ANTH 306 Chapters 1-5

1. Chapter 1: Origins of Art

1.1. New worlds and histories

1.1.1. Age of exploration: More wealth is Europe = a shift in power

1.1.1.1. "revival of ancient of Mediterranean culture and emergence of new ways of thinking, which led in time of new cultural traditions of science, and of art"

1.1.2. Cycle of ages (Francesco Petrarch): archaic, classical, dark ages, middle ages, renaissance, enlightenment, modernity

1.1.3. Art & Artists

1.1.3.1. renaissance - painters & sculptors treated like artists, like poets pursued intellectual discipline

1.1.3.2. mid 14th century = paintings of Giotto

1.1.3.3. mid 16th century = standard for assessing work set down in influential writings

1.2. Industrial & Intellectual Revolutions

1.2.1. exploitation of African slaves on Native land

1.2.2. European and globalization Military and political control. Maritime trade Industrial production

1.2.3. Europeans think they're the best

1.2.4. “divine providence” to “natural philosophy”

1.2.5. Philosophy/enlightenment

1.2.5.1. Descartes, Bacon, Locke, Newton

1.2.6. Focus on stylistic quality of art

1.2.7. 18th century: paintings, sculptures, music, dance, architecture

1.2.8. Carl Linnaeus: system of classification, God Work into hierarchy of life

1.3. British museums

1.3.1. 1st museum - Ashmolean in Oxford 1683

1.3.2. clues to social & cultural significance

1.3.3. Specialized collections

1.3.4. Artifacts or artificial curiosities - Collection illustrating human progress

1.3.5. expanding knowledge ancient and contemporary cultures

1.3.6. 1807 Department of Antiquity created

1.3.7. Collection acquired during colonial period included: Egyptian sculptures, Roman Sculptures, Greek Sculptures from the Parthenon, Artifacts from Asante Kingdom

1.3.8. 1851 Great Exhibition of the Works of Industry of All Nations

1.3.8.1. Promoted by Royal Society of Arts

1.3.9. 2nd half of 19th Century: match classical & biblical antiquities (quantity not esteem)

1.4. Politics & Commerce, Art & Craft

1.4.1. National museums source of pride

1.4.1.1. Display prestige

1.4.2. British museum competes wit Louvre

1.4.3. materialistic consumer society

1.4.4. 19th century collection changed, displayed - postage stamps, toys, figurine

1.4.5. 20th century - Oriental art & Primitive art

1.4.6. Public Collecting - Public goods, wealth & prestige of museum

1.4.7. Bound to wealthy donors, excludes lower class

1.4.7.1. hierarchy of classification

1.4.8. contemporary art

1.4.9. arts & crafts disputed

2. Chapter 2: Classical Art

2.1. Obsession with Ancient Greece

2.1.1. classical Expression: Greek and Roman

2.1.1.1. Claim to be superiority

2.1.2. Parthenon temple to Athena : Built in the 5th century BCE, Temple dedicated to Athena, 7th century, Byzantine church, 13th century, Catholic church,15th century, Muslim Mosque,17th century, arms dump that exploded during attack by Venice

2.1.3. British expelled French from region of the Ottoman Empire

2.1.3.1. shipped sculptors taken to London

2.1.3.1.1. saved art from barbarians

2.1.4. 1929, British Museum and Parthenon Marbles

2.1.4.1. 1833 Greek independence

2.1.4.1.1. wants sculptors back

2.1.5. Greek Statues used to proliferate racial superiority.

2.2. Biblical Antiquity

2.2.1. Christianity founded in the Middle East

2.2.1.1. Egypt & Mesopotamia

2.2.2. 19th century French invaded Egypt and took art

2.2.2.1. art confiscated by British, Rosetta stone

2.2.2.1.1. mummies & used art to depict scenes from biblical history Crystal Palace Great Exhibition

2.2.3. Mesopotamia

2.2.3.1. Tower of Babel Babylon Nineveh

2.2.3.2. Biblical connection and hostility of style

2.2.3.3. Assyrian sculptures compared negatively to ancient Greece

2.3. Classical Art History

2.3.1. Eurocentric ownership of art and arts direction.

2.3.2. Hegel dialectic analysis

2.3.2.1. All things change but why? What causes social change? Thesis + antithesis= synthesis

2.3.2.2. art should idealize nature not copy it

2.3.3. Hellenomania - 19th century, fetishism of ancient Greek art

2.3.4. Zeitgeist- spirit of the age, spirit of a culture

2.3.5. Art reflected culture, spirit, worldview, of a society

2.3.6. Eurocentric perspective of high art: Athenian democracy “liberated” people to express art in wonderful ways.” - Roman built on Greek tradition - Christian art in Europe was a regression.

2.3.7. High art

2.3.7.1. Modern art - Age of experimental art

2.3.7.2. Italian High Renaissance time of innovation

2.4. Classicism & Eurocentrism

2.4.1. Problems

2.4.1.1. historian Judgement: personal and cultural

2.4.1.1.1. clarified false connections to Greece based on false opposition to the Orient

2.4.1.2. No interest in cultural relativism

2.4.1.3. Advocate ethnocentric perspectives

3. Chapter 3: Oriental Art

3.1. Orientalism

3.1.1. Edward Said: "A way of coming to terms with the orient that is based on the orient's special place in European western experience"

3.1.2. origin of human culture?

3.1.2.1. biblical Hebrews & archeological Egyptians

3.1.3. Enemy of Europe: 1. Egyptians and Babylonians oppressed Israelites 2. Greeks fought off Persians 3. Crusader fought off Muslims

3.1.4. West (Occident) vs. East (Orient)

3.1.4.1. 1.Christian values vs. not Christian values 2.Liberalism vs. intolerance and conservatism 3.Progress vs. stagnation 4.Freedom vs. oppression 5.Democracy vs. totalitarianism

3.1.5. Theorist perspective:

3.1.5.1. Hegel - distinct “world spirit.” (Asian and European had)

3.1.5.2. Asian less developed & Lacked self awareness

3.1.5.3. Asian art unfavorable but believed they made little fine art - decorative art

3.1.5.4. Ethnographic Art: Indian, Saracen, Byzantines, Moorish, Indian, Chinese, and South Sea Islanders

3.2. Islamic Art: An Orientalist Stereotype?

3.2.1. 1. Timeless way of life 2. Links to biblical antiquity. 3. Luxury and decadence of Oriental tyrants and their harems. 4. Abandoned monumental ruins. 5. Piety and beauty of religious architecture

3.2.2. Connection to medieval Europe

3.2.3. golden age

3.2.3.1. calligraphy & architecture

3.2.3.1.1. moonrish art

3.2.3.1.2. decorative not fine art

3.2.4. Islamic Art is viewed as homogenous

3.2.4.1. Museums don't honor Muslim connections

3.2.4.2. Doesn't include later Muslim converts

3.2.5. Louvre Abu Dhabi

3.3. Indian Art: Decorative & Denigrated

3.3.1. View:

3.3.1.1. 1.ornamental design 2. “illusionist.” decoration. 3. naturalistic rather than aesthetic form. 4. Romantic view of pre-industrial society

3.3.2. 1851 Great Exhibition

3.3.3. Archeological categories of specific periods

3.3.3.1. Brahmanical-spread of the Aryans

3.3.3.2. Buddhist –rise & decline of Buddhist religion & art.

3.3.3.3. Muhanmmadan - rise of Muhanmmadan power.

3.3.4. description Euro perspective

3.3.4.1. not fine art & doesn't follow artistic classical traditions

3.3.4.2. critique

3.3.4.2.1. 1. Monstrous shapes of Puranic deities.

3.3.4.2.2. 2. Unsuitable for higher forms of artistic representation.

3.3.5. Hegelian theory

3.3.5.1. Essence of cultures “Races” or “nations” of people

3.3.6. Indian scholars challenged Western perspectives

3.3.6.1. developed from Within & has the spirit of divinity.

3.3.6.1.1. Vedic philosophy

3.3.6.2. western materialism

3.3.6.3. Colored Parthenon

3.3.6.3.1. Lack of ornaments = imperfect (Ornament adds richness)

3.4. Chinese Art: Unrecognized Connoisseurship

3.4.1. Sophisticated philosophy

3.4.1.1. Confucius

3.4.1.1.1. guided society & production of artifacts

3.4.2. Goods manufactured at state factories

3.4.2.1. Luxury artifacts had official regulation controlling quality & quantity (ex: jade & silver)

3.4.2.2. writing and paintings

3.4.3. trade with Spain and Portugal (16th)

3.4.3.1. Silver for Porcelain, silks, and tea

3.4.3.2. Dutch control - east India trading company (17th)

3.4.3.3. (18th) tea main export

3.4.3.4. trade porcelain and ceramics

3.4.3.4.1. Not valuable to Chinese elite

3.4.4. British took control of India

3.4.4.1. opium wars

3.4.4.1.1. Opium in high demand but illegal in China

3.4.4.1.2. reversed the flow of money

3.4.5. Labelled art peculiar, strange, trivial, and unimaginative

4. Chapter 4: Primitive Art

4.1. Savages & Anthropologists

4.1.1. origins of humanity

4.1.1.1. single origin

4.1.1.2. Humanity and races evolve

4.1.1.2.1. more development from some races

4.1.1.2.2. Western society was the pinnacle of all humanity

4.1.1.2.3. Less complex societies = window to the past

4.1.2. brutal savage vs noble savage

4.1.3. small societies

4.1.3.1. Structural limitations No powerful rulers or elite No large state like society Large-scale trade sometimes absent Egalitarian societies

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

4.2. Evolution. Diffusion, and Speculation

4.2.1. specific practices are shared across culture

4.2.1.1. analyze cultural artifacts in evolutionary terms or by diffusion

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

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

4.2.4. Pitt Rivers Savage races

4.2.4.1. evolution or clubs, pattern of typologies, functional type

4.2.5. Semper - geometric design

4.2.6. Read, Hadon, and Balfour - abstract design

4.2.6.1. Parallel evolution vs Independent evolution

4.2.7. global borrowing of art forms and motifs

4.2.7.1. pyramids & Heraldic Woman

4.2.7.2. High culture spread forms but deteriorated style

4.2.7.3. Low culture enriched by diffusion

4.2.7.3.1. Curvilinear style

4.2.7.3.2. Tami style

4.2.7.3.3. Beak style

4.2.7.3.4. Korwar style

4.2.7.3.5. Malanggan style

4.3. Identifying Cultures, Areas, and Styles

4.3.1. Historical particularism

4.3.2. complexes/culture areas

4.3.3. Manifest Destiny has altered cultural landscape

4.3.4. particularist approach

4.3.4.1. culture complexes

4.4. The Survival of Evolution & Diffusion

4.4.1. revised & refined in late 20th century

4.4.1.1. looks at cultural influences through artifacts

4.4.1.2. Craig - mountain oak & Sepik

4.4.1.2.1. clarification of of historical issues requires detailed studies

5. chapter 5 Prehistoric Art

5.1. Discovering Antiquity

5.1.1. concepts of European origins

5.1.1.1. records on documents from Greeks & Romans

5.1.1.1.1. Times inscribed on structures, sculptures, coins

5.1.1.2. Old Testament

5.1.2. 17th and 18th century - natural philosophy & chronology of Bible

5.1.2.1. soil stratification & older objects

5.1.2.2. connection to Biblical flood

5.1.2.3. Remanence of older humanity

5.1.3. Celtic and Druids history disavowed

5.1.4. Archeological interpretation trace

5.1.5. Theorist developed ages: the drift, stone age, bronze age, & Iron age

5.1.6. Principle of Faunal Succession hypothesis (Smith)

5.1.6.1. position of strata

5.2. The Dawn of Art

5.2.1. assumptions on use of art

5.2.1.1. connections made based on similar cultures

5.2.2. European myth of meaning

5.2.2.1. assumptions about another cultures

5.2.2.1.1. Issues - savage race theory, closer relationship between animal & man, new to tools, speech rudimentary, strength & speed over intellect, records of admiration.

5.2.3. last Ice Age

5.2.4. Elements of rock art explained using prehistoric examples: Fertility, Hunting, Initiation ritual

5.2.5. Shamanistic dreams and visions

5.2.6. Original Affluent society

5.3. Prehistoric Myths

5.3.1. Matriarchal Origins

5.3.1.1. mother goddess

5.3.1.1.1. honored fertility

5.3.2. Lewi Morgan and E.B. Tylor

5.3.2.1. Iroquois connection & matriarchal societies

5.3.3. Women held original positions of power & evolved to male supremacy

5.3.4. Jill Cook Analysis

5.3.4.1. figurines rep. pregnant/ women past reproduction.

5.3.4.1.1. not erotic

5.3.5. Western Feminist Return to Matriarchy

5.3.6. Stonehenge & Gender

5.3.6.1. druid culture

5.3.6.1.1. lunar alignment more important than solar

5.3.7. Case Studies

5.3.7.1. Abelam

5.3.7.1.1. Women first owned artistic & ceremonial powers

5.4. The Politics of Prehistory

5.4.1. artifacts & art are political

5.4.1.1. Great Zimbabwe Monumental Ruins

5.4.1.1.1. Land of golden riches

5.4.1.1.2. "the unrewarding gyrations of barbarous tribes"

5.4.2. Native American Prehistory in Colonized Country

5.4.2.1. claimed origins from Asia

5.4.2.2. North American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA)