Orientalism in Art Essay

In the contemplation of art, or rather the conceptually intangible definition it currently possess, it is imperative to be mindful that “art” has been utilized as a promotional device, ceremonial item, aesthetically purposed article or perhaps none of these or all. It is because of this vague term that Carolyn Dean, in her text, “The Trouble with (The Term) Art”, makes a case for the consequences of applying the term “art” in societies that lacked such a notion which also accounts for the Western-centric lens the field intrinsically utilizes when viewing non-Western art. The claim is deftly supported by the utilization of expert accounts in the subject, alternative perspectives for what is considered the current norm, and self-examining questions,

Case Study: The use of assemblage and the found object in historical and contemporary art practice.

Rathnasambhava, the Transcendent Buddha of the South and Madonna Enthroned are very similar images that were produced by very different cultures. Both images were produced during the 13th Century. The image of Rathnasambhava, the Transcendent Buddha of the South was produced in Tibet during an interesting period of the country’s religious history. The branch of Tibetan Buddhism is led by a religious and sometimes political leader called the Dalai Lama. It was during the 13th Century during the reign of Kublai Khan, around the time of the production of this painting, that Tibet experienced the first incarnation of the Dalai Lama. One has to wonder if this painting is somehow related to that occurrence. According to

During the late 19th and 20th centuries Blacks in America were debating on the proper way to define and present the Negro to America. Leaders such as Alain Lock, W.E.B. Dubois, Marcus Garvey, and Tuskegee University founder Booker T. Washington all had ideas of a New Negros who was intellectually smart, politically astute, and contributors to society in trade work. All four influential leaders wrote essays to this point of the new Negro and their representations in art and life. In “Art or Propaganda”, Locke pleas not for corrupt or overly cultured art but for art free to serve its own ends, free to choose either "group expression" or "individualistic expression.” (National Humanities Center) In W.E.B. Du Bois speech "Criteria for Negro

The reading claims that nudes throughout artistic history have been an important source of beauty and controversy. Nudes began to spike during the Baroque period as they were used for the more expressive and emotional arts of the time. In the nineteenth century, nudes became more common, yet became more sensitive. Artists would train by drawing nudes of ancient Greek statues and figures from myth. However, many artists would then move on to create works depicting prostitutes or peasant naked women. This would not please patrons as they were extremely societally taboo. However, this did not start artists from making them, as they moved into the twentieth and twenty-first century. This shows the importance of artistic nudes and their impact

The art piece that I chose to critique is the sculpture of a figure kneeling down and getting shocked. It is located on campus near the Morris University Center(muc). When I first saw this sculpture it caught my attention immediately, because of how gruesome the piece was. I feel like I don’t have a good understanding of what the sculpture represents, but it seems like it would raise plenty of controversy, due to its erotic features. It seems like the artist was venting his emotions when he created his idea. The sculpture is fairly large in size, which makes it noticeable, among the other art pieces on campus. The sculpture media consist of wood and concrete, and metal mostly. The individual is keeling down toward the west and is supported

African Art does not have specific date to which it evolved because most early African Art was carved in wood, which perished quickly. This is why most art dates from the 19th and early 20th century. Many 20th century artists admired and collected pieces of African Art. They enjoyed the bold color, expression, and form that produced a new beginning in art history. African Art was mostly dedicated to life affirming activities such as healing, pleasure, protection, and transformation.

Stuart Hall’s The West and the Rest and Edward Said’s Orientalism both explore notions of power and discourse with regard to the dynamics of the Western world and the non-Western world. The works engage with the concept of a worldwide binary of two unequal sides, and how certain discourses, namely that of “the West and the Rest”, and Orientalism, have both stemmed from this idea and worked to maintain it. While Hall engages with the idea of “the West and the Rest” – the Western world and how it has been defined in opposition to the non-Western – Said analyses the relationship between “the Orient and the Occident” (2). Said’s work reflects in a more concrete way what Hall proposes in his, using the example of “the Orient” as part of “the Rest” against which the Western world positions itself. Both pieces convey significant ideas about how power informs perceptions of difference between societies, and in turn how discourse forms and maintains global hegemonic power.

The Resurrection of Christ is from the Baroque period. This work of art portrays the sense of dramatic antagonism that Caravaggio achieved by manipulating light across full range of tones, changing the intensity and transforming its radiance this was done so that every beam and shadow expressed a dissimilar emotional content. (Sayre, 2010) In Rembrandt painting he focused on using emotional contrast between light and dark tones to emphasize the emotional difference. Here you can see pure light radiating out of the tomb of darkness. Christ himself begins to rise from the tomb in the light of true symbolic

Orientalist imagery, particularly of the Ottoman empire, featured prominently in the French Neoclassicist artist Ingres ' works. Western gaze on the Orient permeates his creations of sultry women lounging around the harem, waiting for their sultan to arrive. The Orientalism of the female nudes in the paintings The Grand Odalisque (1814) and The Turkish Bath (1863) is evident. The Orient occupied the "Other" in the eyes of the west (Said 44) and became a subject of fascination for Ingres (Shelton 212). Ingres created ethereal, exotic images of the Ottoman Harem and thus, established his role as an Orientalist.

If you have some free time and have always wanted to visit an art gallery, a start is the Art Sacré exposition. Just do not expect high quality art. Running from October twenty-third to December eight-teenth at Les Salles de Gesù, the exposition features four artists depicting spirituality and inner self.

Modernism is an art movement that is characterized by a deliberate departure from tradition to a more expressive form that distinguishes many styles in the arts and literature of the late nineteenth and twentieth century. Emile Bernard was part of this modern art movement as can be seen in his painting, "Breton Woman and Haystacks", painted around 1888. Impressionists were modern artists who tended to paint outside landscapes and street scenes and were concerned with the effects of light. Bernard was a Post-Impressionist artist who considered Impressionism too casual or too naturalistic, and sought a means of exploring emotion in paint. Bernard's work, "Breton Woman and Haystacks", depicts a woman in

In his Introduction to Orientalism, Edward Said asserts that the “Orient has helped to define Europe as its contrasting image, idea, personality, experience,” (71). Therefore, in Season of Migration to the

“...Orientalism is not so innocent a form of knowledge as this. Instead, he redefines Orientalism as the ubiquity of a sense of the division of the world into two spheres in aesthetic production, popular culture, and scholarly, sociological, and historical texts. In other words, he is suggesting that the concept of difference between east and west is a geopolitical difference which is written up throughout the texts of western culture whether through travel writing, political texts, paintings, or in academic discussions” (Sharp 2009, 31).

of art as a finished product, signed by the artist and authenticated by the art market,