose thrusts would conteract the outward force of the interior arches. Extending inward from a series of columns or piers, these flying buttresses, so named because they lend to the massive stone architecture, a sense of lightness and flight, are an aesthetic response to a practical problem. Perhaps as much as any element of Gothic design, they reveal the desire of the builder to elevate the cathedral above the humdrum of daily life in the medieval world. The cathedral became a symbol not only of the divine, but of the human ability to exceed, in art and in imagination, our own limitations and circumstances.

France, Lascaux, Halls of Bulls, Cave painting, 13,000 BC

Mesa Verde, CO. 1200 AD, Anasazi Cliff dwelling, Spruce Tree House. Echoes nature, provides shelter, expresses relationship of self to society and cosmos. Small rooms organized into family and clan units. Each clan constructed a kiva, a circular underground room usually used by the men of certain secret societies and by the council of elders of the village. In the floor of the kiva was a sipapu, a small circular hole that symbolized the archetypal place of emergence of the ancestors from subterranean levels of the earth. The kiva ladder represents the route by which the ancestors made their ascent. Spruce Tree House had 114 rooms and 8 kivas. Between 150 and 200 people lived here.

Architectural Expressions of human and cultural notions of order. Expresses cosmovision, relationship self to spiritual.

India, Sanchi, Great Stupa, 300 BC - AD 100 (Sherman Lee, Far Eastern Art, 84 -86)

109 Built on top of a hill rising out of a plain just north of the Deccan Plateau, near Bhopal. There are 3 stupas there, but we will look at the largest. May have enclosed relics of the Buddha, lived 563 - 483 BC. Most stupas are a mound of earth faced with stone, covered with white stucco and partially gilded, surmounted with a 3 part umbrella symbolizing the three aspects of Buddhism==the Buddha, his law, and the monastic orders. Umbrella also reflects the ancient and pervasive concept of the world tree.

One "used" the stupa by circumnambulation in a clockwise direction. This is analogous to walking the Path of Life around the World Mountain.. Tell story about Tibetans and Mt kailas. The Path was enclosed by a railing with four gates facing the four cardinal points and symbolizing the edge of the world. Image of the cosmos.

Gates = Toranas. Two major posts or columns surmounted by three architraves or lintels. Sculpture tells stories in former incarnations of the Buddha, in which he sacrificed himself to help mankind, and in the human incarnation of the Buddha. On either side of the gate were male and female figures representing the dual nature of existence and the attractions that entrap us in the wheel of incarnations?

Teotihuacan, outside of Mexico City, 100 BC - 600 AD The largest city of the new World prior to the arrival of Europeans was set in a broad valley surrounded by mountains that were riddled with springs. The stepped pyramids and platforms of Teo echo the natural mountainous formations that surround the valley. There are three major pyramids, largest Pyr Sun 738 x 738 feet at base and nearly 246 ft high. Like Sanchi, India, they were also conceived as world mountains. Also innumerable stepped ritual platforms lining the broad north-south avenue, and dozens of multifamily apartment buildings decorated with frescoed mural paintings. The entire city is laid out on a grid with all construction conforming to a modular unit of 187 feet, that was generated by the length of the passageway of a sacred cave over which the largest pyramid was built. The E W axis of the city is taken from the channel of the cave, and the N S axis is perpendicular. People lived and worked in the apartment complexes, but the public ritual space was all outdoors, beneath the sky, where the Storm God and the Goddess of Springs were more apparent.

This city attracted artisans and traders from all over Mesoamerica, including the Maya and Oaxaca areas, and in 600 AD was the 6th largest city in the world.

110 Compare to the Parthenon, Athens, 448 - 405 BC (Sayre 364) A very different mentality. Parthenon was on top of a mountain and appears completely distinct from the forms of nature around it. Post and lintel construction is fundamental, with closely spaced columns supporting the lintels, friezes a nd entablatures which were decorated with sculpture. The geometrical order of the Greek temple suggests a conscious desire on the Greek’s part to control the natural world. Architecture seems defiant in its belief that the intellect is superior to the irrational forces of nature.

Athens reached the height of its glory in the second half of the 5th c BC, when, in the course of a campaign to rebuild the public areas which had been ravaged by Persian occupation and war, the statesman Pericles patronized the architects Ictimus and Callicrates to build the majestic Parthenon atop the acropolis to house a colossal ivory-and-gold effigy of the city's divine guardian, Athena. It took 14 years to build and embellish with sculptures (under the direction of Phidias). (Gardner:) Parthenon is an peripteral temple, such that its short side is slightly less than half the length of its long side. . The builders aimed for unsurpassable excellence in every detail. The stylobate is convex, very subtly so, columns tilt slightly inward and are not uniformly space, standing closer to each other at the corners of the building, Moreover, not all the columns are of the same diameter, those at the corners are somewhat wider. The entasis, or subtle tapering of the column, transforms it into a muscular form like that of a limb. Geometry was carefully calculated then subverted to the ends of a sense of natural beauty and conformation with human form.

Rome: architecture of power of the government/empire As the Roman Empire expanded in the first c AD, and the city of Rome as well as other cities brought into the empire expanded in population, an obvious consideration in the urban planning that Romans undertook was water. Aqueducts were built all over the empire, in which water was carried by gravity flow. The channels had to decline in altitude continuously over stretches of 50 miles. Important engineering feat.

Pont du Gard, Nimes, France, 1 c BC, One of the most outstanding of the Romans’ civic projects is the aqueduct, which carried water over long distances. The Pont du Gard in southern France carried water over 30 miles and furnished each recipient with some 100 gallons per day. Constructed of three levels of arches, the largest of which spans about 82 feet, the aqueduct is some 900 feet long and 160 feet high. It had to slope down gradually over the long distance in order to carry the flow of water from the source.

111 Carried the channel of River Gard. Arch and vault revolutionized the built environment by allowing larger spans between vertical supports, therefore much larger interior space. Each large arch spans about 82 feet and is constructed of uncemented blocks weighing up to 2 tons each, Rhythm of small forms above larger ones: groups of 3 over each large arch shows aesthetic sense of architects. Such services must have impressed diverse peoples who had come under the Rule of Rome with its intellectual and practical benefits. Colosseum, Rome 70 - 82 AD Begun by Vespasian and finished by his successor, Titus, in about 82. Use of Barrel vault, essentially an extension in depth of the single arch by placing one arch behind another. With it the Romans created large, uninterrupted interior spaces. A complex system of cast concrete vaults is strong enough to support the upper levels where 50,000 spectators could be accommodated. 161 feet high, the size of a 16 story building, with four levels of seats, it was built for gladiatorial combat, mock naval battles, and fights to the death between humans and animals.

Engineering focused on convenience as well as strength: 76 numbered entrances corresponded to specific seats for easy ingress/egress.

Exterior consists of ashlar masonry, dry-jointed cut blocks held together with metal cramps and dowels. Many metal pieces and cut stones removed in Middle Ages. Typical Roman and later Renaissance decor: simpler styles ("orders") of columns on bottom, more ornate on top, separated by horizontal banding.

Le Corbusier, Domino House, 1914 Mies Vander Rohe and Philip Johnson, Seagram Building NYC, 1958

In the 19th c, a new material transformed our environment--steel, used as beams and as thin rods (rebar) to reinforce concrete. The sheer strength of steel makes the modern skyscraper a reality. Stone masonry buildings require thicker walls on the ground floor to support the walls above them; such walls are only stable for about 4 stories. The steel cage is filled in and connected with reinforced concrete floors and roof. It is less labor intensive than cutting and fitting stone blocks. Any combination of windows and doors can be hung on the frame and internal divisions can be placed anywhere.

112 In the Seagram Building the design is economical and elegant. The I shaped beams that form the cage or grid of the exterior, are left exposed and finished in bronze to match the amber-tinted glass sheath. At the base, these exterior beams drop unsheathed to the plaza, creating a porch with a steel colonnade under the building. New York requires that tall buildings be set back from the edge of the lot to allow space for pedestrians and to let light into the streets. This building occupied less than half its lot and provides a dramatic open area in the middle of the city. The surface of the building constantly changes and the amber glass reflects the movement of the sun and at night, as lights goes off and on.

USA, Frank Lloyd Wright, Falling Water, Kauffmann House, Bear Run, PA 1939 Cities at the end of the 19th century were crowded, unplanned, inconvenient conglomerations of people divorced from natural surroundings. Frank Lloyd Wright was among the architects and planners who had utopian visions of well-planned communities and an integration of the building with its environment. His best-known and most dramatic home is Falling Water, a house for the Kauffman family outside Pittsburgh in Bear Run Pennsylvania.

Wright believed that people lived better when their houses allowed them easy contact with nature and he designed buildings accordingly. Cantilever combines natural stone masonry and site itself with clean geometric horizontal shapes of the building. Variety and economy. Windows occupy entire wall surfaces and therefore interior and exterior seem to blend together. Local stone and outside environment are important elements of interior, with typically open rooms that flow into one another. Wright’s many houses that stress horizontality and enclosed gardens, patios, natural materials, etc., in an urban setting, led to the unfortunate system we have today in the US: suburbs consisting of plain rectangles set in rectangular lots with impossible to keep yards.

The text book shows some of the more innovative designs that use concrete: the Opera House in Sydney Australia, a virtual sailing ship perched on the edge of the water.

Paris, Piano and Rogers, Pompidou Center, 1971 It also includes ones of the more controversial buildings of the 70's, the Pompidou cultural center in Paris, designed by Renzo Piano and Richard Rogers. The architects decided to let form follow function—a dictum coined by American Architect Louis Sullivan, FLW"s teacher, at the beginning of the 20th C. They left the steel truss structure exposed and those

113 mechanical inner workings of the buildings—its muscles, veins, and arteries, if you will—can be seen and clearly identified from the outside. They color coded the mechanical organs: water pipes were painted green, blue was for air conditioning pipes, and yellow for electrical conduits. The elevator is also exposed and from it people can see lots of Paris and up to 30,000 people a day do come to use this building. By placing these tubes and wires outside, they left the interior less obstructed. But it is also a hide-nothing, humorous work of art in a medium--architecture--that, in Europe, has been very pompous.

Many architects in the US and elsewhere are concerned with the health of the built environment. There are urban renewal projects and attempts to incorporate nature in cities in sensible and appealing ways afoot throughout the country. With care, with attention, we have the opportunity to create a workable and spiritually attuned world in which to live. The place to start is right here.

Arch—A curved structure consisting of a number of wedged-shaped stones or bricks (voussoirs) so arranged as to be supported over a void by their mutual pressure. The principal arch forms are: 1. Round; 2. Horse-shoe; 3. Trefoil; 4. Segmental; 5. (pointed) Equilateral; 6. (pointed) Lancet; 7. Ogee; 8. Curtain; 9. Tudor. Engaged Column—columns attached to the wall of a building. Balustrade—A row of balusters supporting a handrail or coping on staircases, around the roofs of buildings, on balconies etc. Much used in baroque architecture. Column—A round pillar comprising a base, shaft and capital. May be monolithic or composed of several separate drums. To be distinguished from the pier, which is square or rectangular in section. Cornice—In classical architecture, the upper portion of the entablature. Also used as the term for any projecting feature at the top of a wall, arch, etc. Dome—A hemispherical structure placed over a circular, square or polygonal compartment or bay. When a dome is to be raised over a square bay, there are three possible methods for effecting the transition from the square to the circle. The dome was used by the Romans—that of Pantheon, Rome (c.120 A.D.), remains one of the largest ever built—and was taken up by Byzantine and Romanesque builders. Domed construction played no part in the development of Gothic architecture, but again became popular in Italy during the Renaissance and baroque periods. The dome of St. Peter’s, Rome (Michelangelo, from 1547), is one of the best known examples.

114 Frieze—The middle and most decorated division of the classical entablature, between the architrave and the cornice. The term is also applied to any decorative band around a wall. Pediment—In the architecture of classical antiquity, the triangular piece of wall, enclosed by one horizontal and two sloping cornices, above the entablature over a portico. During the Renaissance the bowed or semicircular pediment was often used with other modifications of the classical type. During the baroque period, in both triangular and bowed pediments, the central part of the raking cornices was sometimes omitted, forming the so- called broken pediment into which an aedicula (niche) feature was often inserted. Small pediments widely used as a decorative feature over doors and windows. Pilaster—shallow rectangular pier, fluted or unfluted, attached to a wall and with base and capital. Not to be confused with the pilaster strip, which has neither base nor capital? Rustication—Employed by the Romans and to be found in much Renaissance building. —Rock-faced rustication: stonework in which the beds and joints are squared but the surface of the blocks is left rough or are artificially roughed. —Smooth rustication: stonework in which the ashlar blocks are smooth and separated by recessed V-joints. Stringcourse—Projecting horizontal band or molding along the face of a building, usually to mark the divisions between the stories. Vault—An arched covering of stone or brick. —Barrel vault: one continuous art of semicircular or pointed section. Type much used during the Romanesque period. —Cross or Groined vault: Formed by two barrel vaults of identical shape intersecting at right angles to produce defined edges or groins. Introduced by the Romans.

115 Chapter 15 Design Applications

Nowadays people who are involved in the graphic arts; the industrial arts, performing arts, the craft arts or the arts allied to architecture—even architects— are referred to as designers. They were seen as serving a unique function in modern society. They could take any object or product —a shoe, a chair, a book, a poster, an automobile, or a building—and make it appealing, and thereby persuade the public to buy it or a client to build it, not merely because it looks good, but also because it functions well. In the past we called those people “craftsmen” instead of designers. Craftsmen tended to produce prototypes, or models, of products for commercial purposes. Today, designers work on computers for a huge commercial market. They work by teams, cooperating to produce a successful design. We can say the designer organizes all levels of modern life, and the architect is the one who incorporates all other design into livable space. They are taking care of the art of everyday living. When we speak of crafts, we are generally referring to handmade objects created by highly skilled but nevertheless uninventive artisans to serve useful functions. Designers are different from crafts-people in that they often have nothing to do with the actual making of the object, which is produced by mechanical means. Their job is to determine how the object will look and, most important, to make it attractive to as large a public as possible. They must, as result, appeal to the vagaries of fashion. The objects they design must, in short, sell. In these terms, craftspeople and fine artists have more in common with one another than either do with designers. They both equally share a hands-on relation to the objects they make. During the Renaissance, the crafts were distinguished from the fine arts on intellectual grounds. To qualify as a fine art, a given artistic practice had to require a large measure of genius and inspiration. It had to result in a unique object (hence the difficulty printmakers had in being recognized as fine artists). And, most important, its purpose had to be aesthetic. That is, its primary purpose was to satisfy the mind’s desire for beauty, not the needs of everyday life—ceramics, silver and gold objects, textiles, glass, and furniture—was generally designated a craft medium as opposed to a fine art medium. To lend it the status of art, an object needs to be removed from the ordinary, separated from the “useful,” with an aesthetic intention. Yet it is often difficult to decide whether an object is an example of craft, fine art, or design. At any given cultural moment, questions of aesthetic beauty or practical usefulness or

116 the demands of fashion and taste may dominate design decisions. Nevertheless, successful design must address itself to all these concerns. Not only do aesthetic and utilitarian questions come into play, but fashion and taste inevitably have an impact on what is produced and, perhaps more tellingly, on what continues to be produced over the course of time.

Folk art: in which schooling and academic training play little part, is handed down from generation to generation and usually reflects commonly held regional values and customs. Often not thinking of themselves as professionals, folk artists simply make things as a matter of course —quilts for example. Categories such as “folk art” trouble some people, because they imply qualitative distinctions between fine art and folk art, or high art and popular culture. There are indeed differences in the training and motives of the artists, among other things, but it is no longer seen as reasonable to use “fine art” to suggest superiority. We use labels to help us sort things out but not to confer judgments.

Mingei Japan is a chain of islands in the Pacific Ocean near China and Korea. With names like Honda and Toyota, you may not find it difficult to imagine the life of the Japanese people in our modern time. But what about their life in the past? What are the past influences deep behind present-day Japan that have made the nation so much different from ours? You will surely find answers through this exhibition. You may also gain some new ideas, some new thoughts about your own life. Mingei is a Japanese word meaning the arts of the people, or simply folk art. Mingei objects are everyday things used by ordinary people. They are not necessarily made of special or valuable materials, but they express natural beauty. Each mingei object embodies a long tradition. Through these objects we gain some idea of the times, feelings, thoughts and lifestyles of their makers and users. Their beauty is neither fanciful nor exceptional, but simple and customary. While you go through the exhibition, think about the ideas and values behind their beauty as well as appreciating them as works of art. * Tell what you know about Japan.

Ceramics: refers to the art or process of making objects of baked clay. Ceramics includes many objects—bowls, vases, plates—as well as sculpture, made out of soft clay dug from the earth and then specially treated to harden them. Particularly in ancient cultures, sacred objects and those used in special ceremonies were made from clay. The term is now used to include a wide range of simple and complex technologies (both hand-crafted and machine made), types

117 of clay, and functions. Most types of ceramics involve forming an object in soft clay, then baking (“firing”) it in special ovens (“kilns”), causing it to change composition and therefore harden. After an initial firing, ceramic objects can be decorated by a method of coloring on the surface, called “glazing.” They are then refired to adhere (“bond”) the glazes to the surfaces. Not only can this make an object more beautiful but also more durable and resistant to staining or leaking. “Terra-cotta” is a type of ceramic made from clay fired at temperatures high enough to make it insoluble (yet still porous) and hard enough to be used in building floors, roofs, and wall tiles. Terra-cotta has a characteristic brownish-orange color, and, because of its durability, has been used to make many sacred objects. Porcelain is making from a fine white clay and fired at very high temperatures, allowing it to be formed into objects thin enough to be translucent. Often beautifully and brightly glazed, porcelain is often referred to as “china” because that is where porcelain ware was first made. “Soft-paste” china is fired at lower temperatures than those of “hard-paste” china, or true porcelain. “Earthenware” is pottery made from a particular kind of clay; it is similar to terra-cotta in that it is fired at relatively low temporatures. A popular type of earthenware, called “faience,” incorporates opaque, brightly colored glazes made from tin. “Stoneware” is ceramic, usually light in color, which, like porcelain, is fired at very high temperatures.

Types of Ceramics: classified according to the type of clay and the temperature at which they are fired. 1. Earthenware derives its name from the fact that it is usually red or tan in color. It is made from coarse clay or shade clay and is usually fired at 1000 to 2000 degrees Fahrenheit. It is somewhat porous and is used for common bricks and coarse pottery. The heavy clay earthenware product “terra cotta” is fired at a higher temperature of about 2,070 to 2,320 degrees F. The temperature may be reached by firing in the open, on a bed of straw and twigs 2. Stoneware is usually grey but may be tan or reddish. It is fired at from about 2,300 to 2,700 degrees F. It is slightly porous or fully nonporous and is used for most dinnerware and much ceramic sculpture. 3. Porcelain is hard, nonporous, and usually white or grey in color. it is made from fine, white kaolin clay and contains other minerals such as feldspar, quartz, and flint in various proportions. It is usually fired at 2,400 t0 2,500 degrees F, and it is used for fine dinnerware. Chinese porcelain, or china, is white and fired at low porcelain temperatures. It is glasslike or vitreous, nonporous, and may be translucent. It makes a characteristic ringing sound when struck with a fingernail. Porcelain has been used by various cultures for vases and dinnerware for thousands of years, providing a vehicle for artistic expression.

118 For thousands of years people have modeled, pinched, and patted various types of wet clay into useful vessels and allowed them to dry or bake in the sun, creating hard, durable containers. They have rolled clay into rope shapes, which they coiled around an open space. They have rolled out slabs of clay like dough, cut them into pieces, fastened them together, and smoothed them with simple tools, as Native Americans still do today. They discovered that if they allowed clay vessels to dry, then fired them in a type of oven called a kiln, or over coals, they became waterproof and yet more durable. The potter’s wheel was first used in the Middle East in about 4000 B.C. and seems to have come into common use a thousand years later. A pot can be thrown quite rapidly and effortlessly on a wheel once the techniques have been mastered, in contrast to the more laborious and time-consuming process of building a pot by coiling. In coiling, ropes of clay are fashioned, and then stacked upon one another. The walls of the pot are then scraped to a smooth finish and molded to the desired vessel shape. The walls of a wheel-thrown pot tend to be thinner and more uniform in thickness than coiled pots, and the outer and inner surfaces smoother. This does not suggest, however, that coiled pots in the hands of some craftsmans do not approach a wheel-thrown pot in their accomplishment. For example, Native American tribes of the southwestern United States have never used the potter’s wheel and yet their hand- built pots can be as thin-walled and symmetrical as their wheel-thrown counterparts. Anyone who has been a student in a ceramics class appreciates the difficulty experienced in mastering the potter’s wheel. The body movement, rhythm of the wheel, placement, and force of the fingers must come together like a smoothly choreographed dance. Variation in color and texture is secured by the choice of clay and by glazing. The earliest known glaze dates from about 3000 B.C. and is found on tile from the tomb of the Egyptian King Menes. Glazes, which contain finely ground minerals, are used in liquid form. They are brushed, sprayed, or poured on ceramics after preliminary bisque firing removes all water. During the second firing, the glaze becomes glasslike, or vitifies, fusing with the clay. It gives the clay a glassy, nonporous surface coating that can be shiny or dull, depending on its composition. Glazing can create intricate, glossy patterns across otherwise uniform and dull surfaces. Marilyn Levine’s mostly clay John’s Jacket (1981, ceramic, zipper, and metal fasteners) shows the whimsical use of materials that sometimes defines the aesthetic of the craftsperson.

Porcelain Of all various ceramic products porcelain has enjoyed a distinct and unusual history. With its thin fragility, potential for translucency, resonance when struck, and purity of texture and color, porcelain has been one of the rarest and most highly desirable, expensive, and

119 technically demanding mediums for artists and craftspeople. Both the East and West have developed highly sophisticated methods and techniques to produce porcelain. Specialized knowledge is necessary to master the technique of forming, firing, and decorating porcelain. And this is unequaled by any other ceramic product. As you know China got its “western” name by porcelain. The Chinese had the highly competent and specialized ceramic tradition [as early as the Tang Dynasty (618 to 906) over 500 earlier than West]. The Chinese had a very early knowledge and understanding of the particular ingredients necessary to make true porcelain. For instance, one of the essential ingredient in porcelain was petuntse, a fusible feldspathic stone that then mixed with the clay and fired, produced a ceramic body with an unusual degree of vitrification. Such fusion was dependent upon extremely high firing temperatures and the technological understanding of kiln construction. The ingredients and the process were used to produce fused porcelaneous wares at least as early as the Tang dynasty. Much later European awareness of porcelain stimulated great artistic and scientific interest in the nature of the material. The search for the secret of its manufacture—the arcanum—encouraged highly competitive investigations into the properties of various ceramic mixtures, completely altering the course of ceramic history in Europe. European had been aware of Chinese porcelain for centuries before the products became available in the West. The Greeks and Romans knew of the existence of China. The lands to the East were called Seres—the “Land of Silk.” The early development of porcelain in China was simply magical to Marco Polo, who traveled in the East for 17 years during the 13th c. He called it alla porcella, meaning: having the appearance of a delicate, shiny seashell. It was not until the late 16th c. when a trade route was opened between East and West. Access to silk, pepper, cinnamon, lacquer, tea, and porcelain meant wealth and prestige. Although thousands of porcelain wares were made in China at the time, few examples were seen in Europe. They were very expensive and treated as precious jewels. Porcelains were thus frequently mounted in elaborate silver-gilt mounts to emphasize their rarity and preciousness and also to protect the fragile treasures from damage. Mounts were applied at the most vulnerable areas of a piece, such as the lip, foot, and handles. Although such mounts often radically altered the appearance of the porcelains, the effect was similar to the setting of a rare gemstone. The supply of Chinese blue-and-white porcelain could never meet the demand of eager European collectors and connoisseurs, and it was obvious that anyone who could discover the secret of its manufacture would enjoy untold wealth. Numerous ceramic artisans, accustomed to working with standard pottery and stone ware bodies, imitated the surface appearance of porcelain by covering humble pottery objects with a white skin of tin oxide glaze or glass. Imitative or artificial wares were made. They had a tremendous impact on the history of ceramics in Europe.

120 Following centuries of wonder and amazement at the marvelous material and countless experiments, in the early years of the 18th c. true porcelain was finally produced in Europe, to be exact, in Poland. Porcelain remains supreme among European ceramics for another century. The discovery had to do with the experiment of the alchemist, who claims action of the craft and the mass production reduced the importance of individual artists and artisans. By the 19th c. many porcelain factories had resorted to revivals of earlier styles, and porcelain disappeared as a major force in design, although it continued to be commercially produced in great quantity.

Art Nouveau: Style that broke radically with “revivalist” traditions, such as Neo-Gothic, just as the 19th century ended and the 20th began. Art Nouveau designs are dense with swirling lines and are usually asymmetrical, like nature’s irregular patterns. They are, in fact, often based on plants, flowers, or other natural forms such as waves of water and the curves of a woman’s body or hair. Decorative aspects were integrated with structure, so that a cascading vine of leaves might also be the supporting columns of a wrought-iron balcony. The images often seem mysterious or mystical and, in fact, represented a rejection of art-historical styles in order to seek inspiration solely in nature.

Art Deco or Moderne: style in decorative arts and architecture popular in the 1920s and 1930s, mostly in Europe and the US. Its goal was to adapt design to the technologies of mass production and to the availability of new materials. We find Art Deco buildings throughout the industrialized world, which can be seen as a measure of the degree to which a global culture was beginning to develop. Art Deco can be identified by its slim geometric, often symmetrical, forms and linear patterns. If the earlier Art Nouveau was anchored in nature, sleek Art Deco elegantly celebrated the machine age. People are represented in sculpture as glamorous, powerful, and bold. It is a design reflective of a world optimistic about its future, especially in the advances in speed and convenience made possible by machines and mechanization. Japanese Mingei Fisherman's Festival Robe (Maiwai) Meiji Period, 19th century Dyed cotton; H: 147 cm; W: 128cm

One of the first objects you will see when you enter the exhibition is a T-shaped robe. The familiar style may remind you of the word kimono, which means “the thing that one wears.” Clearly the making of the traditional Japanese costume is not based on the actual shape of the

121 human body. Differences between men and women are not taken into account. Clothing parts are not clearly distinguished. The result is a flattened form, and a shape that is composed of simple vertical or horizontal lines. Japanese tailors’ talents, however, are fully reflected in the colors, pattern designs and preparation of fabrics used in making their garments.

This cotton robe was worn by fishermen during festivals. When blessed with a large catch, fishermen would put on such a garment and visit their local shrines to thank the gods, thereby celebrating their of good luck. Like the Chinese, the Japanese are keen on symbolic expressions. The crane, pine tree, and tortoise are all symbols of long life. The plum blossom expresses happiness and congratulations. The flying crane on the upper part of the robe carries a banner with the name of the fisherman’s boat, while the red triangle placed over the bird may be the sign of the boat. The open fan floating on waves signifies that evill is blown away and good fortune is invited in. Written on the fan are three characters, meaning "large catch of shrimp." * Cut a kimono of your own and decorate it with your favorite symbolic patterns used in the Japanese textiles.

Stupa (Sotoba) Edo Period (1615 - 1868) Granite; H: 77 cm The life of the Buddha could be summed up in four major symbols—the lotus for his birth, the Bodhi-tree for his enlightenment, the wheel for his teaching and the stupa for his death and achievement of nirvana, a state of perfect and eternal happiness. Early Buddhist art was thus able to express the presence of the Buddha through various forms of the symbols. In general, the Lotus is a symbol of birth and creation, harmony in the universe and spiritual perfection. The Bodhi-tree is the place under which the Buddha sat when he attained enlightenment and wisdom in his Great Awakening. The Wheel represents cosmos, the law, the truth, and the change.

When Buddha died his disciples divided his ashes and kept them in stupas in various places in India. Thus the stupa became the most important and long-lasting symbol of all, representing the supreme event of the Buddha—his death and attainment of the absolute state of nirvana. The significance of this is that the stupa itself is seen as the body of the Buddha. Its various levels stand for the head and different parts of the Buddha’s body. You will see such a stone tower almost everywhere if you go to China and Japan, where the stupa also takes the form of the pagoda carrying the same symbolism.

122 The five tiers of the stupa have other symbolic meanings. The base represents the earth; the dome indicates heaven. The square of the base suggests the guiding principles, —firm and unchangeable. The sphere sitting upon the base suggests knowledge and the spiritual world, which is changing and movable. The material rock, however, denotes permanance, solidity and integrity.

* What does a circle mean to you? What does a square mean to you? Draw a picture combining both of them in a way that you think will best represent your idea. Cat (Neko) Edo Period, 17th century Zekova wood; H: 13 cm; W: 21 cm Beckoning Cat (Maneki-neko) Late Edo period, 19th century Painted wood; H: 19 cm; W: 10 cm

In Japan cats were raised to keep mice away from farm homes. But often toy cats were made for the same purpose, too. Such a cat is not an ordinary toy for children to play with. It serves a utilitarian purpose. Nice as she is, the cat is not one of the twelve zodiac animals. The legend goes that when Buddha was old and sick, a rat was sent to get medicine. But the cat ate the rat on its way and Buddha died. Therefore, the cat was replaced by the rabbit. The beckoning cat figure shows a gesture we are all familiar with. To us it appears that the cat is waving goodbye. But in Japan this gesture does not mean “bye-bye”; it means to beckon or “come here.” That is why this is called a beckoning cat. For Japanese shopkeepers the beckoning cat invites good luck and prosperity. Even today they are displayed at entrances to shops and restaurants in Japan. Frequently, even private homes have a beckoning cat to invite in good fortune. Such a cat may be called a toy, but it is really a figurine to be looked at only, not to be touched. The same is true for the majority of little clay figurines and many toys of painted wood, papier-mâché and cloth in Japan.

* Question: How do people hail a taxi in Tokyo? Stationery Box (Bunko) 19th century Lacquer on wood H: 8.5 cm; W: 18cm; L: 33cm

123 Do you use a stationery box to keep your pens and pencils in? Lacquer boxes are used by the Japanese to hold their traditional writing tools—the ink stone, ink stick, and brushes. Along with paper they are considered the treasures of the study. That is why the Japanese often decorate such boxes lavishly. What do the images on the box depict? The dragon is regarded in both China and Japan as the highest imperial and spiritual power. It is the symbol of the Emperor, awesome but benevolent in their culture. The accompanying phoenix is a mythical bird and is a symbol of the Empress signifying fidelity, excellence and unique nobility. But please note, the Western phoenix is a symbol of resurrection and immortality. It dies by burning itself and rises again from its own ashes on the third day. So there is little connection between the Western phoenix and the Eastern one—they are not the same kind of mythical bird. The bat became a symbol of happiness and good luck because the word for bat is pronounced the same as the word for happiness in Chinese. How many bats can you find on the box? A pair of bats indicate good wishes and is an emblem of the god of longevity. A group of five bats represents the five blessings of health, wealth, long life, peace and happiness. Don’t mistake the butterfly on one end of the box for a bat. Since a Chinese ideogram for butterfly means “seventy or eighty years of age” butterflies became a symbol of longevity. Do you know what the Western symbolic meaning of the butterfly is? —Just the opposite: the brevity of life. * Decorate your own stationery with Japanese symbols you like the best, or make a greeting card with the symbols and explain the meaning to your friend.

Guardian Lion (Koma-inu) Edo Period, 18th century Wood; H: 17 cm; W: 8 cm Festival Mask: Mythical Lion (Shishi) Edo period, 18th century Lacquered wood; H: 18.5 cm. W: 19.5 cm The lion was one of the favorite motifs of both the Chinese and Japanese. But lions are not native to China or Japan. The motif came to China from India during the 4th-5th centuries in the service of Buddhism. Around the 7th century, it was passed on to Japan by way of Korea with the Buddhist religion. As Buddha's throne was believed to be guarded by a pair of lions, the lion became a symbol of protection and power. Perhaps for this reason the real appearance of a lion was ignored, then exaggerated and made to appeal to public taste and imagination. They would be placed at entrances to the imperial palace, temples, shrines, large buildings and tombs as guards.

124 The Chinese would create the lion in ceramics, bronze, marble, and jade. The Japanese, however, often used wood instead of a harder material. They believe that the sacred spirit stays in natural things such as trees and plants. The tree has a long life and plants can go on and on eternally. Thus the wood means everlasting to Japanese. Perhaps it is for this reason that the wood has always been the preferred material for important sculptures in Japan. The lion mask on view was used for the lion dance, popular in both China and Japan. Especially during the New Year's celebration, the dance is meant to expel evil spirits and invite good fortune. If you take a look at the back of the mask you will see it is not to be worn on the face. Instead, it is carried on the dancer's hand. The dancer's arm becomes the neck of the lion. A second dancer will be the lion’s rear legs, and a cloth thrown over the two dancers will conveniently form the lion’s body. The hinged jaw of the mask enables the dancer to open or close the lion's mouth with his hand. The mask can be of various sizes to suit different age groups.

* Make a lion mask for yourself with your own imaginative additions.

Lamp (Andon, left) and Night Light (Ariake-andon, right) Late Edo to early Meiji Period 19th century, Lacquered wood, paper H: 88 cm; W: 37 cm (left) H: 59.5 cm; W: 24 cm (right) Seto Ware Oil Plates (Abura-zara) Pampas Grass (left); Chrysanthemums (right) Edo Period, first half of 19th century, Glazed stone ware H: 2 cm; Diam: 19.5 cm (left) H: 1.7 cm; Diam: 22.5 cm (right)

These two lamps are uniquely Japanese. They are made of a wood frame covered with paper like a lantern. A small oil lamp is hidden inside—often just a little ceramic bowl and a couple of wicks. The small drawer in the front is used to store extra wicks or lighting equipment. A problem with this kind of lamp is that the oil drips every now and then, so an oil plate is put under the lamp. These oil plates were in use until the introduction of kerosene lamps. Such plates are usually thick and strong, decorated with simple but elegant designs. The smaller lamp is called a night light. The wooden base is also a cover. It can be removed to enclose the papered top, so that the amount of light coming out is controlled. When

125 full light is needed, the cover becomes a base. This lamp can be easily carried around by the handle at the top. The lamp was very popular in Japan from 16th to 19th century. Both lamps are decorated with calligraphy, or writing. In the West, calligraphy is generally thought of as the art of writing neatly. But in China and Japan it is considered as one of the major arts. This is in part due to the flexibility of the brush, the ink, the rice paper and the particular pictorial capacity of the written language. The language is written in vertical lines that are read from top to bottom, and from right to left. The modern Japanese also write with pen or pencil and horizontally from left to right like we do. However, brush-and-ink calligraphy is still practiced widely as an independent art.

* Can you tell why Japanese and Chinese can be written either from top to bottom or from left to right? What is the adcantage of such a anguage?

Quilt Covers (Futon-gawa) Meiji Period, 19th century, Dyed cotton H: 150 cm; W: 125 cm (top) H: 178 cm; W: 120 cm (bottom)

A traditional Japanese quilt consists of three parts: the cover, the bedding and the bottom sheet. The quilt cover and the bottom sheet are sewn together like envelop to enclose and protect the bedding. When the quilt becomes dirty, these pieces are easily taken apart and washed separately. The bedding is usually cotton and is not to be washed. The top, or quilt cover, does not need to be washed frequently since it does not come into contact with the sleeper. Only the bottom sheet needs to be washed. As sleeping is such an important part of life and the quilt cover is one of the major items among a bride's trousseau on display during the wedding festivities, the Japanese show great interest in decorating the cover. Bright colors and lively designs are generally preferred. Joyful and lucky motifs such as crane, tortoise, bamboo, pine tree, plum and phoenix are commonly used. The motifs are simple yet meaningful. The mythical phoenix is extremely important. The presence of a pair of the birds symbolizes the bride and groom, thus indicating a happy marriage. The bird is legendarily sensitive and selective, appearing only in times of peace and prosperity. By the way, Japanese quilts are folded and put away in the closets in the morning so that the room may be used for other purposes. There are no rooms specially set apart for sleeping in Japan. In a sense, the whole floor, the whole house is a bed. One can lie down anywhere in the

126 house and sleep. There is no bedstead or frame, or fixed area of any kind within which the bed is placed. A "bed" consists of one or two mattresses, and one or two quilts according to the season, and a pillow. Such “beds” are spread in any room that is handy. These mobile beds allow Japanese to have fewer rooms than would be required in an American house for a family of the same size. The parents and the children, especially when young, often sleep in the same room. * Compare and contrast the Japanese quilt cover with our American ones. How are they alike? How are they different? Sake Keg with “Horns” (Tsuno-daru) Meiji Period, 19th century Lacquer on wood and bamboo H: 57 cm; Diam: 23 cm This striking container is for sake, a kind of wine made from rice. It is made as a ceremonial keg for the engagement and wedding festivities. The handles of the keg are made much longer than usual, otherwise it would be an ordinary bucket with the cross-bar for carrying. The characters on one of the "horns" give the trade mark of the wineshop and and a word for good luck. The inscriptions on both horns tell the address of the wineshop and the owner's name. The exaggerated handles are decorative and ceremonious, commonly seen in the traditional wedding custom in Japan. When a young man is in search of a wife or a young woman in search of a husband, their parents would ask friends to look for a likely marriage partner. If a marriage is proposed, and the parents think a suitable match may be made, they ask an appropriate person to act as the go-between—one who brings about a meeting between the young people and their parents and/or relatives. Such a meeting would be made as if by accident. If both sides are mutually satisfied, and after further enquiries about the families and the young man or girl in question, a lucky day would be set for the formal proposal of marriage. On this day, the young man's family sends a trusted friend or servant to the girl's home and makes a formal proposal. This person brings with him a present of silk dresses, an obi, fish and sake (rice wine) contained in a keg such as the one shown in the exhibition. The father accepts the present and gives a receipt for it as a sign of agreement. The betrothal would then be announced and the preparation for the marriage would begin. * Find an example of an obi material in the museum and discuss its meaning and use. What kind of customs or traditions do we practice for engagements, weddings or other important occasions?

127 Temple School Desk Edo Period, 19th century, Wood H: 25 cm; L: 96.5 cm; W: 35 cm

When you see this desk you may immediately associate it with temples, incense burning, and votive offerings. True, this is the original function and intent of the table. But if you look closely at the worn-out surface you will notice the age-old spilled ink stains and signs of kids' scribbles. Can you imagine pupils sitting around such a desk learning Japanese, arithmetic, geography, history, elementary drawing, singing, and perhaps handicraft work for boys and needlework for girls? As early as in late 19th century the Japanese established a standardized, national system of education, and now Japan is one of the best educated nations in the world. However, before, the only education many Japanese received was at such a temple school. They were often located at a corner of the local temple sponsored by Buddhist monks and villagers in general. Frequently temple schools had only one teacher, one classroom, or even one desk. Different grades and different classes were taught at the same time. The teacher might put all the other pupils at silent reading and teach one subject to one grade first. After finishing his explanation, he would give those pupils a written assignment to finish in class, so that he could start a second subject with another grade, and so on and so forth. Thus a teacher at that time learned to become extremely flexible and versatile. How could the Japanese teacher and pupils manage with such a low desk? Well, they all sat on a floor covered by woven mats called “tatami.” The kneeling teacher taught at the desk in front of a group of kneeling pupils. You may have heard of the Japanese custom of removing one's shoes before entering a house. This is to protect the tatami and keep it clean. The Japanese people sit and sleep directly on the tatami instead of using a chair, couch or bed. What do you think the old Japanese classroom would look like? How would you compare it with our American classrooms? Tenjin Edo Period, 19th century Gesso and paint over a mixture of sawdust and glue H: 43.5 cm; W: 34.5 cm

Empress Edo Period, 19th century Painted wood

128 H: 20.5 cm; W: 24 cm

The word “Tenjin” means “Heavenly God” in Japanese, but here it represents Sugawara Michizane, a very famous statesman and poet in Japanese history, who lived from 845 to 903 A.D. Michizane was one of the highest ministers in the imperial court, but was persecuted by his enemy out of jealousy. After his death, he was restored with all his former court titles and deified by the Emperor as Tenjin. Here Tenjin sits in an up-right posture, wearing formal court attire and a court sword at the back, as if he were receiving worshipers or attending an imperial audience. Popularly known as an extremely wise and learned man, Tenjin was widely worshiped as the patron deity of literature. During the Edo period (1614 - 1868), Tenjin's spirit became the guardian god of the schools sponsored by Buddhist priests. Young boys were encouraged to admire and attain the virtues and learning of Michizane. A visit to the god's shrine or a display of his figure was to help boys to become diligent and achieve success in their school work. Perhaps it was for the purpose of appealing to children that his figure was often made to appear a child-like doll, instead of being a stern-faced statesman or a bearded scholar. Tenjin dolls would be presented to baby boys to express the hope that the child would grow up to be as learned and wise as the god. They were also specially displayed during the traditional Boys' Festival on the fifth of May to inspire young boys to live up to the expectation of their parents. The wooden figure at the bottom refers to the Empress of Japan. It would usually be displayed together with dolls of the Emperor, court ministers and court musicians, etc. These dolls are called “hina,” which means “something small and lovely.” They are the most important feature of the Girls's Day, or Doll Festival, that takes place on March 3. On this day households with daughters would set up a tiered platform covered with red felt to display the dolls. Wealthy parents bought a complete set for a daughter as soon as she was born. Poor people saved to buy at least a few dolls for their girl babies. When girls grew up and married, they kept their dolls for their own daughters. Thus these dolls became carefully guarded family treasures. They are parents’ prayers for the health and sound growth of their daughters.

* Can you now interpret the pine tree on Tenjin’s chest,the waves and the plum on the stand? What difference do you find when you compare Japanese dolls with American ones?

129 Chapter 16 Ancient Styles

Probably you still find Asia or Africa very remote to you. I think with our modern transportation the remoteness is more because of the difference than the distance. Because their culture differs significantly from all other cultures in the world. But why is the difference? How about the world art of remote antiquity? Let compare these three figures. Fig. 1 is the famous Venus of Willendorf (limestone, 4”, 23,000 BC, Czech Republic). You have all seen it already. Fig. 2 is so-called Seated Goddess from Çatal Hüyük (fired clay, 2” tall, 5,900 BC, Turkey). There is also a Chinese version of the goddess, with also a swollen belly and huge breasts. All of the three show the worshipping of the power of fertility -- the goddess of birth. All have similar formal qualities. So we may say in the remote past there were more things in common than in difference. Why? Partly this may be due to the primitive artist’s similar understanding of nature and life. Their living conditions must be similar, so their creative motives are similar, and their tools and techniques are also not much different. But later, as we all know, there have been more differences than similarities in the art of East and West. How come they ended up in entirely different directions? Here the major factor is the geographical environment. The influence of the geographical conditions is not a temporary thing. It is omnipresent and persistent. It renders a permanent character on a civilization. The geographical condition of many ancient countries in the world ensured an agrarian economy. Greece is a country of husbandry rather than of fields. The land is somewhat isolated from the main body of the Balkan Peninsula by a series of mountain ridges. More than 70% of Greece is mountainous, and less than 25% of it can be cultivated. But the Greeks were able to utilize the sea for trade to meet the shortage, and the population was thus more mobile. They felt at home everywhere and became merchants and aggressive colonists of the ancient world. Greece is a maritime country. With the land divided partly by the sea, it was all very natural and convenient for the Greeks to become seafarers and engage in sea transport, developing trade of all kinds with peoples far and near. Many other ancients were basically farmers who bend on their land year after year. The land of Greece is the meeting-point of three continents: Asia Minor, Europe and North Africa. Many sea routes between Egypt, Syria, Asia Minor, the West and Greece itself

130 intersect around Crete, the largest island in the eastern Mediterranean. Trade and culture contacts had no doubt linked the Greeks closely with all those regions. The Greek civilization was thus conveniently built on the blending of various elements, especially Mesopotamian, Egyptian, and Minoan cultures.

Cave Painting (Paleolithic Age before 8000 BC)

In the caves of southern France & northern Spain, we see the birth of art at the Stone Age. Altamira caves: The first example of cave painting was discovered accidentally in 1879 in northern Spain. An amateur archeologist (Marcelino de Sautuola) took his five-year-old daughter with him to explore a cave near their home. He had found some odd-looking tools in the area. He thought they could find more in the cave. Because the cave was so full of rubbish accumulated over thousands of years, the ceiling was low, and the father had to stoop. His daughter, who did not have to stoop, was delightfully surprised to see pictures of animals on the ceiling. The Father was also surprised, for he believed they were a very ancient art. But when he announced this amazing find to scientists, he was met with disbelief. What is more, at the Lisbon Congress on Prehistoric Archeology in 1880, archeologists officially dismissed these paintings as forgeries. It was not until cave after cave of similar paintings were discovered elsewhere in northern Spain and southern France that archeologists began to reconsider. They noticed that some of these cave paintings were partially covered by calcium deposits. Scientists knew that these deposits took thousands-of-years to grow, to accumulate over the painting. Eventually everyone realized that these paintings were the world’s oldest known art, and that they probably had been made by people who lived at the end of the last glacial age. The discovery greatly influenced the development of Modern art. It is also a great impact on our ideas of world history, on our idea of art -- what is art. The most recent discovery is the Chauvet Cave in southern France in 1994. We may expect more of them to be discovered and more secretes to be revealed. Hall of Bulls, Lascaux, France (15,000-13,000 BC) Approximately life size. The best paintings are those found in the caves at Lascaux in southern France. It was discovered in 1940. They have survived more than 15,000 years in the dry caves. Yet once the caves were opened these paintings started deteriorating rapidly (moisture and carbon dioxide enhaled by visitors). So the caves have been closed to the general public since 1963. The cave paintings are almost exclusively of animals—bison, mammoths, reindeer, horses, cows, and bears. Humans are only rarely represented. And there is no setting, no

131 landscape. Lifelike representations were preferred to abstract patterns. No intention is shown to achieve some unified composition. The cave mouths are found to be living quarters of Stone Age humans. But the paintings were painted deep inside the caves. Some of them are very difficult to reach. So we can be sure that the paintings were not used as ornaments. Probably they were done for some magical or religious purposes. The figures are drawn naturalistically, but that arrangement on the cave walls shows little concern for any consistency of placement in relationship to each other or to the wall space. We find no compositional adjustment to suggest the perspective effect and no notion of separation and enframement. Figures are not proportionately related. They are of different sizes and often painted on top of others. It seems that the painting of a single figure in itself fulfilled the purpose of the artist. The hunter-artists made frequent and skillful use of the naturally irregular surfaces of the walls, utilizing projections, recessions, fissures, and ridges to help give the illusion of real presence to their forms. These images were drawn with chunks of red and yellow ocher that were mixed with something like animal fat as a medium. Many flat stones have been discovered that served as palettes for mixing colors. From these paintings we may see that Color was already a particularly important element of art. Color was already enjoyed and appreciated by the stone- age people. They seemed to have used only six colors: chalk white, ocher earth, brown earth, red earth, violet earth, smoke black. The six pigments were diluted in animal fat, using bowls and palettes of stone and crude horse-hair brushes. Stone-age artists also have left us sculptures in stone, ivory, bone, and antler. Bison, c. 13,000-8000 BC. Unbaked clay, 2’ long, France. The two bison are modeled in clay with striking vitality and simplicity. The style may be related to paintings in the same cave. The show a mature sense of three-D form.

Venus of Willendorf, 28,000-25,000 BC. Limestone, 4 1/8” Vienna. It represents the female figure executed in the full round. It is composed of a cluster of almost ball-like shapes. The anatomical exaggeration suggests that this and similar statuettes served as fertility fetishes. The aim was not to show the female of the species, but rather the idea of female fecundity, the artist depicted not woman, but fertility. In the Neolithic age, human beings began to settle down in places, organized community and lived in villages. The most famous structure they left over is megaliths (great stones). The dominant megalithic type is the passage grave. Thousands of them have been found in France and England. They were often arranged in parallel rows and run for several miles. Their purpose was evidently religious and may have had to do with a cult of the dead or the worship of the sun. Sometimes they were arranged in a circle:

132 Stonehenge, c. 2000 BC 97’ in diameter, Salisbury Plain, Wiltshire, England. It is one of the most mysterious places on earth: a strange circle of oddly arranged stones, standing silently. How workers moved 40 ton stones over 20 miles of rolling hillside? How did they set them upright in perfect alignment at the sacred site? The remains at Stonehenge are of a complex of rough-cut sarsen (a form of sandstone) stones and smaller “bluestones.” Outermost is a ring of large monoliths of sarsen stones capped by lintels. Next is a ring of bluestones, and then a horseshoe of trilithons—five lintel-topped pairs of the largest sarsens, each weighing forty-five to fifty tons. Stonehenge seems to have been a kind of astronomical observatory—for the observation of the sun and the moon. * * * * * Egyptian Art: refers to objects, paintings, and architecture made between 3000 and 1000 BC. The pyramids and the great sphinx along the Nile River were constructed between 2680 and 2565 BC, period known as Old Kingdom (2680-2258). It was also during this time that the visual conventions we identify with ancient Egypt were developed—that of representing the human figure with head, pelvis, legs, and feet in profile and eye and shoulders facing front. Artists made few attempts to create a sense of space in the scenes they depicted and used clear outlines to communicate shapes. Much of what we have left of this art comes from tombs where sculpture and painting depict scenes of daily life, hunting, war, and ceremonies as if to insure that the dead could go on living as they had. The short-lived Middle Kingdom (2000-1786 BC) maintained much of the style and content of the old kingdom but tended toward more delicacy, and figures were more likely to contain readable emotional expressions. The era in Egyptian art known as the New Kingdom (c.1570-1342 BC) produced lavish funerary tributes to the rulers Queen Hatshepsut, Akhenaten and his queen, Nefertiti, and Tutankhamen (“King Tut”). With the discovery of Tut’s tomb in 1922, it was possible to see how naturalistic representation had become. Ancient Egyptian culture is considered crucial to the development of art in Europe and the Western Hemisphere. Its influence on early Greek art is visible. It has also made its way into our life today, as in our fascination with mummies and the contents of tombs, esp. jewelry. By 2500 BC, Egypt had been a civilization for nearly 1000 years. The origin of many early civilizations is intimately related to rivers: Just as the Mesopotamian civilization grew along the banks of the Euphrates or the Tigris (Iraq), Chinese civilization along the Yangtze River (3,900 miles long) and the Yellow River (3,600 miles long), and India’s civilization along the Indus River, Egyptian civilization developed along the valley of the Nile. Egyptian culture was dedicated to providing a home for the ka, that part of the human being that defines personality and that survives life on earth after death. The enduring nature

133 of the ka required that artisans decorate tombs with paintings that the spirit could enjoy after death. Small servant figures might be carved from wood to serve the departed in the afterlife. The ka could find a home in a statue of the deceased. Pyramids, Gizeh, Egypt, (2530-2460 BC) from left: Menkure (grandson, ca.2460BC); Khafre [kæfr∂] (son, ca.2500 BC); Khufu (father, ca. 2530BC). They are the largest, most massive structures on earth. The largest of them, Khafre, is forty-five stories high, 20 years to complete. Its base covers 4 blocks of NY City. Used 2.5 million stone blocks, weighing 15 tons each, originally covered with lime stone that were polished to smoothness of glass. The unique element Khafre added to pyramid is Sphinx, carved out of natural rock. It has a body of lion and a head of pharaoh—face of Khafre. The Sphinx was made as a kind of guardian for the entire pyramid plateau. There are also satellite pyramids for queens and officials, and mortuary temples. The purpose of the construction was to protect the pharaoh’s mummified body to eternity. But all the pyramids were broken into and bodies violated. The Pharaoh’s mummies were carried into the great pyramid for entombment. You can go inside it through the tunnel left over by the tomb robbers, but it is not advised unless you are physically in good shape. The underground chamber is deeply below the base. A long gallery leads to the king’s chamber near the center of the pyramid. The Queen’s chamber is a distance above the base. It is built entirely of the pink Aswan granite. Guarding the tomb is Sphinx, named by the ancient Greeks after a creature in their own myths. Romans called it the god of death. The name hardly captures the intent of those who created it. The Sphinx faces the east of the rising sun, the renewal of each day. Its lion’s body symbolizes royalty, its head the human intelligence. When Egypt was dominated by the Turks, it was used for target practice by cannoneers. Maybe that is how it lost its nose. A few thousand years ago, it was completely covered by shifting sand, and then it was dug out. Now some people would say the Turks were the most insensitive people. How about the Germans—second world war. British burned the most beautiful garden in China. Chinese burned the former palaces when a new dynasty established. Napoleon stood at the site calculating if there were enough stones to build a wall around France. If he should have done what he wanted to do there would have been no more Pyramids. If they want to see ancient wonders, Europeans would have to go to China to see the Great Walls and the First Emperor’s Terra-cotta army. What are other ancient wonders? The Hanging Gardens of Babylon, the Statue of Zeus at Olympia, the Temple of Artemis at Ephesos, the Mausoleum at Halicarnassus, the Colossus of Rhodes and the Lighthouse at Alexandria.

134 Are we sensitive? We appreciated these constructions as art, called them ancient wonders, we are proud of them. But we tend to forget that the more splendid the building, the greater the human suffering. Pharaoh Men-kau-re and his queen (2599-2571 BC) Slate, 4ft 61/2 in. (1.4m) The joint portrait statues of Menkure and his queen. The statues remain wedded to the block of stone from which they were carved, and conventional postures are used to suggest the timeless nature of these eternal substitute homes for the ka. rigidly frontal with the arms hanging straight down and close to his well-built body, and the hands clenched into fists with thumbs forward; the left leg is slightly advanced, but there is no shift in the angle of the hips to correspond to the uneven distribution of weight. The queen stands in a similar position; her right arm, however, circles around her husband’s waist and her left hand gently rests on his left arm. This is a frozen, stereotypical gesture that connotes their marital status; there is no other sign of affection or emotion, and husband and wife look not at each other but out into space. Musicians entertaining, c.1420 BC wall painting in the tomb of Nakht, Thebes, Egypt. It shows ease and naturalness though it still follows the stiff rule of representation: frontal shoulders with faces and legs in profile. The girl in the center even turns her head back. So at this point, the ka may have required not only necessities and comforts in the afterlife, but also formal entertainment as well. The figure of a human in Egyptian art follows a strict formula: his head, legs and feet are shown from the side while on eye and his shoulders are shown frontally. This style was intended to convey the main features of the human body as clearly as possible. Overtime, it became the “correct” way to show people, especially important people. To depart from this formula would have been an error, like a spelling mistake. Such a mistake might do magical harm to the soul of the deceased. The figures of the servants also reflect this formula, but they show somewhat more variety. Why? Because a servant is less important than a master. Another reason for this artistic rigidity had to do with the basic conservatism of Egyptian society. All of its cultural forms, including art, changed little over thousands of years. Egyptian art was almost as eternal in fact as it was in intent. Weighing the Soul of the Dead (1025 BC) paint on papyrus [p∂pair∂s]. MMA, NY. A Book of the Dead is a common offering in upper-class tombs. It may serve as a tamp of proof to ensure an eternal life. It shows the dead woman Naun, at the ceremony in which her heart (on the left side of the scale), is weighed against the small figure of the goddess Ma-at (on the right), as Naun recites the list of sins she did not commit in life. Naun, who was a temple musician, is accompanied by the goddess Isis (at left) as the jackal-headed god Anubis, who is

135 in charge of the dead, balances the scale. Osiris, the god of the dead, at right, proclaims “Give her eyes and her mouth,” meaning that her heart balances with order, truth, and justice and she is awarded the eternal life. In ancient Egypt, artists had seven colors available to them: yellow, ocher, sienna, red, violet, green, blue, as well as black and white, and gray from the two. The Egyptians are accredited to be the first people who discovered the two colors: green and blue. The Egyptians also produced the first inorganic synthetic pigments: blue frit, a clear, glasslike blue and lead white, which is still used today. (Lead white, gray, dark yellow, burnt umber, brown earth, red earth, malachite green, Egyptian blue, violet earth smoke black). Cosmetic bottle in the shape of a fish (1410-1320) from El-Amarna, Egypt, c. 1410-1320 BC, Glass, 5 ½” long. British Museum, London. The Egyptians discovered how to make glass about 3000 BC. The first glass objects were beads and solid shapes. Sometime between 1500 and 1350 BC the Egyptians produced glass vessels. The use of cosmetics was common among upper classes. They paid as much attention to personal appearances as we do today. Both sexes wore flattering wigs. Women used eyeliners, skin creams, hair pin, painted nails, lip oil, curlers, nail paints, and they also had a strong passion for jewelry. * * * * * Mesopotamia (from the Greek for “between the rivers”) It is a marchy region between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers in what is now Iraq. At about the same time that Egyptian culture developed in Egypt, Mesopotamian society began to flourish along the Tigris and Euphrates rivers between 4000 and 3000 BC. They are credited with the invention of the wheel and the invention of writing. They developed schools, libraries, and written law. Unlike Egypt, which was protected on all sides by sea and desert, Mesopotamian society was constantly threatened by invasion. Perhaps this explains why stories told in much Mesopotamian art are about the fighting. By about 5000 years ago, the Sumerian people of this region had developed a system of writing called cuneiform writing (write with a pointed stick on clay). The writing survived on clay tablets and stone cylinder seals. The seals were rolled onto the clay as a signature. Print from a Mesopotamian cylinder seal , (c.2700 BC) A seal consisted of a cylindrical piece of stone, usually about an inch or so in height, pierced for the attachment of a cord. Made of various colored stones, both hard and soft, such as rock crystal, agate, carnelian and jasper, lapis lazuli, marble and alabaster, seals were engraved with a design in intaglio (incised), so that a raised pattern was left when the seal was rolled over soft clay. With this

136 device, the Sumerians sealed, signed, and identified their letters and documents, which were written on clay tablets. King of Akkad, (c.2300 BC) Bronze, lifesize. This is a magnificent bronze head of a king. It is the oldest existing portrait in metal. The eyes were originally inlaid with precious stones, torn from their sockets by robbers long ago. An idealized portrait, with every part simplified and perfected. The union of the formal and the natural that is so common in Mesopotamian art. The symmetry of the head and the stylized motifs of the curly locks of hair manage to be consistent with the projection of personality—a strong-minded and commanding one. The sensitive mouth, the large eyes, made even larger by the absence of the precious stones once embedded in the sockets. It also shows the sophisticated skill in casting and in engraving of details. The Standard of Ur. (c.2685-2645) wooden box inlaid with white shell and lapis lazuli, 19 in. long. established conventions for the construction of the human image. Several devices of representation simplify the narrative, explain the action, and even convey the impression of motion. The panel shown here depicts a Sumerian military victory—the advance of the foot soldiers, the charge of the chariots. The figures are all carefully arranged in superimposed strips, suggestive of a film. The purpose is the same—to achieve a continuous narrative effect. Each individual figure is carefully spaced, with little overlapping. Poses are repeated, as in the line of foot soldiers, to suggest large numbers. The horses of the war chariots (with the lines of the legs repeated to suggest the other horses of the team and their alignment in space) change from a walk to a gallop as they attack. The figures are essentially in profile, but it is an almost universal convention in the ancient Near East that the eyes— again, very large— are in front view, as are the torsos. The artist indicates the parts of the human body that enter into our concept of what the human form looks like and avoids positions, attitudes, or views that would conceal or obscure the characterizing parts. For example, if the figures were in strict profile, an arm and perhaps a leg would be concealed; the body would appear to have only half its breadth; and the eye would not “read” as an eye at all, because it would not have its distinctive flat oval shape and the pupil, so important in the Tell Asmer figures, would not appear. We could call this approach “conceptual” rather than “optical,” because the artist records not the immediate, fleeting aspect of things but rather a concept of the distinguishing and abiding properties of the human body. It is the fundamental forms of things and the artist’s knowledge of them, not their accidental appearance that direct the artist’s hand. But this approach is simply a reflection of the general formalism that was imposed at the beginning of the historical period in an effort to create an enduring order.

137 Ashurbanipal Hunting Lions, from Nineveh, (c.650 BC) Alabaster. The lions were previously captured and are now released from cages in a large, enclosed arena. They charge the king. The king is his chariot and with his servants protecting his blind sides. The king shoots down the animals. The king, menaced by the savage spring of a lion at his back, is saved by the quick action of two of his spearmen. Behind his chariot lies a pathetic trail of dead and dying animals, pierced by what would appear to be far more arrows than are needed to kill them. The intention is to aggrandize the king’s image by piling up his kills, by showing the king of men conquering the king of beasts. The actions of the king are treated as godlike. Mesopotamian artists emphasized the sense of physical solidity. Mesopotamian art in general, and Assyrian reliefs especially, show by their style that life in this world, with its fighting, hunting, and feasting, was the main concern. The artist knew the anatomy of the lion perfectly. * * * * * * * * * The Maya Large towns and cities appeared on the American continents by about 3000 BC. The best known of the American civilizations is that of the Maya, in the present Guatemala, Mexico and Belize. One of their great cities was Tikal. Tikal flourished 100 BC – AD 900. Maya buildings, like all ancient construction in the Americas, were built by human labor alone. There were no cattle or horses to be domesticated to haul loads of stone and earth. Maya style was based on drawing with a brush of flexible hair, which produced the flowing, varied line that was the main characteristic of their art. Maya line shows three- dimensional forms, not flat shapes. Human figures are usually shown with their heads in profile or from the front view. Bodies are frequently twisted and foreshortened in a way the Egyptians artists avoided. But color was flat with no indication of light and shadow, though bright and varied. Painting on pottery is the most abundant type of Maya art, but the Maya also painted the walls of many of their public buildings with scenes of political, military, and ceremonial life.

Maya Lord of the Underworld, AD 600-900. Painted ceramic, 6½” in diameter, 8½” high. It shows firm flowing line drawn with a brush. The old man seated on a throne is one of the lords of the Underworld, the land of the dead. He is attended by young women and a rabbit scribe writing in a book bound in jaguar skin. Maya mural painting at Bonampak, Mexico, AD 800, Fresco secco, figures 24” high. Watercolor.

138 Murals in this site are the best known. The detail shows prisoners brought before the ruler of the city. The victors are still in their fantastic battle gear, but the captives have been striped and are soon to be sacrificed. Inscriptions in hieroglyphics above the figures identify the ruling family on the top of the stepped platform. Notice the poses of the captives, with the heads always in profile but the parts of the bodies foreshortened and overlapping. The colorful clothing and strange mask-headresses of the warriors give us an idea of Maya arts of textiles and costume. Stela 14, the accession of a Maya ruler, AD 761. Limestone, 9’3” high. Maya leaders erected stone monuments or stelae to commemorate events in the lives of the kings. A brush drawing was done first on the stone, and then the sculptor carved away the background in as many levels as needed to make the design clear, leaving low, flat planes of relief. This stela shoes a young king newly seated on his throne. He inherited through his mother who stands below. Symbols of the gods that rule the universe surround the scene. The queen mother, the ladder leading to the throne, and the god symbols are all in very low relief, with the background just barely cut away from the drawn lines. The young king however, is give much more mass by the cutting away of a deeper space around his body. Color may have been added to Maya sculptures such as this, but only traces of it are left now. The Tomb of Pacal, Maya, Palenque, Mexico. Cover of the sarcophagus of Pacal, ruler of Palenque, A.D. 683. Limestone, 7’3” x 12’5” On August 31, in the year of 683, Pacal, the ruler of the May city of Palenque, died at the age of 81. His tomb had already been built deep inside its pyramid that was crowned by a temple. The massive limestone sarcophagus had been carved to receive his body, and the elaborately carved stone lid was ready to be rolled into place. The relief carving on the lid shows Pacal at the moment of death falling into the Underworld, the land of the dead, which is ruled by the Earth Monster. The mask of the Monster dominates the lower part of the design on the lid. The cross-shaped tree rising above him represents the center of the world. A quetzal bird sits on top, symbolizing the sky. A border of symbols for the heavenly bodies and celestial events frames the scene. On the edge of the massive limestone slab there are portraits of the king’s ancestors. Like the art deposited in an Egyptian tomb, this carving was not meant to be seen by living people. Its intended audience was the gods and ancestors living in eternity. It testifies to the superhuman status of the Maya king: he takes his place in the eternal universe.

139 Chapter 17 Greek and Roman, Middle Ages

Greek Art: began with pottery decorated with distinctive geometric patterns (Geometric period 900-660 BC); The “archaic” period (c.660-480 BC) marked a return to representation and the dominance of sculpture, especially statues of nude walking figures called “Kouroi,” at first having many of the stiff and formal characteristics of Egyptian art. This period was also known for elaborate schools of vase painting, working in black-figure and red-figure styles. To most historians and philosophers of the Western world, the so-called classical period (c.480-400 BC) was a high point in cultural achievement setting standards of beauty, humanism, and other ideals honored to this day. Much of the art—even poetry and music was based on systems. For example, Greek architecture depended on the “column” to support the weight of the peaked roofs. Various column types, or “orders,” were developed. The most common of them are Doric, Ionic, and Corinthian. The triangle created by the sloping roofs was called the “pediment” and became the site for sculptural reliefs. Sculpture involving the figure became increasingly idealized, seeming less like real people than perfect representations of athletes or gods and goddesses. In carving and craft, artists increasingly sought perfection of form. Greek Art: Art created on the peninsula now called Greece and many nearby islands in the Aegean Sea, including Crete, home to Minoan culture, active c. 3000-1400 BCE, when it was subsumed by the Mycenaeans, who were in turn invaded by the Dorians and other barbarian tribes c. 1000 BCE. The resulting decline in artistic activity was followed by the gradual emergence of what we consider Greek art, beginning with pottery decorated with distinctive geometric patterns. The “archaic” period (c.660-480 BCE) marked a return to representation and the dominance of sculpture, especially statues of nude walking figures called “kouroi,” at first having many of the stiff and formal characteristics of Egyptian art. This period was also known for elaborate schools of vase painting, working in black-figure and red-figure styles.

To most historians and philosophers of the Western world, the so-called classical period (c.480-400 BCE) was a high point in cultural achievement, setting standards of beauty, humanism, and other ideals honored to this day. Much of the art—even poetry and music—was

140 based on systems. For example, Greek architecture depended on the “column” to support the weight of the peaked roofs. Various column types, or “orders,” were developed, the three most common being Doric, Ionic, and Corinthian. The triangle created by the sloping roofs was called the “pediment” and became the site for sculptural reliefs. Sculpture involving the figure became increasing idealized, seeming less like real people than perfect representations of athletes or gods and goddesses. In carving and craft, artists increasingly sought perfection of form. Increasingly dynamic expressions, gestures, and body positions, adding emotional depth to the always-present harmony and balance, were the accomplishments of the “Hellenistic” period, ushered in by the Macedonian conqueror Alexander the Great in 375 BCE and lasting until the Roman conquest of the area in the mid-first century BCE. Greek sculpture comes down to us mostly because the Romans made copies of many Greek statues, and all our knowledge of the arts owes a great debt to archaeology. Compare the figure of Kouros from Anavyssos, c.525 BCE of archaic Greece to the male figure from Egypt on p.40. They hold almost the same pose, but here one can see increasing naturalism. Unlike the Egyptian king, the Greek athlete is nude, more defined anatomically, and even seems to be smiling. Roman Art: the art of the vast Roman Empire, dating from 30 BCE to the end of the fourth c., when the Western part of the divided and weakened empire declined in importance, making way for the rise of the Byzantine Empire in the East. Though greatly influenced by the Greeks, Roman artists seemed less interested in idealization than in visual accuracy as well as psychological penetration. Roman art tended to serve the interests of government more than those of the gods, partly because the Roman emperors often set themselves up as gods. As in Greece, a major Roman art form was architecture. Roman architects not only used the column to bear the weight of high ceilings but also invented rounded arches, which, anchored in very thick masonry walls, made possible huge spans of open space as seen in the Colosseum and the vast domed areas of the great Roman baths buildings. Free-standing and relief sculpture on buildings depicted people and events, often triumphant battle scenes. Portraits of leaders were common, including “death masks,” casts of faces of important figures created shortly after their deaths. What little painting that survives seems to have decorated houses of the wealthy (along with elaborate mosaics) and strived for the kind of realism so accurate that it makes us question whether we see a “real” scene or merely a painting.

Classical: an imprecise term applied in the Western world to the civilizations of ancient Greece and Rome. Roman art is not the same as that of Greece. But because of Roman

141 admiration for Greek civilization there is a strong link between the two arts. We admire Greece and Rome for their political systems, philosophy, history, art, and architecture. It is especially a term of respect for Greek artistic achievement from roughly 480 to 400 BC, when Greece was dominated by the city-state of Athens. Classical art is characterized by symmetrical, harmonious architecture on a human scale and sculpture of idealized forms, which seems too good to be true. There is evidence that the stone was brightly painted in Greek times, but the paint has weathered and marble’s pure whiteness fits our concept of the restraint and beauty of classical art. In popular usage, “classical” refers as much to ideas as to things. Many of the values we honor today—including our sense of what is great in art—were established during these periods. For example, the Greek and Roman concept of respect for individuals is considered the initiation of democracy—equality among citizens, although many people, including women, were not eligible for citizenship. Greek civilization, unlike the Egyptian, evolved and changed its forms. Witness the difference between two statues separated by less than one hundred years. The simplicity and stiffness of early figures (before 500 BC) contrasts vividly with the naturalness of classical periods (after 450 BC). The essence of the classical beauty lies inwardly in naturalness, reason and coherence; outwardly it is expressed in the balance and harmony of all parts, each with the other and all with the whole. In such endeavor, pure structure must prevail in architecture as well as representations of anatomy; hence geometry is the foundations of Greek art. In such endeavor, pure structure is the most important thing. It requires clarity, little ornamentation and no redundancy. And pure structure is must prevail not only in architecture as well as in sculptural representation. Thus Greek architecture is the epitome of simplicity. Essentially it is a post-and-lintel structure topped by entablature and supported by a row of columns. Of all the architectural styles of the past, this is the only one still in use today. The great era of Greek culture, known as the Classical Period, lasted from about 480 BC to 323 BC. Around 450 BC the citizens of Athens began rebuilding a fortified hill called the Acropolis and the temple of Athena called the Parthenon. Greek sculpture of this period, on the other hand, shows a certain limitation. It lacks vitality; even the anatomy of athletes in action seems to be stiff and rigid. Clearly this is the result of the Classical principles of formalization and perfection. We know geometric forms usually do not carry much energy. And the uniform clarity of Greek statuary could appear dull and uninteresting. They appear to have been cast from the same mold. (Note: after High Renaissance, ambiguity gradually gained its way over clarity.

142 Classical sculpture, such as Phidias’ statues, expresses two principles: Humanism and idealism. Humanism is defined as a view of life based on the nature, dignity, and interests of people. The realism of Phidias’s statue reflects this humanistic tendency. On the other hand, an idealistic tendency is also reflected in the statue by Phidias. Idealism has to do with a concept of perfection. Greek philosophers reasoned that there was a perfect form for everything: a perfect woman, perfect man, perfect horse, perfect tree, and so forth. Ideal manhood and ideal womanhood received equal attention from the Greeks. Greek architecture of the time also expresses humanism and idealism. The Parthenon, unlike an Egyptian pyramid or an American skyscraper, is built on a human scale. Although it is grand, it is not overwhelming. The method of its construction, as you can see, is post and lintel. The idealism of the Parthenon can be seen in the proportional relationship between the columns and the rest of the temple: their width relative to their height, their width relative to the spaces between the columns, and their height relative to the height of the temple. The Parthenon, Athens (448-405 BC) architects: Ictimus and Callicrates Parthenon was on top of a mountain and appears completely distinct from the forms of nature around it. Athens reached the height of its glory in the second half of the 5th c BC, when, in the course of a campaign to rebuild the public areas which had been ravaged by Persian occupation and war, the statesman Pericles patronized the architects Ictimus and Callicrates to build the majestic Parthenon atop the acropolis to house a colossal ivory-and- gold effigy of the city’s divine guardian, Athena. It took 14 years to build and embellish with sculptures (under the direction of Phidias). (Gardner:) Parthenon is an peripheral temple, such that its short side is slightly less than half the length of its long side. The builders aimed for unsurpassable excellence in every detail. The stylobate is convex, very subtly so, columns tilt slightly inward and are not uniformly space, standing closer to each other at the corners of the building, Moreover, not all the columns are of the same diameter, those at the corners are somewhat wider. The entasis, or subtle tapering of the column, transforms it into a muscular form like that of a limb. Geometry was carefully calculated then subverted to the ends of a sense of natural beauty and conformation with human form. The Three Goddesses, a figural group from the corner of the east pediment, is typical of the Phidian style. The bodies of the goddesses are weighty and substantial. Their positions are naturalistic and their gestures fluid, despite the fact that limbs and heads are broken of. The draperies hang over the bodies in a realistic fashion, and there is a marvelous contrast of textures between the heavier garments that wrap around the legs and the more diaphanous fabric covering the upper torsos. The thinner drapery clings to the body as if it was wet, revealing the shapely figures of the goddesses. The intricate play of the linear folds renders a

143 tactile quality not seen in art before this time. The lines both gently envelop the individual figures and integrate them in a dynamically flowing composition. Phidias has indeed come a long way from the archaic artist for whom the contours of the pediment were all but an insurmountable problem. The free-hanging dresses of the Greeks provide a unique feature of the Greek sculpture. In contrast to the solid armor and uniforms of the Mesopotamian soldiers, or the solidness of Egyptian dresses, the Greek drapery does not hide the naturalistic body beneath it. It is sometimes even rendered transparent, indicated merely by the fold. Thus the drapery is as lively as the human figure. In fact the drapery would help with the depiction of the action and expression of the feeling. We see in the Classical and Hellenistic drapery gentle and violent movements, sharp contrasts and dramatic effects. Naturalistic folds are introduced with great precision and variation. Synthetic designs are made to ensure a sense of harmony and beauty. In Hellenistic drapery we may even see the inner energy of the figure and the personality of the wearer. Runners in the Panathenaic games, from an amphora, (c.530 BC), black-figured pottery. Most of our knowledge of Greek painting is drawn from vase painting. All the figures are at one level. Their heads and legs are in profile, their eyes and chests in front view, similar to the Egyptian stylization. Red-figure technique came around 530 BC. It has obvious advantages over the old black-figure. Figures are now depicted in a more natural flesh tone. Interior details are now drawn with the soft brush in place of the stiff metal graver. And the artist can vary the thickness of the glaze, building it up to give relief to curls of hair or diluting it to create shades of brown. No Greek paintings are in existence today. The chronicles of ancient Greek art tell us that Zeuxis’ painted grapes so realistically that they attracted birds. As we know that most of the mural paintings found in the ruins of Pompeii and Herculaneum are copies of Greek paintings, we can tell that 10 colors were used by Greek and Roman artists. (Lead white, ocher earth, tyrian purple, smoke black, naples yellow, royal yellow, brown earth, gray, Greek green, malachite blue, etc.)

Hellenistic Greek art is highly naturalistic. While figures might appear to be posed, one can see accurate depictions of anatomy, movement, and gesture, and sometimes even personal characteristics. Winged Victory (Nike of Samothrace), c.190 BC. Marble, 8’, Louvre.

144 It portrays the Greek goddess Athena with wings, striding forward to commemorate victory. She is clearly strong and powerful. Her sense of forward motion comes not only from her position but also the furling of her robes, showing naturalism typical of Hellenistic art. * * * * * Authors of many history books regard the Romans disdainfully as “imitators” of Greek art, and assert that Roman artists lacked originality. It is true that the Romans learned from the Greek examples; but it is also a fact that the work of these “imitators” possesses internal vitality, variety or attitude and a wealth of imagination rarely found in the art of the Periclean Age. At this point, let us think about the meaning and import of the quality that has in modern times assumed a dominant role in judging art: originality. Originality was not always desirable, and at one time it would not have occurred to a critic to consider an artist “original” unless he meant it derogatorily. At certain times, an artist who was original—who deviated from convention—was regarded as a transgressor. The Egyptians put no value on originality; the Greek sculptor up to the Age of Pericles lived and worked in anonymity; the Romans concentrated on “imitation” of the Greeks; and the Byzantines felt no need for innovation—in fact, for many centuries their art did not undergo any noticeable change in character and style. The medieval craftsmen created those magnificent statues and paintings from the 12th, 13th and 14th centuries. But they were not celebrated by their contemporaries. Their works could only carry the label “anonymous” today. Art used to play a social function. Works of art were done more for social purposes than anything else. But with the shift of this function to different cultural levels, the concept of originality became an issue. In its manifold ramifications, this shift brought about a sea of confusions, culminating in the present day admiration of the so-called “avant-garde.” Greatness in art did not necessarily go hand in hand with originality. The achievements of original artists were frequently of little aesthetic significance —quite often their originality was achieved at the expense of beauty and skillful execution. True originality is difficult to assess, for it often assumes many guises and takes on variable forms. Attitudes of eccentricity, minor or major deviations from the “norm,” inverted platitudes, etc., are today accepted as manifestations of original conceptions. The inability of the critic in distinguishing true achievement from the bogus has created havoc and corrupted the public’s understanding of art values. True originality can be apprehended only when viewed from a historical perspective. Roman art, then, is not the work of celebrated masters, and few names in Roman sculpture have come down to us. Most of the effigies were done by anonymous stone cutters who produced works of the highest artistic quality. This is especially true in representation of

145 characters—in portraiture. Probably the gigantic work of copying drained their intellectual resources. Economy is a factor. On the other hand, all classic architecture produced in our time is totally dependent on Roman invention. Although the Etruscans were the first in Europe to employ vaults in their buildings, the ingenuity and technical prowess with which the Romans constructed their majestic arches, vaults, and domes has never been surpassed. They retained the Greek orders— Doric, Ionic, and Corinthian—and endowed them with luxuriant surface ornamentation, giving them a splendor that formed the basis of all Renaissance palace architecture. Mention should also be made of the Roman murals in the villas of Pompeii and Herculaneum, which are distinguished by the same high degree of refinement and sophistication. * * * * * * * * * The Romans were the principal heirs of Greek culture. They copied Greek statues by the thousands. Many Greek statues are known to us only through Roman copies. Original roman sculptures resemble Greek sculptures. Roman paintings—known to us only through a few surviving murals in roman homes—were largely based on Greek paintings. As you can see, the pleasant urban scene (in Fig.10.41, page 348: Mural in the Villa Boscoreale, near Pompeii, 65-30 BC) employs all the devices that we associate with pictorial depth— foreshortening, chiaroscuro, placement, variations of scale, aerial perspective—except one: a consistent application of linear perspective (note that the eye levels of the various walls, temples, and monuments are inconsistent). Neither the Greeks nor the Romans had developed a system of one-or-two-point perspective. Finally Roman temples—also made with post and lintel methods—resemble Greek temples, although most Roman temples are in the Corinthian style rather than the Doric. There was one art form, however, in which the Romans were original and unsurpassed in the ancient world: architecture, especially for secular structures. They built harbors, bridges, sewers, and gigantic water conduits called aqueducts that still line the landscape of Europe. They also built imposing structures for recreation: gymnasiums, public baths, race tracks, and stadiums like the Roman Colosseum. Most of these structures employ one or both of two Roman technologies: the arch principle of construction, and concrete.

The Column of Trajan, Rome, (AD113), marble relief, 123 ft. high. Carried on the tradition of victory monuments that the Mesopotamian leaders erected, but the Roman monument is more factual and less mythological. tells the history of the war in the form of a movie. Egyptian architecture is one of mass, and solids. Its space is negative. So is Greek architecture, which also primarily concerns with solids and masses, sculptural architecture.

146 Romans conceived architecture in terms of space, a single unified whole. There must have always been the desire to open greater spaces, without columns getting in the way. Large congregations could gather beneath the high barrel vaults of churches, which were constructed on Roman architectural principles. The development of the arch and the vault revolutionized architecture, by allowing larger spans between vertical supports, therefore much larger interior space. Rome: Architecture of power of the Government/Empire As the Roman Empire expanded in the first c AD, and the city of Rome as well as other cities brought into the empire expanded in population, an obvious consideration in the urban planning that Romans undertook was water. Aqueducts were built all over the empire, in which water was carried by gravity flow. The channels had to decline in altitude continuously over stretches of 50 miles. Important engineering feat.

Colosseum, Rome 70 - 82 AD The Romans were great spectators, so as it grew, the Empire built amphitheaters, circuses, and theaters for its citizens. The most famous of these is the Roman Colosseum, or Flavian Amphitheater. The building is an ellipse 620 ft long. Four tiers of seats for more than 50,000 spectators were supported by a rigid honeycomb structure of vaults and arches—all disguised behind an elegant curved facade. The corridors, or arcades, between the piers formed an effective pedestrian circulation system, with access to the tiered seating via tunnels and steps. Two noteworthy concepts are attributed to the Colosseum: the separation of structure and applied decoration, and the use of all three Greek orders (Doric, Ionic, and Corinthian) stacked one above the other. From the architectural point of view, it provided easy access and good visibility of large crowds. Where the Greek was rectangular in plan and structure (using the post and lintel), the Romans added curving and circular plans and structures (arches, vaults). Where Greek public buildings were often mainly to be seen from the outside and rarely crowds and to permit all sorts of events to be carried out inside. Even in ruins the Colosseum is an awesome monument, and it’s easy to see why it was a model for amphitheaters throughout history. The building also is responsible for the word arena, which is the Latin word for “sand.” It was so called because of the sand that was strewn on the ground to absorb the blood of the combatants. Begun under the emperor Vespasian and finished by his son, Titus, in about AD 80. It employs every variation of the arch system: barrel vault, cross vault, arches. Three levels of arcades (repeated arches) ring the outside; barrel-vaulted ramps lead to the arena, and cross- vaulted corridors circle the entire stadium on all levels. In addition to covering the ramps and corridors, these vaults supported the stadium seats, which at one time held 50,000 spectators.

147 Beneath the arena were cells for wild animals and locker rooms for the gladiators. At the dedication, more than 5,000 animals were killed. At one performance, the arena was flooded to stage a mock naval battle involving thousands of actors. Over 620 ft. (189m) long, 513 ft (156m) wide, and 157 ft. (47m) high, the Colosseum is ten times the size of the Parthenon.A complex system of cast concrete vaults is strong enough to support the upper levels where 50,000 spectators could be accommodated. 161 feet high, the size of a 16 story building, with four levels of seats, it was built for gladiatorial combat, mock naval battles, and fights to the death between humans and animals. Engineering focused on convenience as well as strength: 76 numbered entrances corresponded to specific seats for easy ingress/egress. Exterior consists of ashlars masonry, dry-jointed cut blocks held together with metal cramps and dowels. Many metal pieces and cut stones removed in Middle Ages. Typical Roman and later Renaissance decor: simpler styles (“orders”) of columns on bottom, more ornate on top, separated by horizontal banding.

148 Chapter18 Medieval Period

An outline of the past development: Egyptians represented the human figure with head, pelvis, legs, and feet in profile and eye and shoulders facing front. Artists made few attempts to create a sense of space in the scenes they depicted and used clear outlines to communicate shapes, and figures contain little readable emotional expressions. Ancient Egyptian culture is considered crucial to the development of art in the West. Its influence on early Greek art can be clearly seen. The Greeks started with what we called Geometric style (5’ high) in the 10th century. The 8th c BC. Dipylon Vase from the Dipylon cemetery in Athens may be considered as the culminating Geometric style. The figures are no more than symbols, representing a funeral scene with mourners attended the deceased. However, this vase shows the reintroduction of the human figure. (There were figures in mainland pottery decoration 4 centuries before) Here the figure is used as a vehicle for pictorial narrative. The G design itself is of high artistic value. Geometric Krater, from the same Dipylon cemetery, 8th c. BC, 41”, a larger body and wider mouth than the amphora. Geometric ornament becomes secondary. Figures became more important. In the next century, colonial expansion brought the Greeks in closer contact with Mesopotamian and Egyptian civilizations. Rounded, active human figures and animals began to appear on vases. Quickly the Greeks entered the black-figure and red-figure period. Archaic period (660-480 BC): with inspirations from Egypt In 600 BC: Kouroi, 6’ 540-515 BC: Koroi 530 BC Korai 510 BC Kore, (with traces of color) Then we have the glorious Classical period (480-400 BC) Standing Youth (Kritios Boy) ca. 480 BC Myron: Discobolus 450 BC (discus thrower), (Roman copy of bronze original) Hellenistic period (330-30 BC) Lisippos: Weary Herakles [her∂kliz] 4th BC. Sleeping Eros, 3rd c. BC, Apollonius: Seated Boxer, 50 BC, Old Market Woman, 2nd c. BC. Romans continued the trend started by Hellenistic artists. Burst of Caius Caesar, 1st c. AD. Augustus of Prima Porta, about the time of X’s birth

149 Middle Ages (400-1400): Death of Judas and Crucifixion of Christ. AD 420-30 Diptych leaf: The archangel Michael, 6th c.

The Middle Ages date from the fall of the Western Roman Empire, from the 5th c., to the 15th c. There was a rich variety of periods and cultures in the Middle Ages, including Byzantine (330-1453); Carolingian (8th- late 9th); Ottonian (c.900-1050); Romanesque (1050- 1200); and Gothic (late 12th-15th). Christianity was the unifying force of medieval culture; much of the art of this period related to the Catholic Church, including the Crusades. The church authorized what the artists depicted in their work, which was often made for religious settings or to indicate the piety of wealthy and aristocratic patrons. Full of symbols that were very meaningful to the people of the day, medieval art was used to teach and underscore Christian history, beliefs and values. We know names of almost no medieval artists and few can be recognized by an individual style. The character of awe that was a part of medieval Christianity is reflected in the painstaking craftemanship involved in copying and illustrating religious texts, carving intricate devotional objects and elaborate architectural sculptures, as well as creating lavish objects of metal, glass, and precious stones used in religious observations.

Byzantine art was influenced by elements of Greek and Roman art (such as an emphasis on idealizing figures). It is a style frequently identified with early Christianity, although the latter actually developed in a range of styles in Europe while it remained essentially the same in the East for hundreds of years. Examples of B. art survive in Ravenna in Italy, the Balkans, S.Russia, Asian minor, etc. produced wall paintings, illuminated manuscripts, panel paintings and above all mosaics. Golden ages: 6th-7th; 9th-12th; 13th-15th. The two most important elements in B architecture: the Roman brick vault and the dome. The glory of B art expressed itself in mosaic, made of tinted glass and gold foil. Much Byzantine art had to do with praise of God and heavenly order. There was no large- scale sculpture; many objects were small so they could be carried easily for worship; especially prevalent were portable “icons” (from the Greek word meaning “image”) —sacred figures, often of the Madonna and Child, painted on small wooden panels. Some Byzantine art depicted no people at all, only symbols. Several things stand out in Byzantine art. The backgrounds are usually filled with gold, and other areas are painted with rich colors. It contains almost no elements that make you see space or volume. Lines are obvious, used to outline figures and decorative patterns. If we recognize the figures, it is because of what they hold or how they are posed, not because of any

150 attempt to give them “real” personalities. Important to Byzantine architecture was the central- plan church, having four equal arms, its crossing often topped by a dome.

The fall of the Roman Empire began a period of history generally called the Dark Ages. During that time, great numbers of people lost their lives to barbarian invaders and to frightful diseases that sometimes wiped out entire populations of a town or a village. However, the arts did not fade out altogether. Architecture is particular maintained continuous growth, especially in the area of church construction. Byzantium was a major crossroads city on the site of what is now Istanbul, Turkey. Constantine, the Roman emperor who made Christianity the empire’s official religion, rebuilt the city in 330 CE, renaming it Constantinople and making it his capital. When the Roman Empire split permanently at the end of the fourth century, the astern portion of it—most of Asia Minor and Balken Peninsula became known as the Byzantine Empire, still governed from Constantinople. Early Christian architecture adopted two traditional Roman forms: the basilica and the round temple. The Roman approaches to spanning interior spaces were perfectly suited to the construction of large churches needed as the early Christian sects grew in size and influence. Typical examples form that period, still standing today in Italy, is the churches of San Appolinare near Ravenna and Santa Costanza in Rome. The Byzantine style flourished in the eastern portion of what had originally been the Roman Empire. The seat of Byzantine authority was located in Constantinople, today the city of Istanbul in Turkey. One of the greatest examples of Byzantine architecture that has successfully endured the passage of time and continues to attract the interest of visitors and students of art history is the Hagia Sophia in Istanbul. Hagia Sophia or Church of the Holy Wisdom, Istanbul, Turkey (AD532-537). It is the most magnificent expression of Byzantine architecture. We see an enormous scale, but a plain and unpretentious exterior. It is a supreme achievement in the history of world architecture. Its dimensions are formidable for any structure not made of steel. The quality of the interior light is very striking. There are forty windows at the base of the dome. It is said that they create the illusion that the dome is resting on the light. A Christian observer at the time wrote that the dome looked as if it were suspended by a “gold chain from Heaven.” Although the construction started in the 4th century, the Hagia Sophia we know today was begun in 532, after the earlier sanctuary was destroyed by fire. So we know little about its earliest appearance. The fundamental principle of traditional Byzantine architecture was to achieve order by balancing masses and spaces against each other as perfectly as possible. Today the building is a museum.

151 Mausoleum of Galla Placidia, Ravenna, Italy, 425-450. a small, cruciform structure with a dome covered crossing. The cross arms are very short. The plain, unadorned, brick shell encloses one of the richest mosaic ensembles in Early Christian art. Every square inch of the interior surfaces above the marble-faced walls is covered with mosaic decor. Christ as the Good Shepherd, Jesus no longer carries a lamb on his shoulders but is seated among his flock in splended isolation, heloed and robed in gold and purple. To his left and right, the sheep are distributed evenly in groups of three. But their arrangement is rather loose and informal. Landscape is depicted with foreground and background and a blue sky. All forms have 3-D bulk, cast shadows, and are disposed in depth. Obviously the creator was still deeply rooted in the Hellenic tradition. 50 years later artists worked in much more abstract and formal manner. San Vitale, 526-547, plain exterior, centrally planned structure, diversity of perspectives. Arches looping over arches, shapes of wall and vault seem to change constantly with the viewer’s position. The Byantine style appears in monumental grandeur and ornamental splendor in the mosaics of San Vitale. Justinian and Attendants, mosaic from the north wall of the apse. San Vitale. Theodora and Attendants, mosaic from the south wall of the apse, c.547. The two portrait groups represent Justinian and his empress, Theodora. in an offertory procession. Theodora, wife of Justinian, had at one time been a circus performer, but was one of the emperor’s most trusted advisers, sharing with him a vision of a Christian Roman Empire. Justinian is represented as a priest-king, carries a vessel containing the bread, and Theodora carries the golden cup with the wine. Together they are bringing to the Church an offering of bread and wine for the celebration of the Eucharist. With the halos, Justinian is to be identified with Christ, surrounded as he is by twelve advisors, like the Twelve Apostles, and Theodora, with Magi bearing gifts to the Virgin and newborn Christ embroidered on the hem of her skirt, is to be understood as a figure for Mary. In this image, the Church and the state become one and the same.

The Celtic and Carolingian Periods: Celtic and other northern artists specialized in jewlry, weapons, horse gear, and ship prows, Prow of the Oseberg Viking ship from Norway, AD 800 Prow as found in burial mound, c. 900 AD, Oseberg The Oseberg Ship, 1st half of 9th century Buckle from ship burial at Sutton Hoo, eastern England, AD 625, gold & enamal 5” long, British Museum

152 Purse Cover, Sutton Hoo, AD. 625-33, gold & enamel Reliquary [relikw∂ri] from Maurice d’Agaune, 8th c. Openwork Brooch [brout∫], 11th c. Ottonian art Imperial Eagle, 13th-14th, Lion of St. Mark from the Gospels of Saint Willibroad, c.690, Celtic manuscript illumination St. Mark from the Gospels of Saint Medard of Soisson, AD 800 By the year 800, the Western world began to show signs of recovery from the bleak period of invasions and decline. With the emergence of Christianity as a great unifying power in Europe, many churches and church-related buildings were built. In response to the need for these new structures, there evolved a new architectural form called the Romanesque style. The basic characteristics of the new form were increased building size, thick stone walls with small windows, round arches, and columns to support an overhead roof. The Romanesque Art (1050-1200): inspired mainly by Roman architecture, esp. the rounded arch, but it also included some elements of Byzantine design, particularly its tendency toward abstracted representations of figures and places. Wall murals, large-scale sculptural groups, and illuminated manuscripts were common. A huge and impressive body of forged metal work also dates from this period. Characteristic of massive religious buildings using round, Roman-like arches, ornamented with relief sculptures and mural painting executed in a dynamic linear style. The Descent of the Holy Spirit, in the tympanum of the portal of the Abbey Church of La Madeleine, Vézelay, France, 1125-35. The interior of the Abbey Church of La Madeleine Christ in Majesty, book cover, 1100-50, Cloisonné enamel on gilt copper. The building of the Tower of Babel, Church of Saint Savin-sur Gartempe, France, c.1125. Ceiling fresco in the vault.

The Gothic Period: The Gothic style was the predominant architectural form in Europe. Influenced by many of the spiritual concepts of the era, Gothic churches are characterized by soaring heights and light-filled open space. While domed and round-arched structures represented the highest buildings of the ancient world, Gothic architecture extended heavenward with the help of at least two inventions: a new kind of pointed arch and an exterior anchor called a “flying buttress,” which bore much of the weight of the increasingly higher walls. Instead of the thick stone masonry and small openings required to support earlier Romanesque structures, windows line the walls of Gothic buildings,

153 filling interiors with sunlight filtered through stained-glass scenes of religious figures through stained-glass scenes of religious figures and stories. Columns are delicate in appearance, seeming to be made up of bunches of small columns, and their vertical lines pull our eyes upward toward the churches’s vaulted ceilings. With the continued growth and influence of Christianity, Romanesque forms underwent a transformation which, in time, came to be called the Gothic style. Making use of creative engineering, the new style permitted the construction of higher and wider interior spaces. One of the main keys to the Gothic style was the use of pointed rather than round arches, which made increased height and width possible without an accompanying collapse of either the roof or the walls. For further assistance in dealing with the load problem, the builders introduced stone bridges called flying buttresses. During the Middle Ages, artists who decorated manuscripts developed four important colors: ultramarine blue, yellow orpiment, ruby red and verdigris. They painted with watercolors, using ox hair brushes and quills on vellum or parchment. Giotto, the father of Western painting, revived classical naturalism. He painted most of his works in fresco, and sometimes he painted in egg tempera, which allowed the artist to apply thick coats of glossy color, either opaque or transparent, depending on the density of the paint. From the medieval period through the fifteenth century, tempera was the preferred technique or wooden panel paintings, especially in Italy. The paint was made by grinding pigments from mineral or vegetable extracts to a paste and suspending them in a mixture of water and egg. Tempera dries fairly quickly, only a limited area could be painted at one time. The tempera medium makes possible precise details and clear edges. The finished painting would be left to dry for a year before varnishing. Reims Cathedral, France, 1211-90, the west front. “Summer Landscape” from Carmina Burana, 1200-50, parchment. The creation of Adam and Eve and the temptation, 1200-25, Stained-glass window, south aisle, Chartres Cathedral, France. “The Golden Virgin,” south transept portal, Amiens Cathedral, Fr. C.1250 And the dragon was angered and went away to wage war against those who keep the commandments of God” from The Cloisters Apocalypse, c.1320. Parchment.

Giotto, the Kiss of Judas, 1305-6. Fresco, Arena Chapel, Padua, Italy

154 Chapter 19 Islam & China

Review: The Middle Ages date from the fall of the Western Roman Empire, from the 5th c., to the 15th c. There was a rich variety of periods and cultures in the Middle Ages, including Byzantine (330-1453); Carolingian (8th- late 9th); Ottonian (c.900-1050); Romanesque (1050- 1200); and Gothic (late 12th-15th). Byzantine art was influenced by elements of Greek and Roman art (such as an emphasis on idealizing figures). It is a style frequently identified with early Christianity, although the latter actually developed in a range of styles in Europe while it remained essentially the same in the East for hundreds of years. Examples of B. art survive in Ravenna in Italy, the Balkans, S.Russia, Asian minor, etc. produced wall paintings, illuminated manuscripts, panel paintings and above all mosaics. Golden ages: 6th-7th; 9th-12th; 13th-15th. The two most important elements in B architecture: the Roman brick vault and the dome. The glory of B art expressed itself in mosaic, made of tinted glass and gold foil. Germanic Art carving intricate devotional objects Viking Art craftsmanship, copying & illustrating Hiberno-Saxon Art religious texts Carolingian Art: elaborate architectural sculptures Ottonian Art: creating lavish objects of metal, glass, and precious stones. The Romanesque Art (1050-1200): inspired mainly by Roman architecture, esp. the rounded arch, but it also included some elements of Byzantine design, particularly its tendency toward abstracted representations of figures and places. Wall murals, large-scale sculptural groups, and illuminated manuscripts were common. A huge and impressive body of forged metal work also dates from this period. Characteristic of massive religious buildings using round, Roman-like arches, ornamented with relief sculptures and mural painting executed in a dynamic linear style. The Gothic Style: the predominant architectural form in Europe. Influenced by many of the spiritual concepts of the era, Gothic churches are characterized by soaring heights and light-filled open space. While domed and round-arched structures represented the highest buildings of the ancient world, Gothic architecture extended heavenward with the help of at

155 least two inventions: a new kind of pointed arch and an exterior anchor called a “flying buttress,” which bore much of the weight of the increasingly higher walls. Compare: (all of below are in France) Abbey Church of La Madeleine (1125-35) the Descent of the Holy Spirit Chatres (1220-30) —Porch of the Confessors: S. Martin/Jerome/Gregory. Reims (1211-1290) —The Annunciation & Visitation, central portal. Amiens (1250) —The Golden Virgin, south transept portal, Cimabue (1240-13020): Madonna and Child Enthroned with Angels and Prophets (1280) C. is the teacher of Giotto, responsible for the all important break with the rigid conventions of painting in Byzantine art, giving greater scope to the natural, as opposed to the conventional and stylized form, and in choosing from a far wider range of subjects. (3-D throne, dramatic, Duccio (1260-1319): Maestà showing Madonna enthroned in majesty. relaxed the formalism appropriateto the symbolic representation of the Byzantine art. though his art is still essentially Byzantine. He filled many of the old forms with the new spirit, combined with his superlative color sense, his feeling for composition, and the dramatic rendering of familiar religious scenes. Giotto (1266-1337) far more revolutionary in breaking with the conventions of Byzantine paitning. Padua: Arena Cahpel

ISLAMIC ART

Islam is the third greatest spiritual and political force. It was established by Muhammad in the 7th century. He called himself the successor of the Jewish prophets. He preached the absolute authority of one God, Allah. At first he attempted to convert all Jews and Christians, but failed. However, he successfully established Islam and died in 632 a triumphant leader of the new religion. The struggle between Islam and Christianity continued throughout history. Now the conflict only takes a different form. However, the antagonistic contact between the two religions led to a valuable cross-fertilization of art. No definite prohibition against images is found in the Koran, but a strong iconoclastic party existed in Islam, as in Christianity from time to time. The portrayal of god (Mohammed) was forbidden. If he could not be portrayed, then who else could? Thus their religious fervor was then given to decoration of Islamic mosques and illumination manuscripts.

156 Islamic art is created primarily in northern Africa and the Middle East, including Egypt, Syria, Persia, Mesopotamia (Iraq). and Pakistan. Figurative images from Islam are always in small scale. They exist mainly in chronicles of social and political history. Colorful mosaics and tile work are characteristic of Islamic design. Islamic architecture is marked by domes, arches, and carefully painted illustrations, other miniature paintings, and beautiful calligraphy are important elements of Islamic art. Artists or craftsmen combined their skills and different traditions and created a fascinating style of art. A tradition of high quality pottery and porcelain also developed and was influenced particularly by Chinese porcelain which reached Persia via the trade routes. During the 15th and 16th centuries the Ottoman Turks ruled over the majority of the Islamic world which included Greece, the Balkans, Egypt and Syria, Mesopotamia and most of North Africa —one of the greatest periods in Islamic art. Harmonious use of color and intricate design are seen in pottery, weaving of fabrics and secular paintings. —the earliest Islamic paintings date from c. 14th c. Typical paintings of the genre depict court and hunting scenes, and use varied and brilliant color combined with a technical perfection.

Chinese Art

First of all, Chinese painting uses entirely different materials and tools than the Western painting: writing brush, ink stick, ink stone or slab, and paper. These four are rated as “the four treasures of the study.” They are treasures because their quality is of crucial importance to the merit of an artist’s or scholar’s work. Silk was used for painting as early as the third century BC, before paper was made. The standard paper used for Chinese painting is called Xuan paper, named after the name of the city where the paper is made. The paper may be sized with a solution of alum and glue. This changes the absorbentness of the paper. Sized paper is less absorbent and has a smoother surface, better for meticulous painting style. And unsized paper is more absorbent, good for impressionistic styles of painting. But to make no mistake, either sized or unsized, Xuan paper is very absorbent by our standard. The paper may be made from hemp fiber, bamboo, cotton, the bark of mulberry trees and cocoons of silkworms, etc. The invention is traditionally attributed to Cai Lun in AD 105. But actually paper was made much earlier. His contribution is to have improved the manufacturing technique and made paper cheap and popular.

157 The brush is made of animal hair: wolf, weasel, rabbit, mouse, deer, sheep, etc. Sheep hair is the most popular partly because it is cheap. A painter will use brushes made of different kinds of hair for different effects. Ink slabs are of various qualities, too, and could be very expensive, due to rarity of the stone and decorative carvings or decorations. Ink stick is made of different kinds of carbon from different woods. Animal gum is added to make the ink shiny. Sometimes perfume is also added. Ink is often made into stick form, easier to carry and store. To prepare ink for painting or writing, we put some drips of water on the ink slab and slowly grind the ink stick on it. And the time for grinding is often the time for thinking and planning. Nowadays, liquid ink is also available. People don’t have to grind ink any more.1 But many still do, for desired quality of ink. 2 3 1. dot: with a round back, flat belly. The swift brush stroke resembles a Calligraphy and Painting:7 rock falling from the peak of a mountain; 5 2. horizontal line: straight and flat, stable, slow brush stroke; Chinese painting is basically3. vertical a linear stroke: art. itIt should has direct bend link a little. with A calligraphy. straight line Let’s will betake forceless; the character yong for example4. (meaning hook: pausing ‘eternal’, and giving said toyour contain brush all a swift of the jump strokes to form needed a blade; to 6 4 8 5. similar to the second stroke, but faster brush work; write any character). 6. sliding left: solid and open;

7. A short sliding left: like an eagle dive down from the sky to catch its pray; 8. Sliding right: forceful and calm. slow and bit by bit, pause and slowly lift your brush.

The writing of handsome characters has long been taken as the standard of civilization. Gentlemen in responsible positions are expected to take pride in their calligraphy. Any document, whether a petition to the throne, a letter to a friend, or a simple receipt, loses authority if written in a clumsy hand. If your calligraphy is poor, people would not have confidence in you. In a way every literate Chinese become a calligrapher merely by learning to write. However, we are having less and less young people who have good calligraphy. The close relationship of the two arts in China is the reason for the appearance of the significant literati painting (by gentlemen scholars called literati) in the late 11th century. They are scholars who devoted themselves to writing, painting, and studying classics. The result is that the painting became less representational, more impressionistic. The gentlemen painters painted not for money, not for patrons or for the public, but for themselves and their friends. They wrote poems to express their heart, and painted to satisfy their mind.

Chinese painting is usually divided into the following categories: 1) Landscape painting; 2) Figure painting; 3) Bird and flower painting.

158 Landscape painting emerged toward the end of the Tang dynasty (618-907), and flourished in 11th century. Since then the Chinese held landscape painting in the highest esteem. They equated landscape painting with a search for the “soul of nature,” and considered it a philosophical exercise. The Chinese landscape did not always seek to depict a particular place at a particular time. It was an abstraction, a kind of “second reality” drawn from memory. The Chinese name for landscape painting, shan-shui, literally means “mountain-water” pictures; both elements were often present in a Chinese landscape, together. In many paintings there are poetic inscriptions that work in harmony with the picture, which is as important to the understanding of the landscape as the pictorial content. Fan K’uan, Li Ch’eng, Guo Hsi. Huang Kung-wang: Dwelling in the Fu-ch’un Mountains. According to Confucius, “The man of heart is charmed by the mountain; the man of spirit delights in water.” The interaction between mountain and water is perceived in China as the embodiment of the universal process of transformation. This interaction also involves the laws that govern human life.

Mountain—the spirit of the earth. positive. Stone and Rocks— emblem of reliability and hardness. Water—The essence of the earth. Besides mountains and water, trees are also indispensable to any true landscape. Among the trees painted, the pine is the most beloved. The next is bamboo.

Figure painting (didactic and Buddhist) was the dominant form of early Chinese painting. Figures depicted are primarily of real and mythological characters whose portraits are intended as ennobling reminders of virtue.

Flower and Bird painting include animals, insects, fish, plants and trees. This category of painting is the most sensuous form of Chinese art and a highly popular genre. A feeling of movement, spontaneity, and freedom is especially required to ensure liveliness and authenticity of the painting. The Emperor Hui Tsung (1082-1135), a weak ruler, but an excellent artist, had enormous influence in this type of painting. Ch’ien Hsuan, Chin Nung; Tao Chi;

159 There is also an intellectual enjoyment for the viewer in studying the symbolism of the painting:

Three friends of winter: pine, bamboo and plum. Pine Tree—because it is evergreen, the pine is regarded as an emblem of longevity. not just long life, but also long friendship. Its straight-stemmed trunk and gnarled and twisted branches, typifies the scholar-official who may be shaken by the wind of calumny and misfortune, but remains erect and steadfast, his character rooted in the unchanging principles of Confucian virtue. Plum—a symbol of long life, owing to the fact that the flowers appear on the leafless and apparently lifeless branches of the tree until it reaches an extremely advanced age. Bamboo—emblem of longevity, owing to its durability and the fact that it is evergreen and flourished throughout the winter. Compare often to the lofty characters of a gentleman for it bows to the storm but rises again when the storm has abated.

Orchid—the emblem of love and beauty, and stands for fragrance and refinement, being also symbolical of numerous progeny. It is also emblematic of the perfect or superior man. Chrysanthemum—generally associated with a life of ease and retirement from public service. Lotus—fruitfulness; a sacred flower, an emblem of Buddha. Peony—spring, king of flowers; flower of riches and honor; an omen of good fortune; emblem of love and affection, and a symbol of feminine beauty. The flower also suggests wealth, fortune and nobility. (National flower) Sea gulls, geese—idleness and seclusion; Water Buffalo—a symbol of earth’s fertility, simple life in harmony with nature. It is also a symbol of spring and agriculture. Hare—an emblem of longevity, supposed to live a thousand years. A lunar resident. Tiger—an emblem of strength, venerated for its ability to fend off demons too powerful for domestic gods. Symbol of four seasons: Peony—spring; Lotus—summer; Chrysanthemum—autumn; Plum—winter.

Emptiness and fullness: Suggestiveness: An important characteristic of Chinese painting is its suggestiveness. For example, during the Sung dynasty (960-1279), painting was included in the imperial

160 examinations for the selection of government officials. Once the Emperor picked the poetic line, “When I return from trampling on flowers, the hoofs of my horse are fragrant.” There were no flowery meadows in the winning picture. The horse appears to be walking along the pathway with a pair of butterflies fluttering round its hoofs; obviously it must have been treading on flowers or these perfume-lovers would not have been attracted to its hoofs! There is another example which is particularly interesting: the Emperor chose the line: “One speck of red among ten thousand of green.” One of the candidates painted a stork in a group of pine trees, a speck of red on its head being the only touch of red in a mass of greenery. A second painter showed the crimson sun setting over a welter of green waves. But the winning scene was that of a girl leaning pensively on a balcony with a cluster of willow trees below. The word “red” in Chinese symbolizes a lady, because of her rosy cheeks and lips!

The Chinese sense of appropriateness in conduct guided the appropriate preparation for painting. The significance of this may be compared with the Japanese tea ceremony. The son of Guo Hsi describes his famous father carrying on similar ceremony: On a day when he was to paint, he would seat himself by a bright window, put his desk in order, burn incense to his right and left, and place good brushes and excellent ink before him; then he would wash his hands and rinse his ink-well, as if to receive an important guest, thereby calming his spirit and composing his thoughts. Not until then did he begin to paint.

161 Chapter 20 African Art

To better understand the art it is perhaps necessary to review the basic information about the people and land. Africa is more than three times the size of the United States including Alaska. Penetration by foreigners into the interior of Africa came after the Industrial Revolution when Europe was seeking sources of raw materials and market for finished goods. Today, with all kinds of communications, no part of Africa is entirely out of touch with the rest of the world, and the values of Western society are almost everywhere replacing traditional ones. African societies are changing and so are their arts. Very often when we, in the United States, think of Africa we visualize the deserts of the north peopled by nomads on camels or the densely vegetated terrain of central and South Africa with wonderful wild animals. We have a "National Geographic" vision or worse, a Tarzan of the Apes mental image of Africa. In fact there are grasslands, savannas, temperate woodlands, high mountains, and arid and semi-arid lands in abundance. Modern Africa is populated by a great variety of peoples whose ultimate origins we seem to be further than ever from discovering. Perhaps the people who have been there longest are the Bushmen of the Kalahari Desert, in the far southwest, whose hunting culture appears to be very similar to that which characterized the Upper Old Stone Age, perhaps 20,000 years ago. Given a choice, most people favor the familiar. What is important about studying the material culture of another land and another people is that it provides the viewer with a look at the universe as perceived by others. This insight allows each person to reexamine his or her own beliefs in comparison and contrast with a different people.

“African art was collected as souvenirs and curios by European travelers of the 18th and 19th centuries. Later, a great deal was written about its influence on Matisse, Picasso, Braque, and other Western artists. But now it has become understood on its own terms and for its own sake as the creative record of great and imaginative cultures.”3 The first general encounter with African sculpture by Western Europeans occurred during the 15th Century. At that time it was viewed as the curious production of an exotic people. When looking at art, the viewer normally is inclined to make primary selections based on personal preference. Art objects that evade categorization are at times described as

3 See William Bascomm, African Art in Cultural Perspective.

162 “primitive” or “exotic” art. The diverse traditions of sub-Saharan Africa offer a complex artistic heritage, that is, at least at first view, mysterious to the Western mind. The term African art refers the art of many ethnic groups living below the Sahara Desert. Much art from sub-Saharan Africa, such as objects of carved wood, costumes, dances, music, jewelry, and body decoration, even oral literature, has disappeared over time, leaving historians and archaeologists with few clues to what the history of the art and culture has been. Most of what we know dates from the beginning of Africa’s colonization. The agricultural people living south of the Sahara Desert in West and West-Central Africa produce wood sculpture rooted in tradition, however, some of the individual works are of relatively recent origin. Most wood sculpture date from the late 19th to the mid-20th century. Due to the environment and the perishable nature of the materials, few truly old wood sculptures remain. The gradual restructuring of the social order in all parts of Africa has changed traditional sculpture production. Pieces may reflect more than one cultural influence. They may be made for popular distribution, as well as for use within the immediate community. The art of West Africa combines religious, social, and esthetic elements. Due to this fact, it is difficult to consider the esthetics of African art in isolation without distorting the meaning of the pieces. African sculptures in museums or collections have been removed from the cultural context that produced them. They are shown in an artificial environment. The objects were made to be used. They were meant to be replaced or repaired as needed. The new object took the place of the old not as a substitute but a continuation of the original. The chief differences between primitive and civilized man lie in their types of association with reality. In contemporary society the goal is individual development. whereas in primitive society it is membership in the community. The objects in African Art reflect socio-cultural images and concepts with a heavy emphasis on magic of religious beliefs.

Different climatic conditions, resources and habits account for the variations of the art. There was no distinction between art and craft, and form follow function—the appearance of an object is determined by its use. Techniques were based on tradition, not invention; and quality was measured according to custom. Most art was made from materials at hand, especially wood, with additions of shells or certain kinds of beads and metals acquired through trading. Each different pose or attitude—standing, sitting, riding, kneeling, supporting, and balancing—carried symbolic meaning, and combinations, e.g., kneeling with hands behind the back, might mean something else again.

163 In their original settings some of the objects related to celebrations of joy, others to mourning; some were sacred, others secular. Many are exquisitely beautiful to any viewer, others are mysterious and unappealing. Each object is much more than it appears to be. Unlike the signs in other languages, there is no general agreement on signs in the language of art. The discovery that each artistic object can have its own reality helps in the understanding of African Art. An object must be seen for itself rather than for what it may resemble. There are different realities for many things, some can be seen, others felt. Relatively few African Art pieces are dated. Most are presented without date. African Art is made of three primary substances, wood, metal, and clay. The majority of the works are fashioned out of wood and adorned with plant fibers, feathers, animal skins, or beads and shells attached with plant or animal material. Wood sculpture does not survive long if not carefully and deliberately preserved, so in the study of the history of African sculpture, historians are forced to rely on material which endure neglect—chiefly copper alloys and clay. Most wood sculpture available today dates from the 19th and 20th century. Metal pieces from Ife or Benin may date from a much earlier time, but few examples are available on the open market. Pieces we will be considering date about 50 to 150 years ago.

Metal Sculpture Among the first examples of African Art to gain public attention were the bronze pieces carried back to Europe after the British military expedition to Benin in 1897. Many African cultures make objects of metal. Utilitarian objects as well as sculpture are made of forged iron. Other sculptures in metal were produced by the lost-wax casting process. In this sophisticated process, the sculpture is modeled in beeswax and covered with clay. Wax stems are placed to extend from the sculpture through the clay. When the clay has dried, it is heated and the melted wax is allowed run out through the stems. Molten wax is poured through the stem openings into the hollow space left by the wax. Once the metal has cooled the clay is removed leaving the metal sculpture in the form of the original wax shape.

Mother and Child The mother and child image is a common theme in African Art. However, to view these images as a collection of fertility figures is unnecessarily simple. The idea of reproduction of human life is clearly affirmed by these sculptures but in an abstract and generalized manner. The symbolization is more inclusive. The female figures represent the conception and organization of the world. They possess symbolic power over everything concerning the fertility of the soil and fecundity of living creatures. In some cultures, the mother figure represents the village and her children are its inhabitants. The mother and child sculptures are

164 rarely portraits of specific individual, rather they are depictions of lineage or the legendary founder of a particular people.

Hunter and Hunted The reasoning behind the creation of traditional African Art can only be understood with reference to the communities that produced it. The hunter image is a powerful symbol as it represents one of the three primary tasks assigned to humankind. It emphasizes the importance of hunting and the role of the provider. The sculptures generally depict strong and capable individuals as the model of the ideal hunter. The hunters and their prey are often represented together in recognition of their important role in some societies. The hunter figure also symbolizes the order in natural activities. The two elements, hunter and pray, demonstrate the balance between human and animal interaction.

Power Figures (Zinkondi) It is believed that the function of these objects generally related to moral intimidation. Each nail, blade, or piece of metal inserted in the sculpture alerted the nkisi or enclosed power of a moral duty to be performed. The duty may include such matters as oaths of innocence or military agreements. It is said that Zinkondi protect the innocent but will seek out and punish the guilty. The open mouth is associated with the belief that the power figure is a mediator between the living and the dead. Although usually in human form, the figures were sometime in the shape of dogs, signifying the special skills that dogs are thought to have in searching out evil forces.

BaKuba Malula mask from Zaire: The BaKuba are called the “people of the lighting.” This is probably a reference to a throwing knife adopted by these people living in Zaire. This type mask is often attributed to the BaLuba and Bena Lulua cultures. It has a triangular pattern over the face with feathers, cowry shells, and beads. All are simplified, abstract faces or animal heads with geometric decorations painted in red, white, or black. If masks are dances properly, they may serve to bestow good crops and health as well as insure general prosperity for the community. The masks are normally repainted before each dance. The mask is to the face what body paint and costumes are to the body, but mask are more profound. Almost everywhere the face is regarded as the most expressive part of the person that others know. Masks are themselves faces. They are carved and colored in the likeness of gods, demons, heroes, animals, and other powerful or strange beings. To put on a mask is to become another person - that which is represented by the mask. Masks are powerful transformers of everyday life into something strange and important.

165 The following are the sub-Saharan ethnic groups whose art is widely appreciated in Western culture: 1) The Ashanti people of the Ivory Coast (Ghana) are known for their terra-cotta portraits intended to represent specific religious or noble figures. Because their features are highly stylized, the subjects are identified by specific accessories—such as hairstyles and jewelry. By the eleventh century the Ashanti were very skilled in the use of metals, with which they created many different objects, notably small very complex cast-gold jewelry and figures used as weights. Some of the design shows the influence of Islam. Most Ashanti art represents some historical event of importance to their religion or folklore. The Ashanti or Asante live in central Ghana. The Ashanti have a rich woodcarving tradition including the small akua-ba fertility “dolls.” The larger naturalistic figure carvings are sometimes called mmoatia or “fairy-tale” figures as they represent the stories and myths of the people. The elegantly carved, representational maternity figure with twins, are symbolic of good luck for the family in that two babies are thought to be more intelligent than a single- birth child. The Ashanti believed that twins share one soul, and that they bring good luck to the parents. If one twin dies, as a baby, a carving is provided as a place for the shared spirit to reside so that the surviving child will have a complete life.

2) The Bamana of West Mali are known especially for their wooden headdresses or crowns in the form of antelope heads. Also distinctive are their large and naturalistic figures relating to maternity, as well as smaller statues of women, simplified to the kind of geometry appreciated by modern sculptors, most having exaggerated feminine attributes. Bamana objects and masks are often connected to initiation and other events involving the gaining of knowledge and status, and often they indicate the rites of a particular association, such as that of blacksmiths. 3) Once called the Dahomey, now the People’s Republic of Benin, the Benin culture reached a point of great sophistication in the 16th and 17th c. The Benin tradition of working in bronze has meant that the art of earlier times is relatively abundant. Some Benin art, such as the heads of royal figures, is free standing. A frequent art form is the plaque, sculpted in relief. Even in portraiture, Benin art tends to stylize features and to simplify and generalize physical attributes. The scale of figures—their size compared to others is in a work—usually indicates their social position, with kings represented as largest. The elaborateness of jewelry and other apparel indicates wealth and status, as it does in many African cultures.

166 4) From the border region between the Ivory Coast and Liberia, the Dan people are known for masks, their principal form of sculpture. The eyes of the masks, of varying shapes, often signal the mask’s function. Worn with costumes in rituals, the masks do not simply represent great spiritual power but also embody it. The Dan are also noted for making wooden spoons with handles carved into shapes representing qualities to which one might aspire, indicators of the generosity and hospitality of the women to whom they were given. 5) The Dogon of southern Mali are characterized by a wide range of objects having to do with their religion and values, often representing creation stories and fertility. Sculptures, including masks that represent certain animals, are used in ritual ceremonies in which ideals and important knowledge are passed on to the young. Dogon figures tend to be elongated and stylized, and some objects, such as doors, feature repeated figures, some containing both male and female characteristics. Other objects have interlocking parts. Dogon metalsmiths and woodcarvers belong to a special “caste,” or position in the social hierarchy. 6) Important to the Luba culture of the southeast Congo region are stools supported by slender, elegant figures that symbolically “carry” the power of the ruler. In the carving of other figures, mostly female spirits, great attention is paid to details such as the pattern of hair or of body decoration. Wooden surfaces are smoothly carved and polished to a dark sheen. 7) The Masai are a nomadic people living in East Africa, primarily in Kenya and Tanzania. Most are herders who continue to live off the meat, blood, and milk of their livestock. Typical of nomadic peoples—of which there once were many in Africa—the Masai carry with them all that is essential. Therefore, their art consists not of sculpture but of portable leather and woven objects, beadwork and jewelry, ritual body decoration, as well as a rich culture of music, myth, dance, and ceremony. 8) The Neolithic Nok Kingdom of Nigeria produced ceramic sculptures that can be reliably dated to 500-200 BC, the earliest evidence of art in sub-Saharan Africa. The degree expertise indicates the earlier presence of object-producing cultures in the area. Among the excavated objects are terra-cotta heads. Most of them animated and recognizably human yet stylized, and it would appear they were once attached to bodies. 9) Some of the best known art of the sophisticated Yoruba people of southern Nigeria is associated with the religious center in the holy city of Ile-Ife, which flourished from the 11th to 15th c. before the presence of Europeans. Bronze heads,, cast by the “lost-wax” method, and terra-cotta figures are thought to have been made in an effort to sustain the power of a dead king. While stylized, with serene yet powerful expressions, the faces contain some sense of specific personalities.

Bena Lulua people of the country of Zaire

167 The name of the people is derived from the name of the Lulua River on which they live. Statures subjects include men, women, and mother and child groups, all of which have the same general characteristics. Often there is an exaggerated navel. The body is covered with elaborate and deep cicatrice marks in the form of roundlets, v-shaped patterns, and other lineal designs. The head usually has a pointed projection, a horn-like headdress. Of special interest are the mother and child carvings in which the body tapers to a point and the face is decorated by undulating cicatrice marks.

Bakuba (Bushongo) people of the country of Zaire The name Bakuba is reportedly a Baluba word meaning "the people of the lighting," and is probable a paraphrase of the work Bushongo. The most commonly known mask is a helmet- like human head, with bulging forehead, small eyes, large nose, and chin extended by a beard. A triangular-shaped ornament rests on the bridge of the nose; broad bands, encrusted with pearls, are often set over eyes and nose, and the closed mouth is often covered with a copper plate. They are thought to represent genii. Another Bakuba mask often attributed to the Baluba and Bena Lulus has a triangular pattern over the whole face, shells, and beads often marking the hairline, and raffia cloth in geometrical designs covering the wearer's head.

Woyo (Bawoyo or Basundi) people of the country of Zaire These people of the Mayombe region produce a very interesting mask for the Badunga secret society. This mask is over a foot high and has the features of some Dan masks from the Republic of the Ivory Coast. It is usually painted white and sometimes has colored lines, which probably indicate colors used in initiation ceremonies.

Bobo people of the country of Upper Volta The Bobo people produce a very distinguished artistic style which is influenced by its neighboring peoples. Perhaps best known among their masks are those with plank-like, polychrome (red, white, dark brown, and black) superstructures similar in concept to some Mossi and Dogon plank masks. The bird masks of the Koudougou region with beaks of various lengths are highly abstracted and stylized. Of particular interest are the "owl" and "butterfly" masks. The "owl" is a vertical plank with concentric rings that indicate the eyes and a geometric design. The "butterfly" or "the bird of the night" masks are horizontal planks. In the middle of the plank is a triangular shape with concentric round eyes and a round hole for the nose. Above the nose the beak of a bird protrudes. On the two sides the plank which is painted in a geometric design represents the wings of the bird or butterfly.

168 Bakota people of the country of Gabon Bakota wooden reliquary figures covered with brass or copper sheeting are placed over containers of sample bones of outstanding ancestors. There are various names ascribed to these figures such as bangala or mbula ngula which mean "the image of the dead." These figures are carved of wood and covered with brass sheeting, sometimes in a combination with copper. The face is either concave (female) or convex (male), although sometimes there is only a domed forehead to indicate maleness.

Although African societies vary very widely in their styles, the secret brotherhoods and their masks play a central role everywhere in asserting authority, assuring social control and repressing deviant behavior. The Initiation Masks, Zaire, Yaka. Wood, raffia and fibber. Various colors. H: 71.5 cm. linked to initiatory rites and the dances performed when the young circumcised men returned to the village. New initiates danced with these masks, whose white-painted faces were reminders of death. Figurative elements—here, fish —may vary, but are derived from a mythological cycle. The period of initiation was crucial for all adolescents. Some tribes had rites of passage for boys, others for girls and still others for both sexes. These were rites to render them adults with rights, but conscious of their responsibilities. Initiation was practiced among most tribes but not all and included in each case a period of seclusion away from the village. However, initiation varied greatly in form from one culture to another—there was no one overall style. Boys would spend several months in the bush school where circumcision was carried out and masked men taught them adult behavior and led them through a sequence of often very demanding trials. Masks shaped out of bark, twigs, branches, resins and fabrics and painted with symbolic motifs, evoked the cosmos. Board/Blade/plank masks, (tall rectangular board painted in black & white with a moon- shaped “knife” at the top). They take part in family rituals and funerals, or they mark the end of mourning. They also play a part in initiation. Death, the second great rite of passage, is of capital importance to animist Africans who believe that only the body dies while the spirit and the “soul” live on. They continue to surround the living, which are menaced by their jealousy aroused by their death, a vital force which must be seized and channeled through dancing for the benefit of those who remain on earth. This is not without danger, but the mask protects the dancer who wears it as a safe guard against attack by the dead man’s spirit. These wandering souls must be prepared for their new existence and their entry into the kingdom of their ancestors must be eased. The white is symbolic color of death, and charcoal for black, the color of evil. Red ochre signified life.

169 All these masks are sacred—charged with magic power, they represent dangers for the uninitiated. At the end of the dances the masks are considered to have played their part and can return to the cave where they are normally kept. The spirit of the dead man has reached the spirit world and definitely rejoined his ancestors. The ceremonies might not be for a single dead person but for several of the same age-group or who have died during a particular period. Different places may have different ways of celebrating funerals: generalization is impossible. In African thinking, the mask was always the bearer of a fearsome magical energy for those who animated it as well as for those who saw it. To understand the origin of this “power,” we must look at the creation of its material substance. The shape of a mask is traditional and not specific to any one period. In the Ivory Coast, if a mask deteriorated or was destroyed, a small replica was made as a temporary refuge for the mask’s spirit; this spirit should next show itself in a dream to its future dancer, who would find a sculptor to take the commission. Sometimes, too, among the Dogon in Mali or in Gabon, the masks were not supernatural powers but the temporary incarnation of a spirit, an ancestor or the vital energy of the dead, and were constructed by initiates. Required to conceal details of the initiation from outsiders, the neophytes disclosed nothing to those around them and retained their faith in the power of the masks on the religious level of the spirit world as well as on the social level. Professional or not, the craftsman had to conform to existing models of masks: he did not have a free rein. He worked in great secrecy, for the mask was never considered to be human work—it was always attributed to supernatural origins: “it was found in the bush, or given by a spirit, a long time ago.” The mask generally had its own appointed dancer, an appointment which might span several decades. The mask would remain in the same line of descent as it was passed down from generation to generation, or would stay in the same secret society. Finally, the life of the mask would come to an end. Masks of beaten bark or resin may be burned at the end of ritual ceremonies, while wooden masks were preserved. In the past a mask was never generally thrown away without precautions being taken —its destruction was surrounded with rites destined to transfer its occult forces to another mask. Sometimes it was deposited in a cave or a special hut so that it could disintegrate with the effect of time and termites.

Ancestral Statues and Representations of Spirits There is one general rule: the prime function of these statues is not to please the eye. Their deepest purpose is religious, based on ancestral or mythic cults. The patrons who commission statues already have ideas about these abstract entities, perceiving them in a particular way,

170 and the sculptor must conform to these concepts. Within the framework of tradition he can, however, add his own personal note to the wood, the mark of his own artistic talent which, as is evident, often leads to the creation of works of high quality. The majority of wooden African statues are make or female ancestor figures, or statues of dead chiefs. Others, however, correspond to anthropomorphic representations of spirits of nature or of secondary gods. As myths and animist cults vary from one culture to another, the works must be seen in the light of their place of origin. Seated Couple. Mali. Dogon. Wood and metal, H:73 cm, MMA The ancestral couple is often represented, charged with a particular creative energy, which is honored each year by sacrifices seeking health and fecundity for the living. The close union of masculine and feminine principles of equal importance is expressed by the balance of vertical and horizontal elements and more concretely, by the man’s arm on the woman’s shoulders. Effigy of an ancestor of the king, Zaire, semi-hard wood w/ patina Statue of an ancestor, Zaire, wood, H: 62 cm Statue of an ancestor of the king Zaire, wood, H: 98 The body forms are harmonious and smooth joins are dominated by a face with noble curves. All this suggests a calm inner life. The large closed eyes help to create an impression of concentrated thought, almost of sadness, suitable for a chief conscious of his responsibility to his people. Even from the spirit world he is responsible and attentive to the requests of his descendants as they call upon each of the dead during ancestor worship. Zaire in the River Congo basin, is one of Black Africa’s most important artistic homelands, rich in both the quantity and the style of its products and particularly in all kinds of statues of the dead. The royal statues played their part when a king died: before his death, his statue was placed beside him, ready to receive his life-force and to pass it on to the new king who would lie next to the statue during the initiation ceremony. As so often in Africa, the statue is there as support for a dead soul, to act as a staging post while a new incarnation is awaited. Who were the statues for? European logic demands that a statue be displayed in a public place, a church, a garden, a street, or in a private setting like a palace. It must always be on view. This is not necessarily the case in Black Africa. Some statues, held by secret societies such as the Poro, are kept in sacred places or thickets, and are shown only to the initiated. Other figures are normally kept wrapped up and hidden when not in use of ritual ceremonies. Among the Yoruba people, images of dead twins are kept by their mother in a closed gourd. There are even reports of an Ife priest who has no right to see the head of the ram whose cult he celebrates. At the

171 beginning of the 20th c. Africans still believed in genuine powers possessed by these statues and assumed that anyone who infringed their laws would fall ill or die. Pregnant women were advised not to look at these figures “for fear that their child would be like the statues with big eyes and a long nose.”

Reliquary figure Mbulu Ngulu, Gabon, wood decorated with copper strips and plates, H. 42.8 cm. the faces always covered in metal in the form of either sheets or close-set threads. Although intended as two-dimensional, the play of convex and concave surfaces on these faces produces a definite relief effect. The general design is strictly geometrical and is emphasized by the treatment of the metal surface in strips or squares. The oval outline of the hair harmoniously echoes the face. Among the great multitude of more or less realistic ancestor statues, designed to perpetuate the memory of the founders of tribes through family or community worship, there is a separate category of objects which united human remains, skulls and/or bones and a statuette or carved head. This ensemble is known to western collectors as a “reliquary.” It expresses forcefully the persistence and authority of the dead, who thus remain doubly present on a material level, first, since the bones are preserved, and also on a mythical level, in the figurine which is not a portrait but an abstract evocation of the ancestor. It is the bearer of signs, which all those who have been initiated will understand. The reliquary skulls were normally invisible inside the basket but initiates could take them from this wrapping to receive offerings and sacrifices, with sprinklings of blood to ensure that the dead looked kindly on the living. Metal was regularly rubbed withstand to revive its shine and was designed to strengthen the psychological impact of these figurines when, gleaming in the dark, they were presented during nocturnal rituals. At all other times the reliquaries were grouped by clan in the shadows of a consecrated hut, sheltered from profane eyes but close to the village. The visual and psychological impact of reliquary figures is intensified by their non- figurative style. They suggest an unreal being, often more of a ghost than a representation of actuality, designed to act as receptacle and dwelling-place for the spirit of the dead person, while simultaneously concentrating on him the conscious and unconscious impulses of the living.

Scultpure covered with nails, Nkonde, Lower Zaire, H: 97 cm Such a statue would appear at collective ceremonies and were pierced with nails or metal blades. More of these were added after each vow of commitment, in order to give the illiterate public a way of ratifying their action. The fetishist acted first to “awaken” the Nkonde with his

172 touch—part of the surface was left clear of nails for this purpose—and then a sharp blade or nail was set into the body of the statue, to remain there until the contract was completely fulfilled. The fetishist was primarily a witness, and an important one in view of his supposed relationship with the world of the supernatural. Woe to anyone who failed to keep his promise! The Nkonde, as guardian of collective memory, would inflict sudden sickness on any defaulter, or even bring about his death, but he protected the innocent. The Kkonde’s face is always aggressive and deliberately terrifying; the mouth is always open, as if shouting a warning to the person making a vow. The various attempts to influence the fearsome powers of the supernatural through the mediation of statues or fetishes have acquired particular intensity in the regions round the mouth of the River Congo, home of the Kongo, Yombe and Vili tribes, and this is also the case in the east of Zaire, among the Songye. Magical objects were for many years little known in Europe, as Christian missionaries working in Africa tracked them down and had they burnt. Certain statues, which were brought back to Europe by religious men, allegedly for documentation, were kept in secret and could not be studied. They were much feared for they seemed, even to European eyes, have real power, a belief almost universally accepted in 17th-century Europe. Recent work has led to a better understanding. They are wooden carvings, either anthropomorphic or zoomorphic, which are covered with a variety of objects such as nails or metal blades. The cavities in their back or stomach contain “medicines” —grains, hairs, teeth or finger nails—which are held together with various binding materials. Pieces of fabric, feathers or lumps of clay are sometimes present. Pieces of fabric, feathers or lumps of clay are sometimes present. Finally, bits of mirror, shiny metal or shells are used to close the cavities or to mark the eyes. Very often the faces alone are carved in detail, while the rest of body— destined to be hidden under these various additional features—is sculpted more summarily. The figure’s genitals may even be missing, either because they have never been carved or because they have been removed by a zealous missionary. Sceptre. Seated male figure, Mali, bronze and iron, H:76.MMA The statue is made of iron and brass and decorated on top with a small figure of a seated chief. He is shown in perfect detail, both in his bodily scarifications and beard and also in his head-dress and clothing, which are represented with great precision. His arm and ankle rings are also very detailed. The brass-founder (the lost-wax process) paid particular attention to this chief’s weapons, the pointed lance in his right hand and the short sword with handle set in a scabbard hanging by his left arm. The man looks calm and confident in his authority.

173 The social systems which have held sway in Africa vary enormously according to region. All types can be found, from great empires to small chieftainries. Emperors who governed vast territories generally demanded taxes or gifts, contributions which were needed to maintain a substantial professional army. In the smaller chieftainries, on the other hand, the warrior equipment varied according to family or individual. It was a matter of weapons and not of armies.

The dignity of Black Womanhood As the mother figure the woman plays a central role, ensuring that the family line continues. Any man without a child would see a break in his ancestral family worship, and on his death there would be no one to watch over the performance of rites which would allow his soul to move on to the spirit world. The woman also enables the man to prove his fertility, indispensable in certain circumstances—for example, so that the son of a chief can succeed his father. A woman’s social situation was dependent on the number and the quality of her pregnancies. Her whole life was a preparation for motherhood, the only event, which could give her a place in society. Well before puberty, young African girls would often wear dolls made of reeds or wood as pendants—far from being toys, these little figurines were believed to favor fertility through their magical powers. Among the Yoruba of Nigeria such dolls were often found in pairs to give twins, because twins were looked on with particular favor. If one died the doll received the same attention as the surviving child. Marriage was not the result of mutual attraction between two young people—it was based on different systems of financial or material exchange and compensation, designed to sustain the circulation of women outside their own line. Since marriage was of importance to the whole social group, it must not be left to the hazards of individual preference. And sex was generally associated with fertility rather than pleasure.

Figure of a woman breast-feeding, poro brotherhood. Ivory Coast, hardwood with black patina, H: 65 cm the figure oozes with oil from past sacrifices. The statue shows her raised to even greater symbolic stature by a cup holding magical materials. The many applications of oil this figure received during the Poro ceremonies were proof of the devotion it aroused. The pregnant or breast-feeding mother has always been a popular subject among African sculptors. These are not portraits but ritual figurines, which glorify the perpetuation of life. For these statues of maternity the artist would create the most perfect image of the woman in African eyes.

174 Woman with mortar and pestle, known as “The Millet Grinder.” Mali, Dogon, wood and iron, H:56.6. MMA. of which there are several variations, might be the visual equivalent of this type of prayer. Standing on the family altar, the statue would perpetuate the memory of the dead mother’s never-ending labor. Most women led lives of constant painful labor, even when they were pregnant. Among the Dogon, long speeches at funerals celebrated the labor of men and women; relating to women, an ethnologist have recorded the following phrases: “Thank you for yesterday. Thank you for working in the fields. Thank you for having children, with God’s help. Thank you for preparing meals. Thank you for meat, thank you for millet beer, thank you for water. Thank you.”

African Gold For thousands of years Europeans have regarded precious stones, jewelry, regalia and gold as possessing great value, each enabling a privileged social class to display its superiority. Africa is very different. Copper was originally the most highly prized metal, and it was the Arabs who, through intermediaries, taught Africans from the 7th century onwards to appreciate the market value of gold. Despite the enormous amount of gold which was extracted from these lands over a period of fifteen centuries, very few actual objects have lasted until modern times. There are several reasons for their disappearance. Primarily, they were melted down to be used as money or simply to follow fashion. In Senegal, very few pieces of jewelry can be found which are more than forty or fifty years old. Trade also helped to strip western Africa of its gold, as it exported across the Sahara to North Africa, Egypt and Europe. In such conditions it is difficult to see far back into the past. The oldest jewelry and regalia in museums or private collections date from the mid-19th century, and most of them date from the early 20th century. Despite its well-known wealth of gold, southern Africa has not produced notable pieces of jewelry. Archaeological digs in Zimbabwe have uncovered only small quantities of gold jewelry, while among the Zulu the preference is for multi-colored glass beads.

175 Chapter 21 Renaissance and Baroque

Renaissance: A French word meaning “rebirth,” it is the name given to the period in European history, when the Middle Ages—at one time referred to as the “Dark Ages” —gave way to a “rebirth” of ideals derived from the civilizations of ancient Greece and Rome. The Renaissance was actually a slow and evolving process beginning in the 14th and 15th centuries in Italy and moving northward until the late 16th c. A surge of new ideas about the Christian God, the world, knowledge—as well as the relationship of humans to each of these —could be seen in literature, art, architecture, and science. Change first appeared in Italy probably because it was at the center of trade routes that allowed broad contact with other cultures, economic strength and stability, support for scholarship, and patronage for the arts. The Renaissance is marked by a new sense of the individual, what came to be known as “humanism.” Visually, it produced many radical breaks from medieval representations of the world and people. As focus shifted from God to humankind, interest grew in classical models, in which humans were seen as the measure of most things. Returning to classical rules of proportion, Renaissance artists followed rigorous systems of composing pictures to make them balanced, harmonious, timeless, and ideally beautiful. They also developed various tools, such as different types of perspective, as part of their parallel ambition to create more perfect representation of the physical world. During the 14th century, Europe started large-scale international trade, expeditions discovered that the earth is round. Trade brought Italy enormous wealth. Florence was a major trading capital for its river system. Venice was rich, had a lot of trade with Byzantine. Medieval art was characterized by stylization, symbolized nature. During the Renaissance, with revival of classical values, human figure became the dominant form in art. In the past, churches had little sitting areas, full of tapestries, sculpture but little painting, St. Francis modernized church. He said that the God made the world, so the world is no evil. Man should delight with honor, did not have to stay in monasteries to be freed from sins. Giotto revived the art of fresco and naturalism, He pictures are narrative, storytelling and lifelike. Masaccio opened up space, with a newly developed perspective system, atmospheric perspective was introduced. (Brancacci chapel).

176 Donatello did the first youthful nude figure (David) since antiquity) he used linear perspective in relief sculpture. In summary, revived classical Greek and Roman figures and architecture, emphasized illumination of mass and space in painting, Invented linear perspective; Subjects stages like scenes of life; patronage became diversified—merchants: Scrovegni, Brancacci, Lorenzo di Medici as well as churches and royal families. * * * * * The patrons of art in earlier periods were the nobility and the church. In the 15th c. a new class of business people. In turn, a new class of artists also developed. Free from the pressure of the courts of nobility and churches, the became independent business people, with studios full of apprentices and assistants, capable of producing almost any kind of art or craft. Basic hallmarks of the Renaissance style: beauty and grace—beautiful people and buildings, graceful gestures. Artists achieved an ability to represent the world with an accuracy rarely imagined before even in Hellenistic and Roman times. The two principal categories of subject matter: Christian subjects, Greek and Roman classical mythology. The former was considered true and the latter entirely fictional. Only in Christian subjects could anything really serious be expressed. Classical mythology was a kind of alternative reality, full of stories and characters known mainly to educated people. Three phases of Renaissance Style: 1) Early Renaissance: Masaccio—3-D space, chiaroscuro (light and shade) 2) High Renaissance 1500-1520. 3) Mannerism. Mannerism: Style in painting and architecture that lasted throughout the second half of the 16th c. Coming at the end of the Renaissance, it can be seen as a reaction to some of the artistic values of the earlier time. Mannerists used colors that were harsher than those of Renaissance artists. They went out of their way to distort reality, especially scale, and experimented with confusing perspective, unbalanced proportions, twisted elongated shapes, and uncomfortably posed figures. Artists sought to express emotions, often their own, rather than abstract ideals or perfected nature. They were more interested in the moment than eternity. Mannerist architecture tends to be very grand and elegant, often incorporating exaggerated proportions.

Baroque: The original meaning of Baroque (irregular, contorted, grotesque) was an uncomplimentary description of a broad style that evolved in Europe in the 1600s. By now the meaning of the word has changed to be descriptive without any negative connotation.

177 The Baroque style flowered in Europe and Latin America from about 1600 to 1750. In sculpture and architecture, Baroque represents energy and boldness and contains many ornate touches and embellishments. The paintings are alive with bright and contrasting colors, filled with activity and motion. The artists’ command of illusion was extensive, and they were particularly intrigued by creating vast spaces. They often worked on a grand scale, painting on canvases and creating huge wall and ceiling murals. Baroque subjects are often dramatic. Artists tried to portray emotional and, to some extent, psychological states—for example, see Rembrandt’s self-portrait, —even to relay sexual charge. They painted real people in real situations and their brightness and lively scenarios helped to capture the excitement of a particular moment.

Rococo: An 18th c. style of architecture, design, and painting noted for its delicacy and elegance in response to what was perceived as the heavy boldness of Baroque art. Rococo art and objects are marked by elaborate shells and scrollwork as well as theme from nature, such as trees and flowers. Neo-Classicism: A reference to the revival of ancient Greek and Roman models and standards of achievement occurring at various moments in more recent history. For example, around the American and French revolutions, as the new republics tried to create governments “of the people,” there was great interest in these ancient civilizations, considered the birth sites of democracy. It struck politicians of the day—- as well as their artist counterparts—that all sorts of classical precedents might be emulated to good effect. Thus arose the movement referred to by historians as “Neoclassicism.” Artists turned to the standards of ideal proportion, beauty, and order that were admired in these cultures. These influences were most easily seen in architecture—consider courthouse buildings with grand columns and wide steps—but occurred in painting, sculpture, literature, and music as well. Compare: Ingres (Fr. 1780-1867) Grande Odalisque,1814. Manet (Fr. 1832-1883) Olimpia, 1863. By studying the way the figure is shown and comparing different representations, we can observe contrasting approaches and ideas among artists as well as times and cultures. Although similar in subject and painted only fifty years apart, these two representations of nude women contrast sharply in the attitude each conveys: compare the coyness of the pose and protective fan in Ingres’ work with the matter of fact gaze and placement of the hand in the Manet Romanticism: An artist’s revolt in the late 18th and 19th c. against what artists believed was a confining emphasis on reason and order. The Romantics turned away from rigorous systems, mostly classical in origin, developed to insure rationality, and sought to represent spiritual

178 concerns, such as humanity’s innate goodness, or the truths to be found in nature. Experience, imagination, and emotions were thought to be more important than intellect. Artists became fascinated and inspired by exotic and “primitive” cultures.

Realism: In its broadest sense, this term refers to techniques in art by which a recognizable subject is depicted with accuracy, or “realistically.” Different times have dictated different attitudes toward the degree of realism, however. For example, early Greek sculptural figures were realistic but stylized, while classical Greek figures were idealized, and Hellenistic Greek sculpture were quite lifelike and energetic. The Roman desire for likeness led to making portraits from actual castings of dead leaders’ faces as well as illusionistic paintings called trompe l’oeil, which in French means “fooling the eye,” a technique that has reappeared periodically throughout history. Though essentially realistic, much early Asian and Byzantine art tended to generalize facial features, making people identifiable from gestures or garments. From the beginning of the Renaissance, it became a goal in Europe to make art as if one were looking through a window. The rendering of space, distance, scale, and materials was meant to be as we experience them in reality. Related to this type of realism is the term “naturalism,” referring to the tendency of some artists to include the literal aspects of reality, even the mundane, such as a model’s dirty fingernails or tattered clothing. For example, even though he depicted mythological characters, the seventeenth-century Italian artist Caravaggio often displayed this kind of highly detailed naturalism. The Impressionists’ concept of realism was to paint what the eye actually sees: reflected light. To paint most realistically was to capture the light Abstract artists tended to think of all art as representation, not actuality, and therefore the way to be most realistic was to look to materials (such as paint), colors, forms, and marks left by the painter’s tools as the “real” truths of art. The invention of the camera probably contributed to a decreasing interest in realistic painting, until it emerged that photography created its own sense of reality—a narrow field of focus (something our eye seldom perceives), for example, or the washed-out quality of light from flashbulbs. At that point, trying to capture “photorealism” became a subject of painting —attempting to paint in the way that a camera records, not how our eyes function or what our minds say is logical. “Super- or Hyperrealism” refers to an extension of Pop Art during the 1970s, when the use of certain kinds of painting techniques, such as the “air brush” developed for painting signs, made it possible to banish any brush mark or other sign of the artist’s hand. Paintings could be made to have a slick, almost mechanical finish. The subjects chosen tended to be

179 slices of ordinary experience, but in spite of their familiarity, they often seemed too real, almost to the point of surrealism. In another important use of the term, realism can refer to painting (or writing) about one’s own experiences or those of people at work and/or involved in everyday life, particularly one of hardship. This is most notably evidenced by the Realist movement of 19th c. Europe and echoed in the “Social Realism” of the 1930s and 1940s in post-Depression US, as well as its Socialist counterparts in the former communist nations.

Symbolism: A school of artists who at the end of the 19th c. began to experiment with increasingly abstract ways of conveying ideas, often through distorted or exaggerated figures as well as symbols. They fixed on their inner selves as appropriate subjects for art and often depicted subjective, deeply personal understandings instead of describing exterior, physical realities.

Impressionism: Style now greatly admired that shook the foundations of European art in the late 19th c. and had a profound impact on all art that happened after it. The pretty subjects of Impressionist paintings and the way they were painted seem delightful more than one hundred years later. At the time, however, they were a great affront to accepted standards of painting. Impressionists often painted entire works outdoors (as opposed to sketching outdoors and creating the final work in the studio), unusual in itself at the time. Using bright colors and painting with very visible brushstrokes, they sought to capture immediate sensations, quickly observed. They were particularly interested in light as it struck various surfaces in different weather and at different times of day. Their subjects, including many people at leisure, were more ordinary than they were lofty and sometimes seem to be only an excuse for depicting a fleeting mood and look of a moment in time.

Post-Impressionism: painters in this late 19th c. period turned away from the interests of the Impressionists, focusing less on surfaces and fleeting effects and more on personal concerns, emotions, and even spiritual matters. Paul Cezanne, for example, objected to the Impressionists’ focus on light as light-weight, wanting to restore some rigorous aspects of earlier painting, such as careful construction of pictures based on rules of composition. One aspect of Impressionism that carried over was its attitude toward painting itself: the “footprint” of the brush (brushstroke) remained visible. The bright colors of Impressionism remained, too, but frequently they were used in unnaturalistic ways, such as when Vincent van Gogh and Paul Gauguin covered their canvases with thick, bright paint to infuse their subjects with something more profound or more searching than mere description.

180 * * * * * * * * * Painting with oil and varnish did not appear until the beginning of the fifteenth century. In 1410 in the city of Bruges, a young painter named Jan van Eyck discovered a formula that allowed oil colors to dry without difficulty. After trying many different and varied mixes, Van Eyck discovered that linseed oil boiled with varnish produced the desired effect. He found that when the colors dried they were not only resistant but when left at the mercy of the elements kept their intense shines without any application of varnish. Cennini mentions eighteen colors as well as five blacks and two whites. These were colors used by Renaissance artists: silver white, Naples yellow, royal yellow, yellow ocher, natural sienna, dark sepia, vermilion, red lake, tyrian purple, malachite green, verdigris, earth green, Egyptian blue, ultramarine blue, violet, smoke black. In time, more colors were discovered or invented, and by the eighteenth century there were 30,000 shades available to painters, dyers, and weavers. In 1980 the number of commercially produced colors had risen to 90,000. This remarkable rate of development promoted the invention of new media and painting techniques, generating controversy, change, and divergent styles: the history of color in the art of painting.

181 Chapter 22 19th Century Art

Baroque: The original meaning of the term Baroque has a negative connotation (irregular, contorted, grotesque) The style flowered in Europe and Latin America from about 1600 to 1750. In sculpture and architecture, Baroque represents energy and boldness and contains many decorative touches and embellishments. The paintings are alive with bright and contrasting colors, filled with activity and motion. The artists’ command of illusion was extensive, and they were particularly intrigued by creating vast spaces. They often worked on a grand scale, painting on canvases and creating huge wall and ceiling murals. Baroque subjects are often dramatic. Artists tried to portray emotional and, to some extent, psychological states—for example, see Rembrandt’s self-portrait, —even to relay sexual charge. They painted real people in real situations and their brightness and lively scenarios helped to capture the excitement of a particular moment. Jan Vermeer & Diego Velázquez’s works, however, were concerned with the creation of a perfect record of vision. V’s sensitivity is to light, ignoring dramatic emotions. Rococo: An 18th c. style of architecture, design, and painting noted for its delicacy and elegance in response to what was perceived as the heavy boldness of Baroque art. Rococo art and objects are marked by elaborate shells and scrollwork as well as theme from nature, such as trees and flowers. France was the center of the style. If Baroque is masculine, the Rococo is feminine.

Neo-Classicism: A reference to the revival of ancient Greek and Roman models and standards of achievement occurring at various moments in more recent history. For example, around the American and French revolutions, as the new republics tried to create governments “of the people,” there was great interest in these ancient civilizations, considered the birth sites of democracy. It struck politicians of the day—as well as their artist counterparts—that all sorts of classical precedents might be emulated to good effect. Thus arose the movement referred to by historians as “Neoclassicism.” Artists turned to the standards of ideal proportion, beauty, and order that were admired in these cultures. These influences were most easily seen in architecture—consider courthouse buildings with grand columns and wide steps—but occurred in painting, sculpture, literature, and music as well.

182 Compare: Ingres (Fr. 1780-1867) Odalisque, Manet (Fr. 1832-1883) By studying the way the figure is shown and comparing different representations, we can observe contrasting approaches and ideas among artists as well as times and cultures. Although similar in subject and painted only fifty years apart, these two representations of nude women contrast sharply in the attitude each conveys: compare the coyness of the pose and protective fan in Ingres’ work with the matter of fact gaze and placement of the hand in the Manet Romanticism: An artists revolt in the late 18th and 19th c. against what artists believed was a confining emphasis on reason and order. The Romantics turned away from rigorous systems, mostly classical in origin, developed to insure rationality, and sought to represent spiritual concerns, such as humanity’s innate goodness, or the truths to be found in nature. Experience, imagination, and emotions were thought to be more important than intellect. Artists became fascinated and inspired by exotic and “primitive” cultures. Romanticism (late18th and 19th) Antithesis of Classicism, yet share a concern for ideal not real. Belief in the values of intuition & instinct over reason, provided an outlet for the spiritual expression & individuality that Neoclassicism largely denied with its emphasis on the ideal & stoic heroism. In their landscape paintings the Romantic gave free rein to their daring & their imagination. The rational serenity of Lorrain is lost. R-ruins. a belief in the general importance of the individual, the personal & subjective. A critique of the face in progress & rationality

Friedrich (1774-1840) (G) was central figure in Romantic movement and in the 19th landscape painting. His art broke with fashions and conventions of his day. He abandoned picturesque landscape tradition and expressed symbolically religious & political beliefs & intense emotions for nature. His primary concern is to create paintings of an allegorical kind with symbolic images. He took a spiritual approach to landscape painting, conveying a sense of melancholy, a haunting spirituality. In his works, the mysteries of life and death in the material world have been converted into something spiritual.

Delacroix (1798-1863) (F) Ingres and Neoclassical artists were concerned with control of form and outward perfection, whereas Romantics were concerned with the expression of emotion through dramatic colors, freedom of gestures, and through the choice of exotic and emotive subject matter. It was a uniquely animated & expressive style. Influenced by Rubens and the Venetian school, it was characteristic of an emotionally charged subject matter, a wild vitality and energy. Artists were not interested in the contemporary reality, but delighted in

183 movement and contrasting colors, and in remote and exotic locations. Their works often show a concern for timelessness and universality of art. Goya,(Spain)(46-1828) was an exact contemporary of David. By 1790s he became much eager to explore the irrational aspects of the human being, and initiated a search into subjective world. Instead of making official statements, he started to explore the private, and irrational world of his own.

Realism: In its broadest sense, this term refers to techniques in art by which a recognizable subject is depicted with accuracy, or “realistically.” Different times have dictated different attitudes toward the degree of realism, however. For example, early Greek sculptural figures were realistic but stylized, while classical Greek figures were idealized, and Hellenistic Greek sculpture were quite lifelike and energetic. The Roman desire for likeness led to making portraits from actual castings of dead leaders’ faces as well as illusionistic paintings called trompe l’oeil, which in French means “fooling the eye,” a technique that has reappeared periodically throughout history. Though essentially realistic, much early Asian and Byzantine art tended to generalize facial features, making people identifiable from gestures or garments. From the beginning of the Renaissance, it became a goal in Europe to make art as if one were looking through a window. The rendering of space, distance, scale, and materials was meant to be as we experience them in reality. Related to this type of realism is the term “naturalism,” referring to the tendency of some artists to include the literal aspects of reality, even the mundane, such as a model’s dirty fingernails or tattered clothing. For example, even though he depicted mythological characters, the seventeenth-century Italian artist Caravaggio often displayed this kind of highly detailed naturalism. The Impressionists’ concept of realism was to paint what the eye actually sees: the reflected light. To paint most realistically was to capture the light Abstract artists tended to think of all art as representation, not actuality, and therefore the way to be most realistic was to look to materials (such as paint), colors, forms, and marks left by the painter’s tools as the “real” truths of art. The invention of the camera probably contributed to a decreasing interest in realistic painting, until it emerged that photography created its own sense of reality—a narrow field of focus (something our eye seldom perceives), for example, or the washed-out quality of light from flashbulbs. At that point, trying to capture “photorealism” became a subject of painting— attempting to paint in the way that a camera records, not how our eyes function or what our minds say is logical.

184 “Super- or Hyperrealism” refers to an extension of Pop Art during the 1970s, when the use of certain kinds of painting techniques, such as the “air brush” developed for painting signs, made it possible to banish any brush mark or other sign of the artist’s hand. Paintings could be made to have a slick, almost mechanical finish. The subjects chosen tended to be slices of ordinary experience, but in spite of their familiarity, they often seemed too real, almost to the point of surrealism. In another important use of the term, realism can refer to painting (or writing) about one’s own experiences or those of people at work and/or involved in everyday life, particularly one of hardship. This is most notably evidenced by the Realist movement of 19th c. Europe and echoed in the “Social Realism” of the 1930s and 1940s in post-Depression US, as well as its Socialist counterparts in the former communist nations.

Symbolism: A school of artists who at the end of the 19th c. began to experiment with increasingly abstract ways of conveying ideas, often through distorted or exaggerated figures as well as symbols. They fixed on their inner selves as appropriate subjects for art and often depicted subjective, deeply personal understandings instead of describing exterior, physical realities.

Impressionism 1870-90 carry further realist landsp ptg of Courbet, Corot by concentrate on color & light in rapid summary brushstrokes. Use color harmony theory, reject chiaroscuro modeling in shades of grey, juxtaposed contrasting colors. First of 8 shows 1874. Two 19c innovations made en plein air ptg. possible: the collapsible metal paint tube in 1841 & the metal ferrule for paintbrushes, the latter allowed flat brush & rapid tench. Manet:Fr. realist, paint life as he saw & knew it. Style based on the Old Masters at the Louvre, particularly Velazquez & Ribera Manet was also denounced for his bold technique. He eliminated the fine tonal gradations & created vivid contrasts of light & shade. broad strokes of pigment. It was with Manet that the couse of modern ptg. shifted into a new phase. represeted a departure from the great tradition in painting that had begun with Giotto. In M.’s painting, form is no longer a matter of line, is only a fuction of paint and light. He declared that the chief actor in the painting is the light. —Luncheon on the Grass, 63 (Giorgioneque) Le Déjeuner sur l’herbe caused a scandal. based on moral as well as aesthetic grounds for nudity was considered acceptable if it was remote in time or place. His showed a naked woman having a picnic with two clothed men. —Olympia, 63. a companion work. flooded with a strong frontal light producing simple tonal contrasts and flattening form and space.

185 Impressionism: Style now greatly admired that shook the foundations of European art in the late 19th c. and had a profound impact on all art that happened after it. The pretty subjects of Impressionist paintings and the way they were painted seem delightful more than one hundred years later. At the time, however, they were a great affront to accepted standards of painting. The term Impressionism was borrowed by a critic from the painter Claude Monet, who called an early painting Impression, Sunrise. The critic disliked the picture and chose to make fun of it by focusing on the word “impression,” which to him meant something insubstantial and unworthy of the great art of painting. Impressionists often painted entire works outdoors (as opposed to sketching outdoors and creating the final work in the studio), unusual in itself at the time. Using bright colors and painting with very visible brushstrokes, they sought to capture immediate sensations, quickly observed. They were particularly interested in light as it struck various surfaces in different weather and at different times of day. Their subjects, including many people at leisure, were more ordinary than they were lofty and sometimes seem to be only an excuse for depicting a fleeting mood and look of a moment in time.

Post-Impressionism: painters in this late 19th c. period turned away fromthe interests of the Impressionists, focusing less on surfaces and fleeting effects and more on personal concerns, emotions, and even spiritual matters. Paul Czanne, for example, objected to the Impressionists’ focus on light as light-weight, wanting to restore some rigorous aspects of earlier painting, such as careful construction of pictures based on rules of composition. One aspect of Impressionism that carried over was its attitude toward painting itself: the “footprint” of the brush (brushstroke) remained visible. The bright colors of Impressionism remained, too, but frequently they were used in unnaturalistic ways, such as when Vincent van Gogh and Paul Gauguin covered their canvases with thick, bright paint to infuse their subjects with something more profound or more searching than mere description. * * * * * * * * * Painting with oil and varnish did not appear until the beginning of the fifteenth century. In 1410 in the city of Bruges, a young painter named Jan van Eyck discovered a formula that allowed oil colors to dry without difficulty. After trying many different and varied mixes, Van Eyck discovered that linseed oil boiled with varnish produced the desired effect. He found that when the colors dried they were not only resistant but when left at the mercy of the elements kept their intense shines without any application of varnish. Cennini mentions eighteen colors as well as five blacks and two whites. These were colors used by Renaissance artists: silver white, naples yellow, royal yellow, yellow ocher, natural sienna, dark sepia, vermilion, red

186 lake, tyrian purple, malachite green, verdigris, earth green, Egyptian blue, ultramarine blue, violet, smoke black. In time, more colors were discovered or invented, and by the eighteenth century there were 30,000 shades available to painters, dyers, and weavers. In 1980 the number of commercially produced colors had risen to 90,000. This remarkable rate of development promoted the invention of new media and painting techniques, generating controversy, change, and divergent styles: the history of color in the art of painting.

187 Chapter 23

Modernism and Post-Modernism

Now let’s look very quickly at the history of early modern art, especially at the half dozen artists covered in your text, whose achievements all influenced the ideas and forms of Picasso's work. If modern refers to the present and recent past, then we are faced with a puzzle when we use the term for art. When does Modern begin and end? In the future, the art we have called "Modern" will probably be renamed. Nevertheless, it is clear that the art produced in the late 19 and early 20th c offers a variety of expression and form unprecedented in the history of art. One definition of "modern" is "characteristic of styles that reject traditionally accepted forms and emphasize individual experimentation and sensibility." “Modern” applied to a time period beginning in the 1880s, when a radical change in artists’ attitudes toward art took place. New times demanded new (“modern”) art. Building on the Impressionists’ steps away from tradition, modern artists championed invention and innovation, along with individuality—each artist needing his own defining style, even within groups committed to similar principles. In the modernist drive toward originality and uniqueness, impatience with the past became a rule, not just an attitude. The result was a kind of intolerance toward artistic traditions, especially realistic subject matter. There was a strong assertion that abstract art was the language for our times. Moreover, art had to play in the realm of the mind as much as that of the eye or senses, as it do with Surrealism, for example. Much modern art became strongly dependent on a pared-down vocabulary of lines, shapes, forms, colors, and patterns, perhaps most readily characterized by architecture of glass and steel, paintings that focus on geometry and/or color only, or large expressive canvases covered with masses of lines and amorphous shapes. One reason for the modernist enthusiasm for abstraction was its belief that materials themselves could contribute as much to meaning as subject matter. Modern artists used thick paint, rough brushstrokes, or hard, rough metals to make statements, often trying to visualize complex matters such as the workings of the interior mind, ongoing warfare, and holocausts— things that defy precise visual (or verbal) description. On a more positive side, they also looked

188 at the world as a single village needful of a universal language achieved through color and gesture.

Modern Art A term first applied to a period beginning in the 1880s, when a radical change in artists’ attitudes toward art took place: New times demanded new art.

• Building on the Impressionists’ achievements • Modern artists advocated invention and innovation, originality and uniqueness, and individuality. Each artist needs his/her own style. • Impatience with the past became a rule, not just an attitude. • Intolerance toward artistic traditions, especially realistic subject matter. • Abstract art was the language of our times. • Art had to play in the realm of the mind as much as that of the eye or senses. • Dependent on a vocabulary of lines, shapes, forms, colors, and patterns. • Paintings focus on geometry and/or color only, or covered with masses of lines and formless shapes.

One reason for the modernist enthusiasm for abstraction was its belief that materials themselves could contribute as much to meaning as subject matter. Modern artists used thick paint, rough brush strokes, or hard, rough metals to make statements, often trying to visualize complex matters such as the workings of the interior mind, ongoing warfare, and holocausts— things that defy precise visual (or verbal) description. On a more positive side, they also looked at the world as a single village that needs a universal language of color and gesture.

“Modern” art was centered in Paris between the turn of the 19th c—1800—and World War II. In the 19th century, the mark of an artist's success was acceptance at the annual state sponsored exhibition of paintings, called the Salon. Artists submitted their work to a jury of generally conservative and even stodgy judges. A contemporary critic joked that the ideal picture should combine several romantic images: "a knight in armor, a group of cardinals, some tropical vegetation, some counterfeit stained glass, a medieval feast with every dish and goblet shown in meticulous detail, a distant view of Constatinople through a window in the background and in the foreground three of four naked women, dancing." John Russell. In 1963 Edouard Manet, an earnest, gentlemanly painter, submitted this picture, but along with 4,000 other artists, he was rejected. Many of the spurned artists and their supporters organized a second salon; Des Refuses.

189 Manet, Dejeuner sur l'herbe 1863 (14.34) • obscure meaning • does not illustrate a myth or historical event • Nudity for its own sake, not a goddess nor harem slave, nor allegorical figure, • Brash gaze of Victorine Merchant at viewer • "paintings can exist for the sheer beauty of the colors, light, patterns, brushstrokes on the surface" Manet • New interpretation of forms, simplified into flat planes • rejects concreteness of object and focuses on how light strikes objects • Shocking new subject matter: the common people doing unorthodox things • Combination of genres: still life, landscape, female nude • Subtle momentary occurrences,

Gericault, Raft of the Medusa, 1818 • Overly emotional • Subject: ordeal of the survivors of the French ship Medusa, which had foundered off the west coast of Africa in 1816, laden with Algerian immigrants. Apparently the tragedy led to horrible struggles—cannibalism, murder, • He built a raft, interviewed survivors, • Interested in the human expression as it reveals inner states • Classical structure: crossing diagonals

II. Monet, Rouen Cathedral, 1895 ( 14.35) Impressionism Wanted to paint what visual stimuli actually exist, not as the brain interprets reality; momentary occurrences; not focused on the object but on the action of light on surfaces

Compare with Leonardo, Virgin of the Rocks, 1485,

III. Cezanne, Still Life with Apples, 1895 (14.36) Post Impressionism Underlying natural harmonies are perceived by brain: brain is reductionist: cylinder, cube, sphere, Return to careful composition; reject linear perspective; Tried to reinvent the relationship of object to picture plane; built up spatial layers with color, line, shape, form, rhythm Compare: Raphael Peale, Still life with Rotting Fruit, 1814

190 IV. Munch, the scream, 1893 (14.38) Expressionism Distorts the figure to the point of abstraction to achieve emotional state Van Gogh, Starry Night, V. Derain, Pool of London, 1906 (14.39) Fauvism: [fovizm] (1905) The French word for “wild beast” is applied to the work of a number of young artists in Paris who early in the 20th century outraged an art critic with their bright colors, disregard for logic, and somewhat scribble drawing. Their art seemed savage to the critic. He said so in a printed review of an exhibition—and the name stuck. To the artists, the issue was not savagery but attempting to move beyond the physical world into one of sensations. It used arbitrary color to achieve emotional expression and new way of rendering world. We see a free bold handling of color (influenced by the work of Van Gogh). Fauves used arbitrary color to achieve emotional expression and new way of rendering world. Derain, Pool of London, 1906 (14.39)

Cubism: (major period 1907-1914) Cubism was invented just before World War I by the artists Pablo Picasso and George Braque, who were searching for new means of depicting the world, not so much from looking at it as thinking about it. They realized that they could alter, exaggerate, and distort objects at will. It was as if, having looked at a subject form many vantage points and then thought about it, they constructed a memory of the experience. One of the first radical developments of modern art, Cubism is a style of making pictures that tends to abstract objects, people, or places. The subjects are often incomplete, simplified into geometric shapes and forms. There is very little indication of space in Cubist art. There tend to be few colors used mostly browns, grays, and blacks. Objects represented are often broken apart and sometimes shown from two or more sides at once. Looking at them requires puzzling about what each shape or line might signify.

Picasso As these artists were questioning old rules and insisting that artists had the right to transform and manipulate form to create expression, Picasso was a boy studying in Barcelona and Madrid, Spain. At these schools, Picasso soon became impatient with the rigid academic approach to art. He made two trips to Paris, where he saw the exhibits of the work of Van Gogh, Gauguin and Lautrec, he moved to Paris in 1904, where he explored with abandon the natural forms, the intellect, and the human psyche.

191 Around 1893, at age of 14, he made this drawing from a cast of a Greek sculpture. It shows his ability to draw, which some people, looking only at his later Cubist works, have questioned.

Pablo Ruiz Picasso (1881 - 1973) When Pablo Picasso died in 1973 at the age of 92, he had been one of history's most famous artists, as the co-inventor of Cubism, and also one of the most prolific and wealthiest, despite his poor origins. As a formal innovator and person he was a revolutionary but actually most of his themes correspond to older art: still lives; landscapes; animals; interpretations of myth and literature; human pleasure and suffering. But the styles or forms in which he expressed these themes varied tremendously and he constantly explored new media, creating everything from paintings and prints to sculpture to light drawings and found art. No artist or person's achievements exist without precedent, and Picasso was no exception. A century of rebellion against the rules created during the Renaissance concerning visual art led to Picasso's own revolution. Now let's look very quickly at the history of early modern art, especially at the half dozen artists covered in your text, whose achievements all influenced the ideas and forms of Picasso's work. If modern refers to the present and recent past, then we are faced with a puzzle when we use the term for art. When does Modern begin and end? In the future, the art we have called “Modern” will probably be renamed. Nevertheless, it is clear that the art produced in the late 19 and early 20th c offers a variety of expression and form unprecedented in the history of art. One definition of “modern” is “characteristic of styles that reject traditionally accepted forms and emphasize individual experimentation and sensibility.” The emotional states of the body are externalized by drastic changes in the forms of the body. Distortion produces an emotional effect. This picture was so shocking he kept it rolled up in his studio and didn’t show it to anyone for a while, until he shared it with Georges Braque, with whom he developed the concept of Cubism. The Old Guitarist (2.110) 4.12 Three women dancing 2.131 A Woman in white 1923

192 Picasso always worked with the human figure in his quest to represent human condition. Like Manet, Cezanne, the Fauves and the Expressionists, he broke with the requirement, established in the Renaissance that art imitate the physical appearance of nature. In 1906, having seen exhibitions of traditional African Art, he seriously waged war with the accumulated traditions of Western art. He undertook his largest picture to date, Les Demoiselles d' Avignon. (14.40) 1907 8 by 7 feet His theme was based on a reaction to the brothels in the Avignon district of Barcelona. In an early sketch, Picasso included a sailor entering at left to purchase the prostitute's services. In fact, the picture was intended to show that the wages of sin are death. He broke all the rules regarding the traditional means of unity: common faces, a consistent viewpoint, a logical setting with clear source of light, the coordination of limb movement, In breaking Western conventions he looked to other traditions, equally valid and compelling. his faces and bodies are mixed races, some classical Greek figures, an Egyptian profile, faces borrowed from African tribal art. Each figure seen from various viewpoints, Broke down unity of body into shapes, especially strong Vs. Like Manet, a very ambiguous painting. Viewer realizes that there is more to the scene than meets the eye. Could be many reasons for the people to be in Manet's park or Picasso's crowded space.

The emotional states of the body are externalized by drastic changes in the forms of the body. Distortion produces an emotional effect. This picture was so shocking he kept it rolled up in his studio and didn’t show it to anyone for a while, until he shared it with Georges Braque, with whom he developed the concept of Cubism.

Braque, the Portuguese (14.41) Text: “...a subject fragmented into geometric planes that simultaneously revealed more than one side at once, as though artist were moving around a 3D form and reporting the view from many angles. • Momentary or sequential perceptions • Distortion to achieve emotional state • Arbitrary use of color or lack of color • Incorporation of materials and textures • Use of words as part of image • A highly intellectual approach to art.

193 Picasso said, "Nature and art are two different things, cannot be the same things. Through art we express our conception of nature is not. “(Text 146) Les Demoiselles d' Avignon (Barcelona) 1907 In 1911, Picasso and Braque were working together very closely so that one can scarcely distinguish their works. That year and the next Cubism became a world wide movement with many artists working in this new mode of expression, abstraction and a new concept of reality. Still Life with C hair C aning: 1911 (incorporates words and textures) Cubism coexisted with formal abstractions, surrealism, dada, and other movements in art in the 20's, Picasso abandoned strict cubist approach but continued to explore abstraction and distortion of the figure.

Dada: (1916-1922) (formed Surrealist group in 1924)A French word for “hobby horse,” Dada was the name given to a radical modern art movement arising partly in response to the conditions and behaviors that provoked World War I, as well as its devastating consequences. Angry and upset, a number of artists found ways of criticizing society through their art. Dada artists broke away from all traditions and ridiculed conventional rules. They felt that what happened around them made no sense, and they concluded, therefore, that what would make sense was nonsense. For example, if art of satire and protest was typically painting and drawing, they would stage events. Since it was customary to craft art objects out of precious materials, Dada artists would work by means that were cheap, soon exhausted, and “uncollectible.” They also brought everyday objects (artist Marcel Duchamp called them “ready-mades”) into galleries arguing that as artists they could decide what art was. Moreover, they declared, the meaning of an object would change depending on its setting; if a urinal was placed in an art gallery, then it must be art. Dadaists argued that creativity is a matter of ideas, not craft. Anyone, they said, could learn to make something—even a machine—but only really creative people could invent and innovate. Since the 20th century has generally embraced invention in all areas of activity, this fresh and impertinent notion influenced many people’s thinking about art, as it continues to do. Marcel Duchamp (Fr. 1887-1968). L.H.O.O.Q. 1919. Rectified Ready-Made Duchamp took one of the most revered paintings in history and, in a graffiti-like gesture, drew a mustache on the quiet figure of Leonardo’s Mona Lisa. Does it make sense to call this art? It might if you think of the time in which it was made—its context: World War I left Europe with a great deal of its past in ruins, with a new era’s “make it new” attitude, as well as a tendency to debunk tradition and convention and a desire to make one’s own mark (“Kilroy was

194 here ...”). Maybe awed by the accomplishments of earlier artists, maybe bored with the present, maybe making fun of the way art had become something precious for itself not for what it meant, Duchamp took this funny, irrelevant step toward a new art of irony and nonsense— matching much of what he saw around him.

Surrealism: A movement in modern art announced in Paris in 1924 (when the Dada movement split) with a manifesto written by poet André Breton. Working in both painting and writing, especially, Surrealist artists believed that imagination was most exciting and alive when it was the expression of unconscious, non-logical sensations and inspirations. Some artists painted directly from dreams. Others tried to shut off and rational thought and make work that occurred by accident or was somehow led by the subconscious. Still others created “impossible” scenes by combining, in one image, objects or events that had nothing o do with each other. Much of their motivation came from new understandings about the mind and how it works, offered by the innovative thinking of various psychologists, such as Sigmund Freud.

Futurism: (1910) In the early part of the 20th c., a number of Italian artists looked around them and saw change taking place in the world—particularly in the mechanical and technological arenas. They were especially excited by the speed at which things were occurring, moving society toward tomorrow faster than ever thought possible. They formed a group calling themselves “Futurists,” and their goal was to embody the energy of a world that was constantly changing, building, growing. They did this by using bright colors that glow with intensity. Even more, they used overlapping and repeated lines and shapes, and edges are blurred. Although you can find objects, animals, and sometimes athletes in Futurist art, above all you get the sense of energy and power as forms move through space. Abstraction: Applies to art that looks as if it contains no recognizable forms from the physical world. All the artist gives us to focus on are colors, lines, shapes, and materials. We can find abstraction in periods, places, and styles throughout history, from Islamic patterns to modern painting. Most art is abstract to some degree: a painting is only a picture of something, never the real thing, even if it is presented very realistically. Artists often “abstract” the objects or people they represent by changing, simplifying, or exaggerating what they see. A mask maker who reduces eyes to circles or slits is abstracting from nature. Some completely abstract art is based on geometry—squares, for example, or forms that appear to have volume, such as cubes or pyramids. Other abstractions are free flowing and irregular. “Lyrical” is one word applied to the latter; “organic” is another. The shapes we see in these may suggest things we recognize—figures, for example—and sometimes the artist

195 actually wants us to find them. Usually, however, no specific allusions to the “real world” are intended. In one sense you can say that the subject of abstract art cannot be pinned down. It can be anything you can make of it: in some cases, we find images such as those we see in cloud formations, or an evocation of mood or atmosphere. Most often, abstract art is about patterns, or how different colors and shapes relate to each other, or impressions. For example, very careful painting can give one impression, while quick, fast brushstrokes can convey quite another. Two other words, whose meanings are slightly different, are sometimes substituted for “abstract.” “Nonobjective” is used to describe work that contains no references to objects from the physical world. “Nonrepresentational” refers to an artwork in which the artist has no intention of symbolizing or evoking reference to anything outside itself. Art Nouveau: Style that broke radically with “revivalist” traditions, such as Neo-Gothic, just as the 19th century ended and the 20th began. Art Nouveau designs are dense with swirling lines and are usually asymmetrical, like nature’s irregular patterns. They are, in fact, often based on plants, flowers, or other natural forms such as waves of water and the curves of a woman’s body or hair. Decorative aspects were integrated with structure, so that a cascading vine of leaves might also be the supporting columns of a wrought-iron balcony. The images often seem mysterious or mystical and, in fact, represented a rejection of art-historical styles in order to seek inspiration solely in nature.

Art Deco or Moderne: style in decorative arts and architecture popular in the 1920s and 1930s, mostly in Europe and the US. Its goal was to adapt design to the technologies of mass production and to the availability of new materials. We find Art Deco buildings throughout the industrialized world, which can be seen as a measure of the degree to which a global culture was beginning to develop. Art Deco can be identified by its slim geometric, often symmetrical, forms and linear patterns. If the earlier Art Nouveau was anchored in nature, sleek Art Deco elegantly celebrated the machine age. People are represented in sculpture as glamorous, powerful, and bold. It is a design reflective of a world optimistic about its future, especially in the advances in speed and convenience made possible by machines and mechanization. Avant-garde: Experimental or daring art, usually of the 20th century, taken from a French military term meaning the “front line.” Unfamiliar and perhaps shocking, avant-garde art is usually considered radical when first introduced to the public, only to be accepted later.

196 Pop Art: A movement that dominated the 1960s in which artists used the intensely rich world of popular and commercial images, from soup cans to comic strips and billboards, both for inspiration and as subjects matter for their art. These artists observed that after World War II, visual culture expanded dramatically by way of package design, advertising, films, and television. As the public became acutely tuned into popular mediums, it became alienated from the milieu and ideas of modern art. Pop artists, as they came to be known, tired of abstraction’s vague meanings and grand hopes. They mined pop culture to see what was being said beneath the mass of communications, applying the imagery of the everyday to sculpture and painting. Pop artists shared considerable respect for modern culture’s inventiveness, energy, and brightness but also treated it with humor and irony.

Expressionism: (1910) Style of art that particularly emphasizes the expression of feelings. Sometimes this emphasis happens because the subject is charged with meaning—such as an image of war or bitter poverty. It is usually the result of other choices by the artist as well, for example, using colors in an outrageous way, inscribing lines very boldly, or employing very jarring shapes. The artist’s emotional attitude can be read to some degree in these decisions. Our responses are more likely to be emotional than intellectual in such instances as well. This tendency was first seen in the work of artists such as Vincent van Gogh and Edvar Munch, who used both colors and gestures to make a statement with their art. During the first decade of the 20th century artists in both Germany and Austria, known as “German Expressionists,” coupled the use of harsh colors and strong dark lines with socially significant subjects, often criticizing the rich and powerful. Some German Expressionists emphasized elements of spirituality, again taking liberties with nature and especially using colors to move viewers beyond the physical world into one of feelings and associations. By the middle of the 20th century, artists had started to experiment with creating abstract paintings intended to have emotional impact. This movement was called “Abstract Expressionism,” and it is one of the most celebrated of the styles developed as part of modern art—and the first to be recognized internationally as American—reaching its height in the mid- 1950s. Expressionist art is full of emotional statement: In Munch’s painting a skull-like, ghostly figure with bulging eyes crying out pushes us toward a reading of fear, anxiety, or even horror. We also see another somehow ominous figure approaching through the darkness and swirling water or air to add to the mix. The precise emotion and its cause are not clear, but the pathos of the scream is easy to feel. Neo-Expressionism: A style, particularly of the 1980s, that revived the use of jarring colors and very obvious brushstrokes to infuse painting with energy and feeling. The movement

197 included both abstract and representational art and borrowed its techniques (use of color, line, and brushwork) from earlier Expressionists. The content of those Neo-Expressionists who included recognizable subject matter also tended to be provocative, for example, bringing up subjects in public that are normally considered private concerns, such as the dawning of sexuality in adolescents.

Conceptual Art: Since the 1960s, a tendency has existed among some modern artists to use written text as most (or all) of their art, making it similar to poetry but “framed” as if it were visual art. Conceptual art can use non-art medium and materials, such as video, slide projectors, and photographic techniques that ignore aesthetic considerations. Some visual art has resembled signs or billboards. The name “conceptual” derives from the art’s focus on ideas. Most of our response to it takes place in our minds, our eyes being taxed very little.

Minimalism In the 1960s and 1970s, particularly in the United States and Europe, there developed in some art a trend toward great simplicity. Following the lead of earlier artists who “reduced” painting to abstract geometric arrangements, a group of artists began to pare art down even further to the barest essentials: just materials (often ones not originally designed for art) and shapes. The look of Minimal art is easy to imagine, hard reproducing in photographs. Materials range from industrial fabrics to lead to fluorescent or neon light to barely visible pencil marks on canvas or paper. A predominant shape or form may be repeated many times over. Most Minimal art is black and white; if colored at all, it is very subtle and subdued. It is often very large. Minimal artists frequently depend on machines to make their art, and even if hand made, the work appears to retain few personalizing marks of the maker. Like much modern and postmodern art, Minimalism calls into question the role of the artist and the nature of creativity.

Contemporary: The term that designates art being made today. It is sometimes confused with modern art because both sound as if they could refer to “now.” In fact, museums make a distinction between the two, tending to define modern art as styles that began in the late nineteenth century and, to some extent, carry on to this day. Contemporary art is often seen as a response to modernism, and some of it is dubbed postmodern because of the way it rejects the aesthetics and concerns of earlier modern styles. The most striking aspect of contemporary art is that it is remarkably diverse and fast- changing. Today’s artists make a point to keep up with shifts in technologies as well as ideas.

198 They acknowledge that our lives are varied and often changing, and they want to keep pace. Many of them are concerned with social issues and take a critical stance with regard to the way things are. Contemporary artists employ all mediums, from paint to clay, photography to video, computers to neon.

Postmodernism: The diversification of styles and concerns that came with the waning of modernism as a style. Most postmodernism is a reaction to modern art, to some extent bouncing off it, often with humor. It is all over the stylistic map, including all mediums and running the gamut from abstraction to pop. The term “deconstructionist” is often used to describe postmodern art because so much of it rejects or subverts the ideas and forms of modernism, attempting to “de-construct” (debunk, or at least, debate) such attitudes as modern art’s isolation from social concerns and its aesthetic goals of originality and purity. Postmodernists frequently borrow from earlier artists, including modernists, “appropriating” subjects, ideas, and styles, either out of respect or desire to make fun of them. In any case, artists appropriating from the past do so with awareness of what something originally meant as well as what it means taken our of context. Postmodernists tend to be sensitive to a wide range of cultures and issues within them and are concerned with societal change, especially shifts in viewpoints. They tend to embrace changes brought about by civil-rights movements in general, including women’s and gay and lesbian rights. AIDS is a preoccupation, along with sexuality, the human body, and new ways of seeing the self.

Earthworks (late 1960s and early 1970s) A type of contemporary sculpture created in nature, often very large and referring to phenomena such as the slow process of erosion or the movement of planets or stars, especially the sun. Many earthworks intend to help us understand nature better. Some demonstrate the inherent differences between nature and civilization, often pointing out human kind’s desire to understand, conquer, and control natural processes.

Folk art: in which schooling and academic training play little part, is handed down from generation to generation and usually reflects commonly held regional values and customs. Often not thinking of themselves as professionals, folk artists simply make things as a matter of course—quilts for example. Categories such as “folk art” trouble some people, because they imply qualitative distinctions between fine art and folk art, or high art and popular culture. There are indeed differences in the training and motives of the artists, among other things, but it is no longer

199 seen as reasonable to use “fine art” to suggest superiority. We use labels to help us sort things out but not to confer judgments. Modern art has prepared us for an aesthetic approach to artifacts from Africa, Oceania, and Indonesia. Such Western art styles as Fauvism, Cubism, and Expressionism were ridiculed by the public when they first emerged before World War I. Later accepted as legitimate forms of artistic expression, in the 1930s they were ostracized by totalitarian regimes. Now once again they are treasured for their innovative power. The art works conceived under those rubrics have found their familiar places in our museums; the aesthetic appreciation of modern art no longer depends on the concepts of an earlier day, which called for imitating or surpassing nature and striving for beauty. Sheer beauty in art—once defined as something harmonious and perfect, as an ideal, serene, and superior form of reality—is now suspected of being false. Who in fact could limit the experience of Michelangelo's Moses to a discussion of beauty? Therefore, the word "aesthetic" pertains not so much to the pleasing and beautiful aspects of tribal art as to that branch of philosophy called "aesthetics," which deals more generally with the creative sources, forms, and effects of art. And if we do not look for a true, even idealized imitation of nature or for beauty in these works of tribal art we are prepared to see them not just as expression of belief, but also as expression of human creativity. "Art is a weapon for exorcism" was Picasso's great discovery at the beginning of this century, when tribal artifacts began to be seen no longer as fetishes but as works of art. Before that period, such pieces had been at best appreciated for their superb beauty of material, surface, and color scheme. This is what ethnologists still call the aesthetic quality of a particular tribal object. But in 1848, the Swiss artist and amateur philosopher Rodolphe Toepffer has already understood these works as signs for a concept, signs that "are alive, speak, proclaim that a creative idea dwells in them in order to become manifest through them." Such a creative idea must not be seen exclusively in the realm of the magical or the supernatural. Many tribal-art figures can be recognized, after all, as men, women with children, couples and specific animals—specimens all of creation. We also see an intense beauty in them. The forms and patterns are aesthetically pleasing, to tribal eyes and to ours, as well, despite the fact that according to our judgment the anatomical renderings are "faulty" and ignore the standard of proportion derived from classical antiquity and from what we call objective observation.

200 Chapter 24

The Global Look at the Subjects of Art

Based on Lewis and Lewis p. 2- 20 Art need not be as familiar and comfortable as the Mona Lisa to be considered “ great art". Some of the most powerful art is done by people of other cultures that in the past, in our ignorance, we labeled "primitive." Powers of Art: Art and the Magic Olmec jade mask, Colombian gold ornament, Michael Tracy or DAVID One of the best-known observations by Michelangelo is that the artist must proceed in finding the idea, the image, locked in the stone, as it were—so that, by removing the excess stone, he extricates the idea, like Pygmalion bringing forth the living form: "The best artist has no concept of which some single marble does not enclose within its mass, but only the hand which obeys the intelligence can accomplish that...Taking away...brings out a living figure in alpine and hard stone, which...grows the more as the stone is chipped away."

Lascaux cave: The earliest known paintings were the creation of European hunting peoples, about 13,000 BC. They were discovered accidentally in 1940 by some boys looking for an underground entrance to an old chateau, and caused a sensation through the worlds of art history, archaeology, and science entering the eerie dark caves, visitors find pictures of huge Ice Age beasts, some new extinct. We see bulls, horses, wooly mammoth, wooly rhinoceros, interacting rarely with humans. The depictions are not awkward but are elegantly simplified contour drawings make with a variety of lines and involving much movement, character of the animals, and close observation. Were these images records of successful hunts? Magical rituals meant to assure success in future hunts? Images of the Animal spirit companions of the humans Narratives of origin myth? Most are painted in hard to reach parts of the cave. The painters had to build scaffolds, and remnant of their oil lamps, palettes, and post holes of scaffolds have been found. Tribal Art: Impersonating the Spirits Dogon Ceremony, Mali

201 What we once called "primitive" is the art of any area of the world where people live in preindustrial style. Masks of African cultures have been popular for their strong sense of design, and they are exhibit in galleries, museums, homes as static objects. But much of their original meaning is lost. Within their culture and beliefs, the masks are meant to be worn in association with elaborate costume, during ceremonies where traditional songs and dances are performed. Ceremonies often last for days. Masks have magical fix, such as to transmit the spirits of gods or ancestors depicted to the dancers, enabling them to dance for hours. Tezcatlipoca Eskimo or NWC mask According to Eskimos of arctic circle, everything—including materials, animals, and parts of nature—has a spirit. These spirits are contacted by a shaman, an intermediary who is a specialist in contacting the dangerous beings of spirit realm. Eskimos believe in an undersea kingdom as well as a heavenly realm of supernatural beings. Their gods include both helpful and destructive characters, such as the kindly spirit of icebergs and the goddess Sedna, who controls all marine life. Shaman stories often tell of magical flight to distant lands or stars or moon, and to the land of the dad. Here, the beaver is the personal ally of the shaman who made the mask. He is source of shaman's power, and if not offended, will protect him. It is not the beaver as an animal that is revered, but the spirit and qualities residing in the beaver, which is a part of the entire creation. The tribe believes that to assure the continuing survival of the tribe or clan, the spirits must be honored, paid attention to if they were members of family. Images must be produced and treated with respect. Many people around the world believe that spiritual forces are installed in art objects. And can be worshipped, talked to, or wielded for magical power. In our world view, people have power that relates to intellect and money but objects do not inherently possess power. Nevertheless, imagine how you would feel if you discovered someone had poked holes and made red slashes on a photo of you as a child or of your grandmother. Is it only a damaged piece of paper with some markings on it?

Shamanic Art: Death and Rebirth Memorializes transitions between cosmic realms. Palenque Sarcophagus lid Haida Totem Pole Gold Bird Man 1) Art Codifies Religion: For centuries, people have created special spaces for worship. The architecture and art created for these places conveys specific messages about the ideals, dogma, myth, and history of the group. They are intended to invoke the spiritual element of

202 the human psyche, and so they share some of the reverent magical quality, the otherworldliness, of the Lascaux caves. Stained glass in Notre Dame North transept Notre Dame in Paris is a gothic cathedral expressing in visual form the Christian faith of the medieval era. With its soaring vertical lines, it seems to lift the soul heavenward. Its stained glass windows tell biblical stories and its paintings and statues instruct and inspire the viewer, who then was probably illiterate. By transforming a material as dense and heavy as stone into a structure of such grace, the cathedral becomes a visual representation of the Christian belief in the existence of a spiritual life beyond and above the limitations of physical reality. As the eye moves upward along the pointed windows to the colored light above, the mind imagines the source of divinity above. The physical act of viewing is transformed into the spiritual act of worship. Palenque tablet of Cross Sistine ceiling, creation Adam Something Hindu/ Buddhist 2)Art Represents Ideals of Society and Beauty Greek, Praxitiles, Hermes with infant Dionysus 340 BC The art of classical Greece expresses their cultural ideals of physical beauty and athletic strength, as in the statues here. A strong and healthy body was considered equally as important as mental and spiritual growth among the Greeks. They sought a perfect balance between body and mind, a natural harmony between muscular prowess, grace, mental vigor, and physical bx. Aztec standard Bearer Quote from object label Olmec mask Renoir, La Loge 3) Art Declares Authority In most societies, art ahs been used to make manifest the power of a ruler. The pharaohs of Egypt erected huge structures to declare their strength, Roman emperors constructed triumphal arches in conquered territories. The royal court has bee a major source of patronage for artists from Egypt to Cambodia to the 19th century Bali to the Popes of Rome.

Hans Holbein, Henry VII (1540) or Rigaud, Louis XIV One of the finest of Renaissance court painters was Hans Holbein the Younger, and our image of Henry VIII is forever that of an enormous insatiable powerhouse because of Holbein's portraits. His Henry VII stands before us seeming larger than life, almost bursting out the edges of the picture frame. He is dressed in stunning garments, made of the finest

203 materials sewn with golden embroidery. Another Holbein portrait (now lost) hung over the king's throne and according to visitors, it abashed an annihilated them when they stood before it. That was the purpose of all the king's portraits—to glorify a man who had supreme power. Maya Stela View of Versailles US capitol 4) Art Ensures Immortality Greek vase painter signs work—immortality of artist Bichitir, janangir Preferring a Sufi Shaikh to kings. early 17th c. A century after Holbein painted Henry VIII, Bichtir was painting the emperor of India, Jahangir. He was one of the greatest royal patrons of arts in history. The important events of his life, his dreams, and the exotic animals he collected all appear in books of miniature paintings he commissioned. He directed artists to portray him as honestly as they could. Yet he did not totally renounce flattery. While the faces are naturalistic in this image, the setting and events are not. The emperor is surrounded by a brilliant light that makes cupids turn away. Great men have come to pay homage: a wise old saint, the sultan of Ottoman Empire, and King James I of England, and the artist Bichtir. The Emperor sits on a throne supported by an hourglass whose sand has almost run out. Yet, on the glass, cupids are painting a prayer that he might live for 10,000 years. Why the contradiction? The artists apparently were so well treated during his reign, with their studios in the palace and their excellent materials, that they rewarded him with this immortality. 5) Art Changes beliefs Bettye Saar, Liberation Aunt Jemima 1972 Much of what is considered important in contemporary art is aimed at expressing political or social viewpoints, and leading the viewers to a moral lesson. In the Lib of Aunt Jemima, Saar comments on the stereotyping of African-American women in advertising and the media. Saar creates her work out of so called found objects, like many doll and cutouts from pancake packages. These are arranged inside a box like diorama. Cloud like bottom, happy mammy holding wailing baby. Radicalized: shotgun, pistol. Black power fist, Aunt J expresses anger felt by women such as Saar, who won first prize for her parade floats at Tournament of roses in California until judges realized she was African American. Then only honorable mentions. Barbara Kruger, Your Gaze Hits the side of my face 6) Art expresses Inner Experiences Rousseau, the Dream Rothko, Green on Blue Van Gogh, Starry Night

204 Buddha from Gal Vihara, Sri Lanka 7) Art Shocks: Duchamp, F ountain Related to the power to change our point of view is the power to shake our assumptions. and preconceptions about art. One such influential artist of early 20th c was Marcel Duchamp, a Frenchman. Satire of Mona Lisa because it was so beloved. When the initials LHOOQ are pronounced in French, sounds like vulgar phrase, "she has a hot ass". This parody upset people on many levels. First, he was making light of a piece that people felt exemplified the best in western art. Second, He took a reproduction of a work by one artist, changed it slightly, and claimed it was a new work of art that he made—so he seemed to be stealing someone else’s creating work then figuratively spitting on it. A beautiful image was made ugly, silly. L.H.O.O.Q. (Mona Lisa) Scott Tyler, What is the proper way to display a US Flag? 8) Art Touches Emotions Maya Lin, Vietnam Vet erans ’ Mem orial, 1981 - 83. One of the things we admire most about art is its ability to profoundly touch emotions. 9) Art Awakens Senses Leonardo drawing of turf or water Audrey Flack painting Fur-covered cup by Oppenheim, Object, 1936 Bernini Sculpture detail? 10) Art Entertains } Zelanski and Fisher Film still from ??? (something funny, a cartoon?) Mexican dead art, Isozaki, Team Disney Building, Orlando 11) Art Refines the Functional Van der Rohe, Barcelona Chair Cellini, Saltcellar Sports car 12) Records one's times Gericault, Raft of Medusa

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