Culture and Art through Western Perspective

1. Oriental Art

1.1. Elites of Europe, traveled for commercial or diplomatic reasons

1.1.1. Europeans did not understand the art, but appreciated the sophistication as “Oriental art”

1.1.1.1. Orient regions were seen as Asia, India and China

1.2. Edward Said (1978)

1.2.1. Orientalism - A way of coming to terms with the Orient that is based on the Orient's special place in European Western Experience

1.2.1.1. Debated the Western perspective agsints oriental regions

1.2.1.1.1. Christian values vs. not Christian values

1.2.1.1.2. Liberalism vs. intolerance and conservatism

1.2.1.1.3. Progress vs. stagnation

1.2.1.1.4. Freedom vs. oppression

1.2.1.1.5. Democracy vs. totalitarianism

1.3. Scholars theorized origin of human culture

1.3.1. Theorist perspective saw Asian culture as less developed and lacking self awareness leading to seeing their art to be lacking "flavor"

1.3.1.1. Asian art was therefore "unique" and collected for curiosity or decoration

1.4. France and Britain interest in Islamic Art

1.4.1. Described as: Timeless way of life. ▪ Links to biblical antiquity. ▪ Luxury and decadence of Oriental tyrants and their harems. ▪ Abandoned monumental ruins. ▪ Piety and beauty of religious architecture

1.4.1.1. Stereotypes built a category of calligraphy and architectural masterpieces

1.4.1.1.1. These disciplines were only seen as artistic in the early ages of history from 400 - 900 CE

1.4.1.1.2. Representation of art does not include later Muslim converts

1.5. Indian art to be characterized as ornamental design

1.5.1. European description does not describe items as fine art and does not follow artistic classical traditions.

1.5.1.1. India had degenerated from art to craft

1.5.2. Indian Critique sees Europeans view based on capitalist Western materialism. Fine art and decorative art classification is Eurocentric and irrelevant

1.6. Chinese art had different standards of artistic appreciation

1.6.1. Calligraphy

1.6.2. Mastery of Technique

1.6.3. Brushstrokes

2. Primitive Art

2.1. Savage and barbarous societies seen as those from Africa, The Americas, Pacific Islands and any regions far from Europe.

2.1.1. European’s create “the other” and “primitive” society

2.1.1.1. Colonized people are childlike and instinctual.

2.1.1.2. Incapable of self-development.

2.1.1.3. Racially inferior

2.1.1.4. Need control and guidance

2.1.1.5. Inherently conservative resistant to change

2.1.1.6. Represent primitive stage of society

2.2. Perspective seen through the British museum

2.2.1. The mind of primitive man seldom capable of continuous attention

2.2.2. His thoughts are quickly collected

2.2.3. Bewildered in emergency

2.2.4. Creature of habit

2.2.5. Unfamiliar influences such as those white men introduce

2.3. Eurocentric and ethnocentric ideology

2.3.1. Societies may reject foreign influence

2.3.2. Their own way of life may be better for them and the environment

2.3.3. Did not consider connection with larger confederations

2.3.4. Rise and fall or ebb and flow of social complexity

2.3.5. Europeans willfully ignorant to indigenous history

2.4. Unilineal cultural evolution - all cultures naturally evolve through the same sequence of stages from simple to complex

2.4.1. Evolution of art forms

2.4.1.1. Europe represented later stages of evolution

2.4.1.2. Cultural theorist believed analysis of specific practices are shared across culture

2.4.1.3. Culture and artifacts could be analyzed in evolutionary terms or by diffusion

2.5. Pitt Rivers evolutionary analysis 1874-1884

2.5.1. Typology-arranging artifacts from around the world in sequence

2.5.2. Survivals-simple forms that survive or slowly change due to items suited to their environment

2.5.3. Diffusionism - Exotic peoples global borrowing of art forms and motifs

2.5.3.1. Curvilinear style -diffused from Solomon Islands to Papuan people and Trobriand Island

2.5.3.2. Tami style-Diffused from Melanesia to Melanesia and New Guiana

2.5.3.3. Beak style-originated from Hindu Elephant God, Ganesh via Indonesia New Guinea and Solomon Islands

2.5.3.4. Korwar style-Originated from Cambodia to New Guinea

2.5.3.5. Malanggan style – Originated in Indian Hindu temples to Papua and Melanesia

2.6. Historical particularism-the concept that cultures develop in specific ways because of their unique histories

2.6.1. complexes/culture areas - traits that coincided with each other in certain regional environments

3. Prehistoric Art

3.1. Roots of the concepts of European origins

3.1.1. Records based on documents collected from Greeks and Romans

3.1.1.1. Dates recorded from times inscribed on Greek and Roman structures, sculptures, coins

3.1.2. Researching gods work based on old testament

3.1.2.1. Principle of Faunal Succession hypothesis – the relative positions of strata and the kinds of fossils found in the layers were the same throughout Britain

3.2. Dawn of Art

3.2.1. Artifacts dated from archaeological findings and soil examination

3.2.1.1. Archaeologist analysis of artifacts make assumptions about their use

3.2.2. Believed Native Americans were culturally analogous to their experience

3.2.3. PALEOLITHIC CAVES

3.2.3.1. Archeology and ethnography paint the real picture

3.2.3.1.1. earliest for of art found in prehistoric caves that are studied to show culture and meaning within art

3.2.3.1.2. commonly compared to native american art

3.3. Matriarchal Origins

3.3.1. Fertility and reproduction honored and worshiped

3.3.2. Women held original positions of power and evolved to male supremacy

4. Origins Of Art

4.1. What is Anthropology?

4.1.1. 18th and 19th Colonial Imperial Europe Technology and trade increased speed and intensity of interactions

4.1.1.1. New interactions raised new questions.

4.1.2. Techniques of study lead to new discoveries and ideas about the world

4.1.2.1. Ethnocentrism-the belief that one’s own culture is superior and altogether more advanced than the crude, underdeveloped cultures

4.1.2.2. Cultural relativism- the belief that efforts at understanding other lifeways are not successful if we view those customs in their own traditional context and avoid judging

4.1.2.3. Historical particularism-the concept that cultures develop in specific ways because of their unique histories

4.1.2.4. Ethnographic fieldwork- a primary research strategy in cultural anthropology involving living with a community of people over an extended period to better understand their lives

4.1.2.5. Participant observation-a strategy involving both participation in and observation of the daily life of the people being studied

4.2. Fields Of Anthropology

4.2.1. Archeology

4.2.1.1. The investigation of the human past by means of excavating and analyzing artifacts

4.2.2. Linguistic Anthropology

4.2.2.1. The study of human language in the past and the present

4.2.3. Physical Anthropology

4.2.3.1. The study of human biological evolution, primates, and human bio cultural variation, both past and current

4.2.4. Cultural Anthropology

4.2.4.1. The study of culture and society within a culture based on how and where one lives

4.3. Classification of Art

4.3.1. Creative expression was analyzed through history to study the identification of art and artifacts

4.3.1.1. 500 years ago the age of exploration or colonial period took light defining some of these standards

4.3.1.1.1. Saw Greek and Mediterranean cultures as the back bone to what creates "art" in the eyes of European perspective

4.3.2. As art was defined and collected sparked the growth of museums to display such artifacts

4.3.2.1. The British Museum abused the age of exploration to exploit "lesser" cultures and steal artifacts they thought to hold value

5. Classical Art

5.1. The idea of classical art came from the fascination of Greek and Roman society

5.1.1. believed Greece and Rome represented “classical expression” of European art forms

5.1.1.1. In the 1800's Parliament “salvaged” and saved art from “barbarous” Turks

5.1.1.2. British parliament stole Pantheon Marbles from ancient Greek historical sight

5.1.2. Hellenomania is described as the fetish of ancient Greek art

5.2. Biblical Antiquities lead the movement of classical art

5.2.1. European's viewed ties to Christianity and biblical regions to hold higher value of art and artifacts

5.2.1.1. Ancient Egypt

5.2.1.1.1. France invaded Egypt acquiring a collection of antiquities

5.2.1.1.2. France and Britain have not only collected artifacts but also used the influences of Ancient Egypt in their own art

5.2.1.2. Ancient Mesopotamia

5.2.1.2.1. Europeans investigated sights in Mesopotamia to account for biblical ties in the art

5.3. German philosopher Hegel contemplated dialectical analysis

5.3.1. All things change but why?

5.3.1.1. Thesis + antithesis= synthesis

5.3.1.1.1. Art should idolize nature and not portray it exactly

5.3.2. Art as a form of dialectical materialism

5.3.2.1. Art is part of a Zeitgeist- spirit of the age, spirit of a culture

5.3.3. Hegel theory has changed the view of art by challenging historians to change the way they view classical and contemporary art

5.3.3.1. Analysis should not be concerned with the rise and fall of civilization

5.4. Franz Boas

5.4.1. Historical Particularism - Art reflected culture, spirit, worldview, of a society

5.5. Ernst Gombrich, The Story of Art (1950)

5.5.1. Provided a definitive book of authority on connoisseurship of history of art

5.5.1.1. Motivations of art are based on utility and the western idea of beautiful luxuries

5.5.1.1.1. Eurocentirc perspective of high art