Native American Art – The Concept
As the name suggests, the Native American Art refers to the traditional art forms of the Aboriginal Americans. Since early times, these groups usually chose the day-to-day objects for their representational arts. These works come from all across America, including the Southern Region, with North America extending up to Greenland and Mesoamerica.
The History
The earliest of the civilizations of America dates back to the period before 8000 BC, which is known as Lithic or Paleo-Indian stage.
The Types & Details
Lithic Reduction (stone carving using the flaking technique) and Projectile Points (arrowheads) characterized art in this era. The phase between 8000 BC and 800 BC is termed as the Archaic Period, where Banner Stones (symmetrically designed stones with holes in the centre) became more popular with the increasing inclination towards fashion and aesthetics.
Natives from the Northwestern Region of America developed the art of elaborate engravings and carving. Art from the small tribes in the coastal regions, including Haida, Tsimshian, and Tlingit was in the form of highly detailed woodcarving. Some of the examples of this style are the 19th century Tsimshian Mosquito Mask (British Columbia), Tlingit style Totem Poles in Ketchikan (Alaska), and Canoe with Oarsman Carving (Haida Gwai), dated 1850-1900. This region is also known for imitation fur and skin fabrics. The use of ivory, stones, and bones has also been prevalent in this region since long.
The Californian natives contributed in the form of decorative clothing made of buffalo hides and embroidered with porcupine quills and beads. These hides, used raw or tanned, were used in the Great Plains for storage purposes and covering objects, as well. The art of basket making & feather-work also originated and flourished in California.
Pottery is a gift from the native Southwest America, where bold geometrical patterns in bright colors are in vogue. Collectively known as Rock Art, Petroglyphs (carvings) and Pictograms (paintings) were the significant art forms from the Lithic and Archaic Periods. The Spanish influence helped the Southwestern people learn the art of weaving rugs and drawing, using the technique of silverpoint. The region is also famous for its ornamental Kachina Dolls.
The Maya Civilization from Mesoamerica was one of the most stable and influential societies in the American history. Active during the Pre-classic (2000 BC-250 AD) and the Classic (250 AD and 900 AD) periods, the civilization developed prolific socio-political systems, trade, and arts. Fresco paintings, murals, carvings, reliefs, and ceramics were some of the prominent features of Mayan Arts, which was among the first human cultures, where the artworks were recognized by the names of the artists.
By: Annette Labedzki
© 2010 Wildlife Art
Famous Works of Art by Andy Warhol
November 10th, 2009Andy Warhol began his career as a commercial artist in New York City. His famous illustrations for I. Miller shoes consisted on blotted ink drawings, which he used in much of his early works. This one was later featured in a booklet, titled “Shoes, Shoes, Shoes.” Other works were published in booklets, such as “Yum, Yum, Yum” was about food; and “Ho, Ho, Ho” was about Christmas.
Many artists worked as commercial artists at that time, but Warhol’s popularity lowered his status to be taken seriously as a real artist.
In the 1960s, be began drawing popular culture images towards his art than trying to incorporate what he learned through commercial art. The Campbell’s Soup Can portrait is one of Andy Warhol’s most famous pieces. He drew this painting in 1962, which consists of 32 cans of Campbell’s Tomato Soup measuring 20 inches in height, and 16 inches in width. The drawing was produced in a semi-mechanized silkscreen, without using a painting style.
Many of his works centered on popular culture items. He drew a Coca Cola bottle, dollar bills, and portraits of famous people like Marilyn Monroe, Elizabeth Taylor and Troy Donahue. He drew replications of newspaper clippings of headline stories throughout the 1960s. Each piece he created represented his social commentary on popular culture and his dislike towards how popular culture is forced upon society.
His drawings used bright colors to capture darker themed subjects like suicide and disaster. The way he drew his famous piece ‘Death and Disaster’ transformed personal tragedies into a public spectacle, and the portrayal of the media as the tragedy. The bright colors used within the piece became a style that Warhol used within all of his pieces. This style was also used when he created his famous images of people like Marilyn Monroe, where the bright colors used became Warhol’s style and something that the public knew was his work.
He later ventured into film making, where each of his films captured various images like his paintings. ‘Sleep’ is a six hours documentation of a poet sleeping, and capturing on film what happens throughout that time. That film became one of Warhol’s famous pieces to begin his five year string of films. Other ones like ‘Empire’ is a documentation of eight hours at the Empire State Building at dusk. His most famous movie was ‘Chelsea Girls,’ which told two stories side by side at the same time.
By: Mark Traston
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