Chapter 18—Art Beyond the West

Introduction: Often the general study of art's history has been focused primarily on the developments of art movements in Western Europe and the United States. This focus tends to include the ancient Egyptian and Aegean cultures and mentions only the major artistic contributions from Africa, India, China, Japan, the Oceanic groups, and other societies such as Native North and South Americans, as well as Middle Eastern and Islamic arts, especially focusing on how their "discoveries" infused European art with new influences. A good example of this perspective might be a discussion of how the Japanese Ukiyo-e prints shown in Paris in the mid to late 19th-century influenced Impressionists Edgar Degas or Mary Cassatt, or how Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque were able to gain inspirations from African art that contributed to their development of Analytic Cubism.

Recently, however, art historians have begun to build a deeper curriculum for learning about the other major world cultures and incorporating their art into the survey and beginning courses for art. Chapter 17 helps you gain insight into the artistic life within these varied and rich cultures through discussion and images of art and architecture from each culture and quotations touching upon religious and philosophical backgrounds and ideas. Compare and Contrast – Picasso's Nude with Drapery with an Etoumba Mask demonstrates the powerful imagery from African art that European artists encountered and incorporated into their art. A Closer Look – Cambios: The Clash of Cultures and the Artistic Fallout gives you a glimpse into the artistic "cross-fertilization" through the colonization of the Spaniards in South America.

Chapter 18– Why Read It? Chapter 18 provides the reader with a shift from the traditional “Western Art History.” Traditionally, in Europe and the United States, art history began with pre-history in Europe and included a study of Mesopotamia, Egypt, the Aegean and Greece, Rome, Medieval Europe, the Renaissance, the Baroque, Modern art, and European and American art into the 20th century. Chapter 19 touches upon some of the vastly rich major artistic cultures that were previously ignored: Africa, India, China, Native America, Oceania, and Islamic areas. Even though it isn’t possible to go into great depth in any of these cultures and their arts, it is at least a diverse introduction to these artistic cultures. In specialized art history courses for majors, an entire semester may be devoted to African art, Asian art, or Native American art.

For your introduction of art, the text has made an attempt to reveal the diverse types, media, and religious/social systems responsible for the creation of art outside the West. Of course, major artistic cultures are still missing, such as Mongolia, Tibet, and Russia, and there isn’t enough room to introduce contemporary arts from all these still living/thriving cultures, but the door is opened. If you never traveled to any of the countries in this chapter, you will most likely encounter examples of art from them in museums. Your curiosity may get you more involved in finding out more. Often archaeology and art overlap, and the excitement of new discoveries in these fields is far from over.

See if you can find an article in a recent archaeological or art journal regarding one of these cultures and its artistic heritage.

Understanding Concepts: Comparisons help bring to light similarities and differences observable in works of art. As you look through the chapter, you will see very sophisticated works of art made from a wide variety of either environmentally available materials, such as shells or wood, or manufactured items, such as the porcelain vases of China or the bronze casting from Africa. Works may incorporate ideas such as religious ceremonial or ritual use, spiritual transformation, and ancestral communion or worship, but fewer pieces focus on ideas of décor or trompe l'oeil as "Western art" has.

1. Chart characteristics for several works of art from each culture discussed in this chapter.

[start Table]

Culture                    Characteristics                    Materials used                    Purpose

African                                                                                                       

Oceanic                                                                                                      

Native American                                                                                         

Islamic                                                                                                        

Indian                                                                                                         

Chinese                                                                                                      

Japanese                                                                                                    

[end Table]

•     What similarities do you begin to notice?

•     What kinds of materials were available or developed by each group?

•         How do these cultural art works compare to what you've learned so far about the ancient arts from Egypt, Mesopotamia or the Aegean, and Europe?

•         How many different ways of reckoning time periods in these diverse cultures are there? For example, how long is a dynasty compared to a century?

•     How are tribal groups designated in Africa or in Polynesia and Melanesia?

2. Study a little about each religious influence for these artworks, looking up Buddhism, Hinduism, Shintoism, Native American belief systems, Islam, island cultural systems from Polynesia or Melanesia, and several African tribal groups such as the Dogon, the Yoruba, or the Benin.

•     What kinds of belief systems are behind the creation of masks?

•     How do different belief systems deal with the depiction of a deity?

•     How are ideas about birth, life, and death incorporated into ancestral figures?

3. View a world map or globe, and locate each of the cultures mentioned. What are some of the current events you’ve heard about that are taking place in these locations? How do you think these events impact the people and their art? Notes:

•     Africa

•     South Pacific

•         South America

•         Mexico

•         North America (native populations)

•         The Middle East

•         India

•         China

•         Japan

Making Connections: Many influences of non-Western art on Western art are mentioned in art history books. European artists who had come to despise much of the pretense and illusionism of Europe's art traditions were impressed and impacted by the authenticity and power of tribal art. Pablo Picasso’s borrowing from African carvings and masks for inspiration in his representations of the human form in the Cubist styles, and Edgar Degas’ portrayals of figures moving in space and his borrowings from Japanese Ukiyo-e prints are both good examples of this inspired ecclecticism and innovation. (See Chapters 19and 20.)

1. Now that you've had a quick look at art from non-western cultures, how do you think it compares to the Western art you have studied?

•     Do you feel that the influences on Western art have been positive?

•     What can you find out about the influence of Western art on other cultures? Notes:

2. Compare and Contrast – Picasso’s Nude with Drapery with an Etoumba Mask

gives you a glimpse at the powerful influence native African art had on one of the most acclaimed artists of the 20th century. What elements do you think attracted Picasso to this type of art? Can you find out about other artists who were similarly impacted, such as the Impressionists and Post-Impressionists, including Vincent van Gogh, who saw the show of Japanese prints in the late 1800s in Paris?

•     Identify some characteristics from the African artwork that Picasso borrowed directly.

•     What are some indirect influences from African art visible in Picasso's style?

3. A Closer Look – Cambios: The Clash of Cultures and the Artistic Fallout

discusses the historical debacle resulting in the fall of the Aztec Empire to the Spaniards, and a 1993 exhibition in the Santa Barbara Museum of Art in California that explored changes that came about as a result of the meeting, by conquest, of these two cultures. The impact and integration of European imagery and Christianity upon an already developed culture is detailed, especially in the portrayal of Castas, the people born as descendants of Europeans and Native Americans.

•     Investigate some of the history of the Spanish Conquistadors and their encounters with the Native Americans. What were the prevailing motives and attitudes towards those "conquered"?

•     Investigate some of the indigenous beliefs and ways of life of the Aztec culture. Why is the image of the jaguar so prevalent?

•     Recent archaeological discoveries and translations of the Aztec creation myth, called Popol Vuh, have been made available in documentary programs and paperback book forms. See if you can find out more about the lives and belief systems of the Aztec people before the Spaniards encountered them.

Taking Notes: This chapter differs from the others in its coverage of several major world cultures and their related artworks, customs, and religious influences. This will present a challenge to you, the student, in understanding the similarities and distinguishing the differences, and to your instructor in presenting this diverse multicultural chapter in class. Some instructors may choose to separate their introduction of some of this chapter, interspersing it with the other chapters, while others will present the chapter as one unit. Be prepared to keep track of how this chapter is presented. For example, it might be that one instructor will introduce African art while discussing Cubism, since African arts influenced Pablo Picasso, Georges Braque, and other artists. Japanese art may be presented when Impressionism is being introduced, since many of the Impressionists, such as Edgar Degas and Mary Cassatt were greatly impacted by a show of Japanese prints in Paris. There are about 20 key terms from this chapter. Define each in connection to the works of art and their cultural origins. Keep in mind your note-taking template may look a little different for this chapter, depending on how the different cultures are presented in class. Keep it flexible.

Preparing for Tests: Testing over this chapter may involve asking questions not only about country of origin of the artwork but about a work of art's ceremonial or ritual purpose or function. Since individual artists are not always named, the tribal group or affiliation will be a more likely test question. Even some of the unusual combinations of materials used that comprise the object might be the basis for a good test question. Review sample questions at the Understanding Art website (www.cengage.com/art/fichner-rathus9e), in the Student Test Packet, or on the ArtExperience Online for Understanding Art.

The following are two sample essay test questions. For each question, length, research, and format requirements should be specified so that you will know how much depth is expected in your essay response.

•         In a short essay, describe and discuss some of the characteristic art forms, functions, and details you might find in a mosque.

•         Discuss the development and uses of art in one of the societies described in the text. Compare these to the development and uses for art in European societies. Use two visual examples, describing and explaining details supporting your discussion.

Enhancing Your Observational Powers: We live today in a diverse and global culture, but there are needs and desires we all have in common. One need expressed by people around the world is to sustain some of the unique cultural traditions and arts of different groups of people. Even though mobile phones, fast food restaurants, and computers may be found in remote Aleutian communities or in the (remaining) tropical rain forests of South America, no one seems to want a generic global culture where everything is exactly the same no matter where you go.

1. Locate some multicultural activities within your community. If you live in an isolated community, try to find out about multicultural events on the web. What kinds of imagery do you find being used to represent diverse cultural activities?

•     Try to find out more about some of the unique cultural groups living in your area.

•     What kinds of art have been traditionally used to represent their presence and activities?

2. Visit an art museum or a museum of natural history near you. Seek out displays of the arts of various cultures. How is the art displayed?

•         How are the objects described and defined in the accompanying notes?

•         Is there a video or documentary about how the objects might be used traditionally?

•         How were the objects acquired or collected by the museum? Are they from a private collection? Were they purchased or donated?

•         How do you think these objects were originally obtained from their owners?

3.  If you are given the assignment to critique and analyze art, consider a visual analysis of one of these forms and do some research about the culture as part of your class assignment.

4.  Even though many of the works of art shown in this chapter are from the past, most of the cultures represented are still alive and have artists creating art. Try to find some information about contemporary artists and their works from three of the cultures listed in this chapter. (For example, Kay Walkingstick is a contemporary Native American artist, see image 6-3.)

•     What kinds of similarities are there to the art of these artists’ cultural heritage?

•     What are new elements in these artists’ works?

•     What issues of ethnicity, national heritage, politics, and economics have arisen due to events since the encounter of their culture with "Western" thinking, or more recent events in the 20th and 21st centuries to which these artists have responded?

For More Understanding: Throughout the text, there are a few more examples of works of art from the cultures mentioned within Chapter 18. Study and research some of these examples in order to enhance your understanding of these cultures and the art, both ancient and contemporary, from them. Find more information at the website (www.cemgage.com/art/fichner-rathus9e).

ArtExperience Online for Understanding Art: Traditionally European and American art history has focused on "Western" civilization and slighted other major world cultures. But in the recent decade, art historians and text writers have recognized and acted upon the need to deepen an understanding of all the world's cultures and art forms. These tools add to your experience of the non-western arts. Review images and create a flashcard study set. Also learn more about the information and artwork presented in the Compare and Contrast and A Closer Look sections.

Notes and Links to Remember: