art history

Presentation of Fijian mats and tapa cloths to Queen Elizabeth II. Fiji, Polynesia. 1953 C.E. Multimedia performance (costume; cosmetics, including scent; chant; movement; and pandanus ber/hibiscus ber mats), photographic documentation.  On December 17, 1953, a newly crowned Queen Elizabeth II and her husband Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, arrived on the island of Fiji, then an English colony. The first thing you might notice in the photograph is the procession of Fijian women making their way through a group of seated Fijian men and women. Several of the processing women are wearing skirts made of barkcloth painted with geometric patterns. Barkcloth, or masi, as it is referred to in Fiji, is made by stripping the inner bark of mulberry trees, soaking the bark, then beating it into strips of cloth that are glued together, often by a paste made of arrowroot.  Bold and intricate geometric patterns in red, white, and black are often painted onto the masi; o...

Art Period: 1789-1848 The French Revolution, European revolts.  Freedom in France inspired other revolutions as well Romantics espoused social independence, freedom, individual thought, expression  Opposes Enlightenment: based on emotion rather than reason  Pleasure seeking, audaciousness; extremes of human behaviors Delacroix and Goya most important figures  Romantics enjoyed a state of melancholy; depressed mindset Development of photography; new art form; no academies, formal teachings  Photographs rejected as works of art; marginalized populations used cameras as they were accessible; First instance of equal opportunity in the arts Architecture: Architecture characterized by a revival of nearly every style of the past; modern living corrupted by the Industrial Revolution; nostalgic of medieval times  Medieval art revived, as well as Egyptian, Islamic and Baroque  Bath homes in England done in Islamic style; Opera houses in Paris a...

The Steerage . Alfred Stieglitz. 1907 C.E. Photogravure. Elevate photography to the status of fine art by engaging the same dialogues around abstraction that preoccupied European avant-garde painters. The Steerage suggests that photographs have more than just a “documentary” voice that speaks to the truth-to-appearance of subjects in a field of space within narrowly defined slice of time.  The Steerage calls for a more complex, layered view of photography’s essence that can accommodate and convey abstraction.  The Steerage is not only about the “significant form” of shapes, forms and textures, but it also conveys a message about its subjects, immigrants who were rejected at Ellis Island.  Stieglitz’s father exemplified the “American dream” that was just beyond the grasp of many of the subjects of The Steerage. He himself was an immigrant.  While he was sympathetic to the plight of aspiring new arrivals, Stieglitz was opposed to admitting the uneducated ...

The Horse in Motion. Eadweard Muybridge. 1878 C.E. Albumen print. Give effect of things happening in sequence Great influence on painters

Still Life in Studio. Louis‐Jacques‐Mandé Daguerre. 1837 C.E. Photograph. However, it was not until the invention of a light sensitive surface by Frenchman Joseph Nicéphore Niépce that the basic principle of photography was born.  Louis Daguerre invented a new process he dubbed a daguerreotype in 1839, which significantly reduced exposure time.  Variety of textures: fabric, plaster, metal, wood  Shiny surface, great detail