Imperial Elegance

By comparing The Thirteen Emperors (seventh century A.D) (Figure 1) by Yan Liben (600-673), ink and color on silk, is currently at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston and Xie Huan (1377-1452)’s Elegant Gathering in the Apricot Garden (ca. 1437) (Figure 2), ink and color on silk, is currently at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. Both artists used the same subject matter (hand roll), and employed a different repetitive process they convey two distinct ideas; the differences between thirteen emperors in Yan and the idea of confucianism in Huan.

All artists are influenced by the culture they are from. Our experiences and the environment in which we were raised shapes us, and thus the works we produce as artists. This essay will discuss, compare and contrast two artists from different cultures, and their ceramic artworks, with a focus on how their cultural background has influenced their art. The artists that will be discussed are Janet Fieldhouse, who is influenced by her Torres Strait Islander heritage and Aboriginal artist Dr. Thancoupie Gloria Fletcher.

As you arrive into the reception area of the Cleveland Museum of Art, you are greeted with silence. The clomping of shoes and whispers of fellow museum goers about what the “true meaning” behind the piece is fills the air. The first floor of the museum is dedicated to historical artifacts and artwork dating in the time period called Before Common Era (B.C.E.). Each piece is accompanied by a placard on the wall courtesy of the museum. The pieces are approximately dated, described, and an explanation of how each piece was used is given in the short paragraph.

However, the golden age of Japanese ceramics did not really begin until the sixteenth century when the tea master Sen no Rikyū popularized the tea ceremony. In his refinement of this art form, Rikyū found beauty in the earthly and natural forms of pottery and thus commissioned the production of “raku ware,” which today, is considered the pinnacle of Japanese pottery. Notable for its ruggedness and imperfections, raku ware made Rikyū into a central figure in the establishment of the wabi-sabi aesthetic. In the beginning, the textures and colors of wabi-sabi vessels were left to develop naturally. However, over time, several wabi-sabi artists began experimenting and even developed techniques to intentionally create these alterations. Obviously, the exact shape and form of an imperfection cannot be controlled but the intention can be realized in an oxymoronic “controlled natural look.”

The imperial palaces were built on a grand scale, sparing no expense to display the majesty and dignity of the imperial power of the time. Each successive emperor contributed grandeur to the structures, and today, these palaces stand for all to enjoy. Each imperial palace is a testament to the history and glory of Chinese culture. These glorious structures clearly demonstrate the creative essence and imperial traditions of the Chinese

This paper will employ close visual analysis of the The Vase that was created by skilled craftsmen [Tang dynasty (618–907)] describing how it’s minimalist design represents that it was a time when they focused on non-controversial themes when painting.

Porcelain has a reputation, and gets treated as one of the most fragile and expensive materials money could buy. Anything that is made of porcelain is a real piece of art especially to whoever owns it. While reading an excerpt from the Seattle art museum online I found that the exact time and place of the creation of the first Chinese porcelain has not been firmly established. It is reported as early as 600 AD is when the creation of high fired ceramic wares was producing white ceramic material that was known as porcelain. Porcelain can take the credit for what was considered cross-cultural encounters for many centuries. They used porcelain as a vehicle for designs and ornamental motifs between Asia and Europe. Those little works of art have also influenced traditions in other countries that have been witness to the amazing artistic features of porcelain design. Having a very nice set of china myself, I now understand the reasoning behind protecting such valuable property. I would like to be able to see firsthand some of the masterpieces that may be roaming throughout the great country of China.

For this museum paper, I went to the Heritage of the Americas Museum at Cuyamaca College. The Heritage of the Americas Museum is a cultural and educational facility featuring the prehistoric and historic art, culture and natural history of the Americas; North, South and Central America. Even though this museum is specializes in housing early inhabitants of the Americas art and artifacts, they do posses some non-western pieces, specifically Chinese, which coincidentally became my favorite item out of all the exhibits and is what I chose to do my research on for this paper. But before I getting into one specific piece out of literally hundreds, I want to rewind back and discuss the Museum’s as a whole, and why I chose this one in particular instead

Art history professor Wendy Koenig specializes in East Asian art and was part of the team that analyzed and researched the artifacts. She said, “The collection could be vulnerable against the natural lighting coming in from the windows, given the way they’re set up in that boardroom. And we don’t know the insurance value of these artifacts either due to the high cost of getting them appraised.”

With the new imperial movement came with a lot of inequality and destruction with the colonies. Droughts, famines, and diseases were at high in Asia, specially India and China, and could have been preventable. The British government and other imperial powers could have stepped in and helped prevent and or lessen the severity of in those areas, yet none of them received help. There was a surplus amounts of food available in those countries plus with the addition of railroads that could have easily help with fast transportation more effective and efficient to get food to these people, yet still nothing happened to help the ones in needs that were used to help fuel European economy, mainly Great Britain’s. As Davis says in his book, Late Victorian Holocausts: El Niño Famines and the Making of the Third World, “We are not dealing, in other words, with ‘lands of famines’ becalmed in stagnant backwaters of world history, but with the fate of tropical humanity at the precise moment (1870-1914) when its labor and products were being dynamically conscripted into a London-centered world economy. Millions died in the golden age of Liberal Capitalism; indeed, many were murdered….”. With this there was a dramatic rise in European wealth and low economic wealth in the colonies, especially the ones with natural disaster like India. The political and economic decisions made by these imperial powers were resulted in these disasters. Those with economic and political power rule and decided

As one of the ancient civilization, the Chinese history could trace back to five millennium years ago. Along with the continuous development of the Chinese society, the artistic and cultural achievements also simultaneously progressed. Bowser Museum exhibits a Chinese collection that portrays the evolution of Chinese art and culture. From the dawn of Chinese civilization Neolithic period to the last imperial Qing dynasty before the Republic of China. Throughout the progress, the Chinese art is continuously adapting to the changing society and combining its cultures to produce various art forms. In this exhibition, each symbol in each artwork is associated with special meaning behind and to reflect some phenomenon of personality or the

Ornamentalism: How the British Saw Their Empire by David Cannadine attempts to satisfy the question: How did the British see their own empire from the mid-nineteenth century, through Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee in 1896, and ending with Queen Elizabeth II’s Coronation in 1953? Cannadine examines the beginnings of the Empire and all of her localities, and describes the several ways in which British aristocracy propelled the ornamented image of Britain throughout those localities and back to England. As an English historian and writer, Cannadine also brings a personal aspect to Ornamentalism: Cannadine considers himself a “Coronation child” as he was a three-year-old English boy at the time of Queen Elizabeth II’s Coronation (183). Not only that, but Cannadine’s father served in the British Empire’s Royal Engineers between 1942 and 1945.

The art upholds the standards of elegance. The slew of various techniques of art in the Middle

In this book Ornamentalism, how the British Saw Their Empire, the objective of Cannadine is to give us the perspective of the British Empire imperialists to help us understand their viewpoint; to help us see things their way and to offer us a whole new insight to the story but from the eyes of the colonizers in their time. First, a brief summary of what the author is trying to accomplish in this book, then, let us explore the opposing views and finally, my viewpoint. A lot of people argue that the British were motivated by race, to change the world into their idealized image of how it should be, reflected on their own societal structure. Cannadine is here to argue otherwise, even though he does admit that race takes place as part of the motivation

Imperial pageants, such as the Meiji Constitution’s Promulgation ceremony and the emperor’s 25th wedding anniversary began in 1889 (Fujitani 207), contributed to the sense of membership in Japan. Transportation and media were necessary to keep citizens informed on events without being in Kyoto or Tokyo (ibid). These technological advances created a “sense of national simultaneity” (Fujitani 202) throughout the nation and was a somewhat sufficient way to have the citizens believe in the new traditions of the Meiji era (Fujitani 202-203). For those that did not live in major cities like Kyoto and Tokyo, where these extravagant events took place, ceremonies and festivals had been created to celebrate the imperial events (Fujitani 207). These festivities