Art History/Assignments/5 October 2007

THEMES IN ART HISTORY

Task: Locate five images that represent one of the following assigned themes. Insert the image onto a word document. You must include at least one image from art beyond the European tradition. Include the following information for each image. You will present this selection on Wednesday, October 10. Be sure to include one image that is outside the Western canon.

Themes: Power and Authority, Symbols in Art, Narrative, Sacred Spaces, Patronage, Portraits, The Body in Art, Race, Class. and Gender, Food and Shelter, Deities and Places of Worship, Mortality and Immortality, or Power, Politics, and Glory

Include the following information: Image

Identify completely: Stylistic period or culture, Subject / Iconography Significance / Function / Purpose, and explain why this image fits this category and why the image holds significance in the study of art history. Also, if the work is functional, religious, ceremonial, secular, etc.

Outside the Western canon: China, Africa, Japan, Caribbean, Korea, Pacific Northwest (America), India, First Peoples of Australia, Meso-America and the Andes, Oceania Islamic Art, Buddhist Art, and Hindu Art.

Questions about Symbols: by: Sona and Anna 1. Where did the symbol originate from? 2. Does the symbol help tell a story of any kind in the piece of art? 3. Is theis the only way the symbol is used, or is it used differently in other pieces of art? 4. What significance does the symbol have to this culture? 5. Do other cultures use this symbol? What does it mean in these cultures? 6. How does the utilization of symbols differ between distinct cultures? 7. Where do the symbols originate from? Legends? 8. Why have different cultures created different symbols? Is it a reflection of the society? 9. Are there paricular trends in the symbols of different cultures? Why do these trends exist? 10.Do more cross-cultural trends exist, of symbols, among earlier (primitive)dates, in the development of art?