Vocab
Define: “readymade"
An everyday manufactured item selected and presented as a work of art (Duchamp, Fountian)
Describe the important concepts surrounding Unknown artist, Kogan/Mizushashi ceramic jar.
- Is a ceremonial tea/water jar
- Imperfections + humility of the objects are what make it beautiful
- Wabi sabi
- Criss crosses = reeds you’d see along the bank of a river
Describe the events in Van Gogh’s life that led to the creation of Starry Night
- Struggled with his mental health, was institutionalized
- Starry Night = paintied from his balcony (combination of observation + imagination)
Briefly explain the relationship between the museum and Native American Art
- Museums are not neutral → political space in which the museum arises contributed to the decimation of Native American cultures
- Issues: violence, colonialism, who’s voices are being represented?
- Gets complicated with religious objects, some aren’t intended to be seen by non-members
Define: “Drip painting” // “all over painting"
Drip painting: A technique popularized by Jackson Pollock. Put the canvas on the floor + splattered the paint. Radical rethinking of artmaking
All over painting: Every section of the canvas has more or less the same value
Define: “Fauvism"
An early 20th-century avant-garde art movement led by Henri Matisse and André Derain. It is defined by the use of intense, non-naturalistic color, bold brushwork, and simplified forms
Explain what we’re seeing in Gauguin, Spirit of the Dead Watching
- Reclining woman is one of his child brides
- She has just woken up from a nightmare
- An ancestor spirit is watching over her in the background
- Primitivisim, she is very sexualized:(
Describe Gaugain’s biography and how it informed his art
Decides France is too modern + moves to Tahiti (a French colony)
Leaves his wives and 5 kids behind in Paris
He takes multiple child brides
Makes a ton of paintings of them
Describe Japanese architecture. How is the space organized, what elements are important?
- More rectilinear, more immersed with nature, more malleable (rooms can have multiple functions)
- Decoration is more about balance/harmony than aesthetics
- Often surrounded by water or other forms of nature
Explain 3 different jobs/departments in the museum and what their roles are
NOT exhaustive
- Curator: researches art, plans exhibitions
- Director: business person, handles moslty non-art related affairs
- Education: creats community programming, tours, etc.
- Registrar: must know where all artworks are at any given moment
- PR/Marketing
- Conservators: fix damaged art, conserve it for the future
- Legal counsel
- Donors
- Advisory board: wealthy people in the community who help make decisions
Define: “Primitivism"
Romanticizes the lifestyle, art, and morality of "primitive" or pre-industrial societies - RACIST!
Describe Rothko's, No. 3/No. 13. What is significant about this painting + what kind of painting is it?
- Color field painting
- Multi-layered, playing with colors, the more you look the more complex they are
- Meant to play games with your perception, an optical illusion (colors will sift/vibrate if you look at it the right way)
Describe Picasso’s biography and how it informed his art
- Inspired to push the envelope by Gertrude Stein
- “blue period” in the early 1900s = melonchonic, despair, inspired by the death of a friend
- inspired by African art appropriated African art to do something different/shocking
What specific event was the turning point in encouraging American artists to push the envelope?
The Armory Show -- watershed event that introduced avant-garde European art to the American public. Featured over 1,200 works by American and European artists
Define: "Post Impressionism” and give an example of 1 post-impressionist artist.
Artistic style for expressing emotions rather than optical impressions/light effects.
Artists: Van Gogh, Cezanne, Gaugain
Define: “Wabi sabi"
Imperfections of the object are what make it beautiful (Japanese tea/water jar
Describe the function of the Nkisi n’kondi (nail figure),
- Talismanic figure: can be used to resolve verbal disputes or lawsuits
- Guardian if any form of evil has been committed
- Spiritual figure, activated by hammering nails/metal fragments into the figure
- A peg may refer to a matter being ‘settled’ whereas a nail, deeply inserted, may represent a more serious offense such as murder
Describe Georgia O’Keefe’s biography and how it informed her art
- Moved to New York and made art there
- Decided there were too many people, went to rural Texas
- Then moved to New Mexico
- Went into the desert and collected bones, antlers, etc. and made art from them. Believed these objects possessed an innate energy
Name 3 of the 19th/20th century “isms" in order (earlier example: Neoclassicisim, Romanticisim, Realism, Impressionsim)
Impressionism; Post-Impressionsim; Cubisim; Fauvism; Futurism; Dada(ism); Surrealism; Abstract Expressionsim;
Define: “Ukiyo-e"
"pictures of the floating world," A traditional Japanese art genre. It primarily consists of vibrant woodblock prints. Depictings urban districts, actors, and sweeping natural landscapes.
Explain the difference between Synthetic Cubisim and Analytic Cubsim
Synthetic Cubisim: Using natural elements to make something new; Connections to collage (Picasso, Still Life with Chair)
Analytic Cubsim: Breaking objects into a series of parts, argue this actually this is a more “whole” way of understanding objects. (Baraque, Cezanne, Picasso)
Explain what we’re seeing in Frankenthaler's, The Bay. How did she make this painting?
- Abstract expressionist, made by pouring paint from the can while she was on a ladder. She picked up the canvas and tilted it
- Central blob = reminiscent of a Bay
- She believed that art is subjective; each viewer should take from it what they want
Who is Jaune Quick-to-See Smith? How does her biography influence her art?
- Native American artist, Modern painter
- First Native American artist to have a solo retrospective show
- Her art comments on: trade, colonial relations, the commodification of Native American society and culture (Kansas City Chiefs, Washington Redskins)
Describe the controversy surrounding the Benin Bronzes and the 3 vocabulary words associated with them.
- They are objects that historical and spiritual records for the royal court of the Oba (modern Nigeria)
- Were violently looted by British colonial troops
- Still remain in the British Museum despire requests for them back
Provenance: history of ownership of a work of art, intention is to ensure artwork was acquired legal
Repatriation: Giving the art back
Restitution: Paying the country of origin for the market value of the artworks
Define: “Kintsugi"
A Japanese practice, the appreciation of broken pottery. Reconstructing objects + keeping the breaks visible with gold lacquer. The break = part of the history of the object