Chinese Art
The earliest form of art we know from China was pottery - clay pitchers and bowls. Most of the best early pottery comes from a place called Ban’po and it is named after that place. This Ban'po pottery was handmade (not on a potter's wheel). At first the polished red pots were plain.
Then they were painted with black swirling spirals and geometric shapes, and sometimes with human faces. Later on, the Chinese used a brush to paint their pottery, and the designs became more sophisticated.
Shang Dynasty Chinese Art
1766-1122 BC
By about 2000 BC, people in China had learned from the people of West Asia how to make bronze out of copper and tin. They began to make many jars and plaques (flat pieces) out of bronze that were used for worshipping their gods. Right from the beginning, these were of very high quality. Some people have thought that the Chinese must have been practicing a long time to make such good bronze pieces, but this is really normal with any new technology: people are very interested in it at first and do a very good job, and it is only later that they try to do it cheaper and faster and not as well.
Chou Dynasty Chinese Art - 1122-221 BC
The first part of the Chou Dynasty is called the Western Chou, and it runs from about 1122 to about 722 BC. During the Western Chou dynasty, art didn't change very much from the Shang Dynasty that came before it. People kept on making the bronze sacrificial jars and cups that they made under the Shang emperors. Often the shapes of the jars were more complicated than they had been before.
There were some new technical ideas about how to make the bronze jars during the Eastern Chou period as well: for instance, artists began to make the designs on the jars using stamps. And the shapes of the jars became simpler again. Most of the designs were abstract interlacing patterns, rathe than animals. Artists began using gold and silver inlays to decorate their patterns. Towards the end of the Eastern Chou period, about 300 BC, artists began to create the first Chinese pictures of whole scenes with several people and a landscape, often hunting scenes.
Archaeologists have excavated the tomb of one of the Chin Dynasty emperors, so we know that the stuff in that tomb comes from the Chin Dynasty. This tomb has a huge army of clay statues of soldiers, who were supposed to protect the dead emperor. You can see that the abstract designs and animals of the Chou Dynasty have changed, and now art is becoming much more about representing people.
Three Kingdoms Chinese Art 220-581 AD
It was in the time of the Three Kingdoms that the first artists appear whose names we still know today. One of the earliest Chinese artists whose name we know is Ku K'ai-chih, who lived in the 300's AD (when Constantine was first building Constantinople in West Asia). Ku K'ai-chih is said to have been a great portrait artist - he painted pictures of people. But nothing he painted has survived for us to look at today.
Sui Dynasty Chinese Art - 581-618 AD
In the Three Kingdoms period, Chinese artists had learned a lot about Indian and West Asian sculptural styles. Now in the Sui Dynasty, artists transformed what they had learned and mixed it with Chinese styles to create a new, unified, uniquely Chinese style in sculpture. And they used the same style all over China, as if to emphasize that all of China was again under one Emperor.
In painting, too, artists developed a more unified system of painting during the Sui Dynasty. They were especially interested in how to show that one thing was nearer than another, or farther away but larger.
This was also a time of developing pottery styles. In the Sui Dynasty, for the first time, we see recognizable beginnings of the great Chinese porcelain industry of the future (that's why we call it "china"!).
Tang Dynasty Chinese Art618-907 AD
Sculpture, which had really begun to develop during the Sui Dynasty, reached its height under the T'ang Dynasty. Sculptors emphasized graceful lines and sharp, clear forms, and good proportions (the head the right size for the body, the legs and arms the right length).
But Chinese painters kept right up with the sculptors. Instead of painting mainly pictures of the Buddha, now artists painted scenes from history (famous emperors and famous battles), and scenes of everyday life at the emperor's court. They tried to make people look real and solid.
Nature was a more and more important theme to these painters. In the 700's AD, the painter Han Kan was famous for his paintings of horses, for instance, and many other artists also chose to paint animals.
Sung Dynasty Chinese Art - 960-1279 AD
Starting about 1200 AD, artists became interested in drawing smaller objects: a flower, or a bird, or a leaf. Again, they tried to draw these things using the fewest possible lines, and to show the most important things about that flower or bird, rather than drawing every detail.
Landscape painting got even better under the Sung Dynasty than it had been under the T'ang Dynasty that came before. Artists emphasized the simple lines of the mountains, rivers, and trees, trying to create a feeling with the fewest possible lines. Most of the time they didn't even use colors. Artists also learned to show distance with blurry outlines and mountains half-hidden by fog.
Yuan Dynasty (Mongol Period) Chinese Art - 1279-1368 AD
You might think that the invasion of the Mongols in 1279 AD would have killed off a lot of artists and there wouldn't be much good art during this time, but that's not true. Or, you might think that Chinese artists would begin to paint in a more Mongol style, but that's not what happened either. Actually traditional painting continued at a very high level throughout this time. Artists went right on drawing landscapes, although people became more important in the landscapes than they had been under the Sung Dynasty. Artists also began to pay a lot of attention to different kinds of brushstrokes and the surface of paintings.
Still-life painting of objects like flowers also remained important, or even got more important.
At this time, a lot of rich men painted pictures, men who wanted to show how artistic and well-educated they were.
Ming Dynasty Chinese Art- 1368-1644 AD
After the Mongols were thrown out of China, and the Chinese emperors took over again in the Ming Dynasty, sculpture stopped changing in style - Ming dynasty sculptors just repeated what had been done in the past.
On the other hand, Ming Dynasty paintings of birds and flowers and people are among the best detail paintings.
Monday, January 14, 2008
ART AND RELIGION
What is Religious Art?
Do we mean that religious themes are depicted in the art?
Do we mean that religious persons were the artists?
Do we mean that some special religious group or church has decided that the art is orthodox and therefore official?
The most common definition is that religious art is that which depicts biblical themes.
Often in history, "religious art" was what the church officially declared to be religious art.
Biblical themes may be used in a painting but for irreligious purposes.
The religion of the artist is ultimately irrelevant to the quality of his work, so that "faithful" painters may not be any more successful in doing "religious" art than nonbelievers.
Q: What do we mean by the word religion?
A: It comes from an ancient Latin word that means simply "to tie things together." Religion is the human quest for coherence and meaning in the understanding of the world.
Now it is easy to see where all the trouble in the definition of the term religious art arises. Art does not have to have biblical subject matter to be "religious." Any felt passion or insight about the world, expressed with power, ought to be considered religious art. In fact, we know that in earlier cultures, religion and art were almost the same thing. The religious buildings, icons, and music of a culture are art; and its art is its religion.
Art is the process of expressing in concrete form or event human emotions and aspirations, ranging from the simple joys of being to complex philosophical expression. A work of art is a concrete thing, an event that helps the participant to bridge his experience with that of the artist or the group or the religious values expressed therein. If one accepts this definition, there is no such thing as "art"; there are only the things we make to tell our stories as human beings with religious purposes.
"We have no art here. We only do the best we can."
How then are we to judge whether a work of art is a good piece of art or whether it is religious art? <----- this is irrelevant.
The better question would be:
Is the work of art expressive of a powerful view of life and, regardless of subject matter, does it stir some religious sensitivity in the viewer?
The late Paul Tillich, a great Christian theologian, suggested that a work of art could have religious subject matter and still be an irreligious statement. On the other hand, a work of art on a non-biblical subject could be expressed with such power that it would be a profoundly religious painting.
This insight brings us to the final problem in our discussion of religious art. Art is so important in the life of man and society that from the beginning of civilization tyrants have tried to control it. Keep the horizons of art no wider than the expectations of the rulers and you have kept a people under control. That is why the Nazis in Germany and the Communists in Russia have caused artists much trouble. That is why any attack on the artist in our culture is ultimately an attack on our own freedom to know and believe.
How do we tie it all together?
Religion is life, and the life that is lived without questions and spiritual wrestling is really a dull life indeed. When our minds and religious senses become dull and corrupt, then the glory of God and the blazing intentions of our Lord for our lives are unable to register in our daily existence. That is why religion and art are part of the wider quest for meaning. That is why we need them both.
Do we mean that religious themes are depicted in the art?
Do we mean that religious persons were the artists?
Do we mean that some special religious group or church has decided that the art is orthodox and therefore official?
The most common definition is that religious art is that which depicts biblical themes.
Often in history, "religious art" was what the church officially declared to be religious art.
Biblical themes may be used in a painting but for irreligious purposes.
The religion of the artist is ultimately irrelevant to the quality of his work, so that "faithful" painters may not be any more successful in doing "religious" art than nonbelievers.
Q: What do we mean by the word religion?
A: It comes from an ancient Latin word that means simply "to tie things together." Religion is the human quest for coherence and meaning in the understanding of the world.
Now it is easy to see where all the trouble in the definition of the term religious art arises. Art does not have to have biblical subject matter to be "religious." Any felt passion or insight about the world, expressed with power, ought to be considered religious art. In fact, we know that in earlier cultures, religion and art were almost the same thing. The religious buildings, icons, and music of a culture are art; and its art is its religion.
Art is the process of expressing in concrete form or event human emotions and aspirations, ranging from the simple joys of being to complex philosophical expression. A work of art is a concrete thing, an event that helps the participant to bridge his experience with that of the artist or the group or the religious values expressed therein. If one accepts this definition, there is no such thing as "art"; there are only the things we make to tell our stories as human beings with religious purposes.
"We have no art here. We only do the best we can."
How then are we to judge whether a work of art is a good piece of art or whether it is religious art? <----- this is irrelevant.
The better question would be:
Is the work of art expressive of a powerful view of life and, regardless of subject matter, does it stir some religious sensitivity in the viewer?
The late Paul Tillich, a great Christian theologian, suggested that a work of art could have religious subject matter and still be an irreligious statement. On the other hand, a work of art on a non-biblical subject could be expressed with such power that it would be a profoundly religious painting.
This insight brings us to the final problem in our discussion of religious art. Art is so important in the life of man and society that from the beginning of civilization tyrants have tried to control it. Keep the horizons of art no wider than the expectations of the rulers and you have kept a people under control. That is why the Nazis in Germany and the Communists in Russia have caused artists much trouble. That is why any attack on the artist in our culture is ultimately an attack on our own freedom to know and believe.
How do we tie it all together?
Religion is life, and the life that is lived without questions and spiritual wrestling is really a dull life indeed. When our minds and religious senses become dull and corrupt, then the glory of God and the blazing intentions of our Lord for our lives are unable to register in our daily existence. That is why religion and art are part of the wider quest for meaning. That is why we need them both.
Art as Expression and Communication
Art as expression and communication
No one can contain an intense emotion within himself for long. The tension would compel him to unburden himself or share the feeling with others.
Art has grown out of man’s need to express himself.
The artist’s thoughts at discovery and rediscovery may be philosophical, idealistic, militant, bitter, tolerant, humorous
In the system of communication, artists uses symbols. If symbols are understood, communication is established.
Artists as historian
Art as creation
Creation of Order -the innate craving to create an object that delight.
Re-ordering of already existing material.
Every product is an expression of that order, the artist’s personal viewpoint of order.
Art and experience
3 major experiences involved in the arts
(by the artist)
1.Communication - Act of expressing
2.Process - Act of creating
3.Fulfillment – Artist’s gratifying experience at having accomplished something.
Another kind of experience is the one felt by the onlooker/listener when they perceive art.
Victor Shlolvsky on the Art of Perception.
"The purpose of art is to impart the sensation of things as they are perceived and not as they are known. The technique of art is to make objects "unfamiliar," to make forms difficult, to increase the difficulty and length of perception because the process of perception is an aesthetic end in itself and must be prolonged."
No one can contain an intense emotion within himself for long. The tension would compel him to unburden himself or share the feeling with others.
Art has grown out of man’s need to express himself.
The artist’s thoughts at discovery and rediscovery may be philosophical, idealistic, militant, bitter, tolerant, humorous
In the system of communication, artists uses symbols. If symbols are understood, communication is established.
Artists as historian
Art as creation
Creation of Order -the innate craving to create an object that delight.
Re-ordering of already existing material.
Every product is an expression of that order, the artist’s personal viewpoint of order.
Art and experience
3 major experiences involved in the arts
(by the artist)
1.Communication - Act of expressing
2.Process - Act of creating
3.Fulfillment – Artist’s gratifying experience at having accomplished something.
Another kind of experience is the one felt by the onlooker/listener when they perceive art.
Victor Shlolvsky on the Art of Perception.
"The purpose of art is to impart the sensation of things as they are perceived and not as they are known. The technique of art is to make objects "unfamiliar," to make forms difficult, to increase the difficulty and length of perception because the process of perception is an aesthetic end in itself and must be prolonged."
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