When visiting the McKissick Museum I was engrossed by the American Folk Art, ceramic Face Jugs,

It must have been 13 years or so since I have been to the art museum, back in elementary school, on a one of a kind field trip. 13 years is way too long to have been away from the art museum, as my experience this year reminded me that. It was a beautiful, sunny October day, although it felt like July, and it was an even better day to talk a walk through the vast, mesmerizing pieces of art that the museum has to offer. The North Carolina Museum of Art provides an abundance of artwork from various time periods, cultures, and one can find art anywhere from Egyptian, to classical, to modern and contemporary art. The artwork that the museum provides not only displays an abundance of artwork, but

The Nok heads and sculptures of Nigeria are made hallow, life-sized terra-cotta figures with a coiling technique commonly used to make pottery vessels (Thames & Hudson, 2015, pg.451). Nok heads were made with clay and although clay is very durable it is also breakable. However, very few sculpture have been found undamaged. The head of the figures was larger than the bodies because the artists wanted to emphasize the association between the head with knowledge and identity. The Nok head below is from Rafin Kura, sculpted in c. 500 BCE-200 CE. Like many Nok heads, this sculpture has a unique hairstyle, with three buns on top. It also has triangular- shaped eyes with holes in the pupils, nostrils, mouth, and

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.

Native American basketry is a difficult task and it takes a lot of skill. It was utilized for many purposes such as gathering, cooking, storing and drinking. I believe the dealers lore led to the transformation of artwork due to the amount of skill that was put into weaving baskets. These are now displayed

Throughout history, societies have defined and transformed themselves through their art. When looking at works of art today, a person sees not only the work of art itself, but also the world from which it came from. The same is true for this transformation mask, which reflects the works of art and beliefs of the Northwest Coast Tribes.

The preservation of traditions and skills is an important part of our community and family history. As Rose stated in “Let the Good Times Roll”, “It is the harmonic convenience of our food, our music, our creativity, our eccentricity, our neighborhoods, and our joy of living. All at once” (361). During the fall of every year, towns across Georgia host a festival of some sort. Whether it be the Yellow Daisy Festival at Stone Mountain Park or the Friendship Festival in Social Circle, local artist and craftsmen come together to display and sell their handmade items. Ranging from patch worked quilts to bird feeders to hand smocked children’s

Having lived in the Sacramento area for the last 10 years, last weekend was my first trip to the Crocker Art Museum. The museum was slow when we first got there around 10:00 am, but within an hour it started to pick up. I did not expect much from a museum in Sacramento, I was thinking more like gold rush memorabilia or Sutter household items. In short, I love the place. It is so much bigger and with more art than I imagined. My favorite part of the museum was the old part and not the modern side. I did not get the meaning of quite a few of the modern paintings, ok, all of them. One of the modern Art 's was just a shoe that was painted, my friend and I tried to figure out why this was considered art and all we could come up with, is that it was an expensive shoe. I don 't even know what to say about a single Apple computer box, it had to represent something expensive because it was in a glass lock box.

(2005). In D. Bjelajac, American Art: A Cultural History (pp. 37-129). Upper Saddle River: Prentice Hall, Inc.

The view from Victorians concerning the artwork was that they were obtained from” brutal and unruly savages from Benin” (The Times, 25th September 1897, p12) but it was also thought that the quality and workmanship of the pieces was exceptional.

This rhyton was used during the Late Minoan II period during the Prehistoric Aegean Bronze Age for religious rituals and libation purposes, in which the hollow vase was filled with liquid offerings. It is a depiction of a bull’s head, which represents the connection that the Minoans made with their natural surroundings. The maximum dimensions of the vase are 9.5 by 13.9 centimeters. The material the vessel consists of terracotta as

Making these jugs were a way for the African slaves to express themselves. They were used for religious reasons and held burial significance. Ceramics class was effective in exposing a completely new form of art to me that I had no previous knowledge about. From this assignment I was able to learn more about African-American culture, the significance of pottery in the lives of different people and how the meaning of face jugs have shifted. As a result of what I have learned I am more curious of the history behind the things that I see and use in everyday

This vase could have been used as a container for water or wine and perhaps as a drinking vessel.

The Greek Storage Jar (Amphora) depicting man and boy was created around 550-540 BCE. It was found in Ancient Greece. The amphora storage jar is made out of terracotta and it is eleven inches in height. Then it was painted on with black and brown paint. This jars colors are used to create contrast, the lines are used to unify it, the shapes on the object are the most important part of the image and patterns are used on the jar to help fill the space on the jar. Therefore colors are used to create contrast.

On September 4, 2016, I visited the Matisse in His Time exhibit at the Oklahoma City Museum of Art. This exhibit is home to a plethora of pieces by many different European artists from the 19th and 20th centuries. While it is focused on Matisse and his extensive works, containing more than 50 of his pieces, there are many portraits and sculptures by other influential artists from that time period including Renoir, Picasso, and Georges Braque. Three of the most appealing works that I encountered in this exhibit are Maurice de Vlaminck’s Portrait of Père Bouju, Pablo Picasso’s Reclining Woman on a Blue Divan, and Henri Matisse’s sculpture series Henriette I, Henriette II, and Henriette III.

Heidegger says that the jug is basically a vessel when considered through its material and shape; it is just used for holding. Its main purpose is revealed when we fill the jug with water i.e the emptiness between the walls and bottom of the jug gets filled to show the real purpose of that thing. Another main thing is that the holding function is performed by the walls and the bottom of the jug, what the potter do is that he just shapes the clay and the void to give the jug the meaning of “Thingness”.