Longman Grotto Application Essay

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.

Bethan Gray is an award winning Welsh designer that has an unusual but impressive family origin. Her ancestors originate from an ancient Rajasthani clan that spent many hundreds of years journeying across Arabia and Persia before choosing to remain in the Celtic region of Wales. This very heritage wove its way into being some of Bethan Grays’s main influences and inspirations, which pull ideas shown within craft traditions of both the East and West. These influences are reflected in Gray’s style, showing a clear passion of detail, tactile textures, and extravagant materials such as rare stones, wood, marble and hand-tooled leather. Complex but complementary patterns of dark and light, texture and clear attention shown to the detail that defines her highly unique style. Even while using blacks and whites, Gray is also not afraid

The art of visually being able to express an understanding through the use of physical and mental creation is nothing but remarkable. Metalwork is not an easy task and I believe was a stepping-stone into a new way of design. I love looking at textile and texture pieces because of the way it is all layered together. There is a particular way needed to map out where and how each jewel and figure will be placed. These steps seem to be challenging but is all-apart of mastering the art of building a piece. I think that the challenge of design is half the battle but when something beautiful such as The Lindau Gospels cover is created, the dedication and time is all much worth it.

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.

From a contemporary perspective, current ceramic artists might challenge that Leach’s domestic wares were categorized as craft, and this is an age-old debate that has gained momentum since the 1980’s when ceramicists began producing work which “questioned the categories and boundaries of art and craft and claimed ground for the sculptural and conceptual in ceramics ……… declaring(ing) the right to continue a tradition of contemplative and emphatically non-utilitarian ceramic forms”.

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

exhibit allows you to look at a history of Chinese Art dating as far back as 5000 years. starting

The Lakeland art Museum is the focal point of my report, where I enjoyed many paintings, photographs, and sculptures of many artists both renowned and local. Examples of such would be Pablo Picasso, Francisco De Goya, Hung Liu, and many more. Although the first to catch my eye was that of Liu’s work Working Woman: Millstone 1999, an etching with soft colors, varnish, as well as paint. It depicts two work-worn older Chinese woman operating a millstone the image was then layered over with red kanji fruit and a bird. Furthermore while absorbing the impact of the piece I came to realize that one woman was much older than the other and overseeing the younger ones work, they were wearing similar clothes and seemed to be in an outdoor setting. Concluding that it maybe possible The image depicted a mother and daughter as well as their family practice of milling grain. Due to it obviously not being factory setting meaning the mill must be close to a home, similarities between the women could possibly mean relation, and practice of stone milling could have been passed down thorough their generations.

On October 14, 2016, I attended the Lizzadro Museum of Lapidary Art in Elmhurst, Illinois. The Lizzadro Museum of Lapidary Art is a museum that shows different pieces of art made from a wide variety of rocks and minerals, making wonderful works of art to say the least. The Lizzadro Museum displayed more than two hundred pieces of gemstones art sculptures, which is cut and polished to make it pleasing to the eye. Vases, bowls, plates different Gods and Goddesses sculptures were some of the many items that was on display at the Lizzadro Museum of Lapidary Art. The Lizzadro Museum of Lapidary Art also had an abundant amount of different artworks from around the world as well as artwork from different eras. The timeframe of these artworks ranges

It is undeniable that Mayan art during the Classic era (from 250 AD to 900 AD) “is of a high level of aesthetic and artisanal sophistication” (Maya civilization, n.d.). Approximately between 600 AD and 800 AD, Mayan art witnessed an ever-seen era of Maya sculptures (Annequin 1978, p214) with many masterpieces containing greatly aesthetic sense. At this time, as Annequin (1978, p.215) notified “the Maya appear to have held the void in horror, and they often crammed surfaces until the impression was overwhelming” ; this inspired Mayans to produced much more things such as masks, ceremonial rods, earrings, armlets and mittens by inserting elaborately flamboyant feathers. Besides having talent in producing art of relief, Mayans also were experts in stucco at Palenque and Comalco.

Painted by a Naples painter in 420 BC, the Terracotta Lebes Gamikos is an intricately painted vase that depicts the preparations of a wedding. Attributed to Attic during the Greek classical period, it is now found in a gallery at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. This terra-cotta vase emphasizes the role of women in Greek society through the illustrations depicting the actions of women as they prepare for a wedding, highlighting their role in the oikos. At a first glance, the illustrations between the register capture all audience’s attention. Although there are geometric patterns lining the top and bottom of the central illustrations, they hold no comparison to the intricate detail placed in the central image on the vase.

Our world is full of so many grandiose monuments, eye-catching sculptures, and stunning statues, each having an individual story to tell. Thousands of them have been created however, only a small number of them are actually extraordinary and picture-worthy. This paper will compare and contrast two of those picture-worthy sculptures. Furthermore, I will examine the aspects of each of these sculptures. I will compare and contrast what each of them represents, the differences in texture, their size and their tone.

It was Nell Vyse’s opinion that in such uncertain times that no one could remain sane without using a liberal amount of imagination, only a few of us can materialise our fantasies. The Vyses, ever optimistic, exhibited one hundred and sixty pieces of stoneware pottery. Nell Vyse had the difficult task of teaming Art with Science, to produce extravagant and delicate glazes in a variety of hues. It was the Vyses’ complete control of the atmosphere within the kiln chamber produced such subtle glazes as the blues and purples Chüns, the varied greens of the Celadon. Without such precise control, potters in rare and happy accidents produce such glazes. No photograph, however detailed, can illustrate the rosy-purples that suffused the delicate blue Chün glazes (Fig. 149 p.186). Acceding to popular demand, the Vyses introduced two new figurative works, which collectors could approve from monochrome photographs of the original clay maquettes, published in Walker’s Monthly.

Throughout the vast history of art, historians can find connections throughout the centuries. Artists from the beginning of humankind have been inspired by the world around them. From the Apollo 11 stones to present day, history and culture have provided inspiration and have been the focus of various pieces. Examining artwork from the 15th-18th century, viewers can be shown a whole world that would be unknown to us without these artist’s contributions. History, religion, and cultural events have sculpted the art world, and we can observe this through many pieces during the 15th-18th centuries.