Prebles' Artforms An Introduction to the Visual Arts ELEVENTH EDITION CHAPTER 20 Africa, Oceania, and the Americas
Learning Objectives 1. Describe art's integral role in the daily activities of native cultures in Africa, Oceania, and the Americas. 2. Recognize the variety of materials, styles, and cultural purposes that characterize traditional African art. 3. Compare ways that art serves a commemorative function in society.
Learning Objectives 4. Analyze the range of visual characteristics and meaning found in Oceanic art. 5. Examine the continuation of artistic traditions in native North American cultures. 6. Discuss art tracing historical developments in Central and South America.
Africa North of the Sahara, art forms fall under either Egyptian, Roman, or Islamic traditions. Here, we refer to sub-saharan Africa. Head from Nok culture, Nigeria! Some of the earliest art forms! Terra cotta and nearly life-size! Vivid facial expressions
Africa. [Fig. 20-1]
Web Resource: Nok Terracottas Closer Look: Nok Head Head. Nok culture. Nigeria. 500 BCE 200 CE. Terra cotta. Height 14-½". National Museum, Lagos, Nigeria. Photograph: Werner Forman Archive. [Fig. 20-2]
Africa Ife, a Yoruba city in southwest Nigeria! Male portrait head! Skill in bronze casting Thin-walled, hollow Naturalistic Neighboring Benin culture! Head Somewhat more abstracted! Bronze-casting a guarded secret
Male Portrait Head. 13th century. Bronze. Height 11-7 16". Ife, Nigeria. University of Glasgow Archive Services, Frank Willett collection. [Fig. 20-3]
Benin Head. c.1550. Metalwork-bronze, 9-¼" 8-5 8" 9". Nigeria. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. The Michael C. Rockefeller Memorial Collection. Bequest of Nelson A. Rockefeller, 1979. Acc.n.: 1979.206.86. Photograph: Schecter Lee. Image The MoMA/Art Resource/Scala, Florence. [Fig. 20-4]
Africa Ivory pendant from Benin! Carved in 16th century! Portrays a queen mother! Human heads and mudfish Bamana people of Mali! Carved wooden antelope figure headdresses Dance performed to imitate mythology of male and female tyi wara
Closer Look: Hip Pendant Representing an Iyoba ("Queen Mother") Pendant Mask. Court of Benin, Nigeria. Early 16th century. Ivory, iron, copper. Height 9-3 8". Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. The Michael C. Rockefeller Memorial Collection, Gift of Nelson A. Rockefeller, (1978.412.323). Image The Metropolitan Museum of Art/Art Resource/Scala, Florence. [Fig. 20-5]
Tyi Wara Dancers. Mali. Photograph: Dr. Pascal James Imperato. [Fig. 20-6]
Africa Cameroon! Style far removed from Ife and Benin! Separate areas of headdress defined by different patterns and textures Yoruba peoples of Nigeria! House post Meditation on the idea of support Diminutive proportions and almondshaped parts
Large Dance Headdress. Bamenda area, Cameroon, Africa. 19th century. Wood. Height 26-½". Museum Rietberg, Zurich. Edward von der Heydt Collection. Photograph: Wettsin & Kauf. [Fig. 20-7]
Olembe Alaye. House Post. Yoruba, Nigeria. Mid-20th century. Wood and paint. Height 83". Fowler Museum at UCLA. Photograph by Don Cole. [Fig. 20-8]
Africa Yoruba peoples of Nigeria! House post Seen in a 1959 photograph, Tomb of Former Chief Lisa Adds to meaning of community s support Mangaaka power figure from Congo! Used to house medicinal matter! Metal pieces signifying agreement from civil cases, laws, etc.
Tomb of Former Chief Lisa. Ondo, Nigeria. Our featured House Post is third from left. Photograph: W. Fagg, 1959. William B. Fagg Archive. Fowler Museum at UCLA. [Fig. 20-9]
Mangaaka Power Figure. 19th century. Yombe people, Republic of the Congo. Wooden figure with iron nails. Height 345 8". Photograph: Claudia Obrocki. Ethnologisches Museum, Staatliche Museen, Berlin, Germany. Bildarchiv Preussischer Kulturbesitz/Art Resource, NY. [Fig. 20-10]
Art Forms Us: Commemoration Veneration! Statue of Shyaam the Great King and founder of Kuba peoples Introduced iron smelting After Shyaam's death Successor slept with statue to facilitate transmission of wisdom Replica created if a royal portrait statue is damaged
Royal Portrait Figure. Kuba peoples. 18th century. Wood. Height 22". Congo. The British Museum The Trustees. [Fig. 20-11]
Art Forms Us: Commemoration Veneration! The Death of Marat A scientist, physician, and activist in the time of the French Revolution Stabbed brutally while in his home by a member of a competing faction David's interpretation Serene death with minimized bloodshed and skin imperfections
Jacques-Louis David. The Death of Marat. 1793. Oil on canvas. 5' 5" 4' 2-½". Musées Royaux des Beaux-Arts de Belgique, Brussels/The Bridgeman Art Library. [Fig. 20-12]
Art Forms Us: Commemoration Veneration! Warhol, Double Elvis Publicity photo from film Flaming Star scaled close to life-size Displayed with 27 other single, double, and triple Elvises Multiplicity of copies undercutting the uniqueness of celebrity status Reproducible, as on the silver screen
Andy Warhol. Double Elvis. 1963. Silkscreen and acrylic on canvas. 83" 53". Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) Gift of the Jerry and Emily Spiegel Family Foundation in honor of Kirk Varnedoe. Acc. n.: 2480.2001. 2013. Digital image MoMA, New York/Scala, Florence; the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Inc./ Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York. [Fig. 20-13]
Africa Textile arts! Kente cloth pattern "Mmeeda" Worn when something unprecedented happens Famously worn by Kwame Nkrumah of Ghana when he won the national election for president! Adire cloth Nigerian proverbs and sayings about the hand
Web Resource: Kente Cloths Kente Cloth, Ghana. "Mmeeda" ("Something that has not happened before"). 20th century. Cloth (strip weave). 59-1 16". Seattle Art Museum, Gift of Katherine White and the Boeing Company. Photograph: Paul Macapia. [Fig. 20-14]
Adire Cloth. "Women' s Wrapper with Human Hands and Proverbs" (detail). 1984. Dark and light blue cotton cloth, paste-resist and stencils, natural indigo dye. 76" 62". Yoruba, Lagos, Nigeria. Collection of Flora Edouwaye S. Kaplan, NY. Photograph: Sheldan Collins. [Fig. 20-15]
Oceania and Australia Oceania! Name for thousands of Pacific islands that comprise Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia Shared traditional beliefs! Creation of world from Earth Mother and Sky Father! Mana Spiritual power in people, places, things
Oceania and Australia Little pottery due to clay shortage Tools of stone, bone, or shell Materials of wood, bark, and small plants Solomon Islands! Woodcarvings and masks for rituals! Prow figure with bird Guides voyagers that looks out for shoals and reefs
Oceania and Australia. [Fig. 20-16]
Protective Prow Figure from a War Canoe. 19th century. Wood, inlaid with mother-of-pearl. Height 6-½". New Georgia Island, Solomon Islands. Werner Forman Archive/Museum fur Volkerkunde, Basle, Switzerland. Location: 03. [Fig. 20-17]
Oceania and Australia New Ireland bird mask! Strong carved patterns! Chickens holding snakes symbolizing opposition of sky and earth Carvings in Micronesia/Polynesia! Streamlined and highly finished! Female figure Nukuoro Atoll Unusual degree of abstraction Likely a set of traditional carving rules
Mask. New Ireland. c.1920. Painted wood, vegetable fiber, shell. 37-½" 21-1 3". Fowler Museum at UCLA. Photograph by Don Cole. [Fig. 20-18]
Female Figure. Nukuoro Atoll, Central Carolines. 19th century. Wood. Height 15-9 16". Honolulu Museum of Art, by exchange, 1943 (4752). [Fig. 20-19]
Oceania and Australia Easter Island, Polynesia! Moai stone figures Represent ancestors who have taken on spiritual power On platforms overlooking small settlements Hawaiian aumakua! Elimination of extraneous body details! Powerful stance of female figure
Web Resource: Secrets of Easter Island Moai. Easter Island. c.1000 1500. Volcanic rock. Height 12'. Photograph:. [Fig. 20-20]
Aumakua. Forbes Cave, Hawaii. Koa wood. Height 29". Photograph: Seth Joel, Bishop Museum. [Fig. 20-21]
Oceania and Australia Maori meeting house! Used for extended family gatherings and ancestor-honoring rituals! Ruatepupuke Named for the ancestor Symbolizes presence via architecture Face at the top of the gable Ridge pole with abstracted Earth Mother, Sky Father
Web Resource: Maori Meeting Houses Maori Meeting House called "Ruatepupuke," New Zealand; front view. 1881. Length 56'. Height 13' 10". The Field Museum, Chicago. Photograph: Diane Alexander White, Linda Dorman. Neg. #A112508c. [Fig. 20-22a]
Maori Meeting House called "Ruatepupuke," New Zealand; ridge pole. 1881. Length 56'. Height 13' 10". The Field Museum, Chicago. Photograph: Diane Alexander White, Linda Dorman. Neg. #A112508_c. [Fig. 20-22b]
Oceania and Australia Australia! Humans present 40,000 years ago Semi-nomadic hunter-gatherers Bond between humans and nature in the Eternal Dreamtime Consistent imagery for hundreds of years! Funerary Rites... bark painting Story told in four sections Spirit leaving the body after death
Bunia. Funerary Rites and the Spirit' s Pathway After Death. Mid-20th century. Natural colors on bark. Groote Eylandt, Arnhem Land, Northern Australia. The Art Gallery Collection/Alamy. [Fig. 20-23]
Native North America Hopewell culture (modern Ohio)! 2nd 6th century CE! Large burial mounds Later Adena culture! Great Serpent Mound, c. 1070 CE Many Native American artists today making traditional works! After period of disuse when reservations first established
Americas. [Fig. 20-24]
Great Serpent Mound. Ohio. Adena culture. c.1070 CE. Uncoiled length 1,370'. Photograph: Mark Burnett/Photo Researchers, Inc. [Fig. 20-25]
Native North America Weaving! Second Phase Chief Blanket Navajo pre-exile work Dense fabric that is nearly waterproof Austere, symmetrical pattern Pottery! Jar from Ácoma, Pueblo peoples Shaped without a wheel Abstract symbols without fixed meaning
Navajo. Second Phase Chief Blanket. c.1830 1850. Handspun wool with natural dyes. 74" 60". Private Collection. Photograph: Tony Berlant. [Fig. 20-26]
Jar. Ácoma Pueblo. c.1850 1900. Height 12-½". Museum of Indian Arts & Culture/Laboratory of Anthropology Collections, Museum of New Mexico. Photographer Blair Clark. 7912/12. [Fig. 20-27]
Native North America Kachinas! Spirits of invisible life forces! Zuni Pueblo and Hopi areas! Likenesses used by costumed male members in ceremonies Baskets! In Pacific Coast region! Weaved so tightly they can hold water! Art passed down maternally
Marshall Lomakema. Hopi Kachina. 1971. Shungopovi, Arizona. Painted wood. Height: 34". Courtesy of National Museum of the American Indian/Smithsonian Institution (24/7572). Photograph: Carmelo Guadagno. [Fig. 20-28]
Pomo Feather Basket. California. Before 1920. Feathers, beads, and shells. 4" 13" 13". Southwest Museum of the American Indian Collection, Autry National Center of American West, Los Angeles; 811.G.1683/CT.294. Photograph by Larry Reynolds. [Fig. 20-29]
Native North America Plains Indians! Mato Tope (Four Bears) Buffalo hide exploit painting Moving figures in profile with no horizon line Northwest Coast tribes! Totem poles dedicated to mythology! Tlingit Community House Abstract animal shapes
Mato Tope (Four Bears). Robe with Mato Tope' s Exploits. c.1835. Buffalo hide, red wool cloth, sinew, dyed porcupine quills, horsehair and human hair; brown, yellow, and black pigment. 63" 83-¾". Ethnographic Collection at the Bernisches Historisches Museum. Photograph: S. Rebsamen. [Fig. 20-30]
Tlingit Community House. Ketchikan, Alaska. Photograph: Steve McCutcheon. [Fig. 20-31]
Pre-Conquest Central and South America Olmec culture near today's Mexico City City of Teotihuacan! Pyramid of the Sun Sits over a deep cave Aligned to face sunset on August 12, the first day of Mayan calendar! Temple of the Feathered Serpent Opposite the Pyramid of the Sun Relief heads of the storm god
Architectural Panorama: Teotihuacán Video: Pre-Hispanic City of Teotihuacán Pyramid of the Sun. 1st 7th century CE. 700' wide, 200' high. Teotihuacan. John Flannery/Photoshot. [Fig. 20-32]
Temple of the Feathered Serpent (detail). 150 200 CE. Teotihuacan. Photograph: The Art Archive/Dagli Orti. [Fig. 20-33]
Maya Pre-Conquest Central and South America! Hundreds of stone temples at Tikal! Temple I 200-foot pyramid with temple at top! Walls and roofs richly carved and painted! Lintel 24 from Yaxchilan Written symbols along edges Fleshy figures performing ritual
Video: Maya Rise and Fall Temple I. Tikal, Guatemala. Maya. c.300 900 CE. Photograph: Danny Lehman/Corbis. [Fig. 20-34]
Closer Look: Shield Jaguar and Lady Xok, Lintel 24, Yaxchilan Lintel 24. 709 CE. Limestone. Height 43". Yaxchilan. Maya. British Museum, London. Justin Kerr, K2887. [Fig. 20-35]
Pre-Conquest Central and South America Toltec civilization! Bridge between Maya and Aztec peoples! Recumbent figure from Chichen Itza ("Chacmool") Bowl held sacrificial offerings Massive carved figure
Chacmool. 10th 12th century. Toltec. Stone. Length 42". akg-images/françois Guénet. [Fig. 20-36]
Aztecs Pre-Conquest Central and South America! Artistic style sums up preceding styles! Human sacrifices at pyramid honoring both storm god and war god! Vessel of the Feathered Serpent Quetzalcoatl For sacrificial offerings Typical of Aztec art's menacing aspects
Vessel of the Feathered Serpent Quetzalcoatl. 1450 1521. Stone. Height 19". Aztec. Museo Nacional de Antropologia, Mexico City. [Fig. 20-37]
Incas Pre-Conquest Central and South America! Skillful shaping and fitting of stone! Royal retreat center of Machu Picchu (modern-day Peru) Escaped Spanish detection Seems to be part of the mountainside Nazca peoples! Geometric lines and patterns in sand! Perfectly straight lines for miles
Video: Historic Sanctuary of Macchu Picchu Web Resource: Machu Picchu Flashback Machu Picchu, Peru. Early 16th century. Inca. Kent Kobersteen/National Geographic Society/Corbis. [Fig. 20-38]
Hummingbird. Nazca Valley, Peru. Photograph: Georg Gerster/Photo Researchers, Inc. [Fig. 20-39]
Kero cups Pre-Conquest Central and South America! One of few surviving Inca art forms! Carved and painted for ancient rituals! Flat patterns Stylistic descendants of pottery and textile design
Kero Cup. Peru. Late 16th 17th century. Wood with pigment inlay. 7-3 8" 61-5 16". Brooklyn Museum of Art, Museum Expedition 1941, Frank L. Babbott fund. 41.1275.5. [Fig. 20-40]