FINAL EXAMINATION

Section One: compare and contrast: chose any ONE pair of keyworks and write a brief compare & contrast essay. In your essay establish a clear reason for making the comparison; consider specific points of comparison & contrast; and conclude by commenting on what one learns through the comparison.

• Benin Altarpiece :: First Emperor’s Tomb
• Gandhara Buddha :: Shaka Triad at Horyu-ji
• Hindu Temple :: Zen Garden
• Fan Kuan’s “Travellers Amid Mountains and Streams” :: Hokusai’s “Great Wave”
• The Ameratsu Shrine at Ise :: The Great Stupa at Sanchi

Section Two: choose any FIVE questions and answer them as clearly and as completely as possible.

• Explain the purpose(s) of a Chaihitsu (Tea House)
• Explain wabi-sabi with at least one specific example
• Describe the subject(s) of Hokusai’s “Great Wave”
• Explain what pagodas and stupas have in common
• Describe the typical features of a yamato-e painting
• Explain the importance of Chinese ceramics
• Explain the relationship between Zen Buddhism and a Broken-Ink painting
• Explain why Chinese paintings have writing and marks on them
• Describe the significance of bamboo in Chinese paintings
• Describe the system of perspective used in Chinese landscape paintings

Section Three: answer the question as clearly and completely as possible.

Identify and explain two or three of the greatest difficulties American students face when they study non-Western art. Then explain how a serious and dedicated student can attempt to overcome these difficulties.

Rules: Although this is called an exam, I am not asking for hurry-to-finish work. Make sure your answers have a clear thesis supported by appropriate evidence. Feel free to include sketches (hand-drawn only) as illustrations to assist (not replace) your writing. All answers must be typed, and must be written in clear and correct language. If you use any outside sources they must be appropriately referenced and documented. (A plagiarized answer will get you a failing grade on one-third of your total course work, so please be careful about this.)

Due: Hand in your completed work at the examination meeting time (Wednesday, May 6 at 10:30 in our usual classroom).

Any questions? Please email me at wolin@cazenovia.edu

JAPAN ukiyo-e & Hokusai

Ukiyo-e article at Wikipedia LINK
The Production of Japanese Woodcut Blocks (J. Noel Chiappa) LINK

Hokusai's 36 Views of Mount Fuji LINK

Japanese prints (Museum of Fine Arts, Boston) LINK
Japanese prints (Minneapolis Institute of Art) LINK

JAPAN: tea ceremony, tea house

Chashitsu @ the Minneapolis Institute of Arts LINK
Wikipedia article on the Japanese Tea ceremony LINK
Wikipedia article on the Chashitsu LINK
Website on everything related to the Tea Ceremony LINK
Useful resources on the Tea Ceremony & related arts LINK

JAPAN: zen gardens

We'll be studying three gardens over two days.

First, we'll look at the Daisen-in Garden at Daitoku-ji temple in Kyoto.
Then, we'll look at the famous garden at Ryoan-ji.

We will also take some time with the garden mentioned in our book, Saiho-ji, but I'd prefer you do journal entries on the other gardens.

There's one excellent website that lets us study the Japanese garden in general, and all of these gardens in specific: The Japanese Garden, created by Clifton Olds, Emeritus Professor of Art History at Bowdoin College. Everything you need can be found by looking around in this website, which is both informative and well-designed! Enjoy.

JAPAN: muromachi period painting

• Muromachi Period (ToAH) LINK
• haboku example (Smithsonian) LINK
  
• Sesso Toyo article & example (British Museum) LINK
• Sesshu Toyo (Wikipedia) LINK
• Sesshu Toyo Online (artcyclopedia) LINK
  

JAPAN yamato-e

• The complete Genji Monogatari is available online in English (with woodcut illustrations from 1650 -- so much later than the Heian period) -- by Harumasa Yamamoto LINK
• yamato-e (Timeline of Art History) LINK
• yamato-e (British Museum) LINK
  
• Japanese narrative scrolls (University of Pittsburgh) LINK

JAPAN: Shaka triad & Kudara Kannon

Both are covered (briefly) on the Wikipedia page for Horyu-ji (see last class)

Also:

• Youtube video of the Kudara Kannon replica LINK
• article on Tori Busshi at Wikipedia LINK

Also useful:

• Sjoquist, Douglas P. "Identifying Buddhist Images in Japanese Painting and Sculpture." LINK
  

JAPAN: Horyu-ji kondo and pagoda

Horyu-ji at Asian Historical Architecture LINK
Horyu-ji at Great Buildings Online LINK
Horyu-ji at Wikipedia LINK

JAPAN: Ise Shrine (Ise-jingu)

Official Website LINK
Official Site "manga" (^_^) LINK

Sacred Spaces & Shinto (UC Berkeley) LINK
(note the page at this site for Ise)

JAPAN Assignments

Week 10:
F: Housekeeping & Japan intro

Week 11:
M: Ise-Jingu (Shinto Shrine) 5-5
W: Horyu-ji Kondo 5-6
F: Horyu-ji Pagoda & Shaka triad 5-7

Week 12:
M: Heian period / yamato-e painting 5-13
W: Muromachi & Momoyama period painting 6-2 / 6-5
F: Zen Gardens

Week 13:
M: Zen Gardens
W: Tea House 1 (Tea House ceremony & architecture) 6-7
F: Tea House 2 (Tea House art) 6-6

Week 14:
M: ukiyo-e 6-11
W: ukiyo-e 6-12
F: last day of class

Chinese Pottery

Read in the text:

• Chinese Earthenware & Stoneware (41)
• Glazed Earthenware Sculpture (54)
• Cizhou Pottery (56)
• Celadon Ware (62)
• Dragon & Phoenix (68)
• Chinese Porcelain (69)
• Qing Porcelain (75)

And check out the following:

• Chinese Porcelains (Wikipedia) LINK
• Koryo Celadon (Met) LINK
  
• In Pursuit of White (Met) LINK
  
• Porcelains of the Yuan and Early Ming Periods (Asia Society) LINK
• Imperial Chinese Ceramics of the 15th Century (Asia Society) LINK

Choose any two works from the text (or one from online) for you journal. One of them should be from the Ming Dynasty -- the Temple Vase (4-4) would be a good choice

See you Friday!

More Chinese Painting

General Wikipedia article: LINK
Landscape Painting in Chinese Art (ToAH) LINK

Yuan Dynasty (ToAH) LINK
Yuan Landscape Painting (University of Washington) LINK
Ming Dynasty (ToAH) LINK

Lofty Mount Lu (at the National Palace Museum, Taipei) LINK
Shen Zhou (wikipedia) LINK

Dong Qichang (wikipedia) LINK

: Along the River During Qingming Festival by Zhang Zeduan

Chinese Calligraphy

Useful videos:

Fan Kuan

Fan Kuan : Travelers amid Mountains and Streams. Northern Song (c. 990-1030)
(click image for larger view)

• Northern Song Dynasty (Timeline of Art History) LINK
• Chinese Painting (ToAH) LINK

To "read" a Chinese painting is to enter into a dialogue with the past; the act of unrolling a scroll or leafing through an album provides a further, physical connection to the work. An intimate experience, it is one that has been shared and repeated over the centuries. And it is through such readings, enjoyed alone or in the company of friends, that meaning is gradually revealed.

• A Look at Chinese Painting (Metropolitan Museum of Art) LINK
  

Foguang (or Fogang) Pagoda

• The Song Dynasty in China (Asian Topics in World History @ Columbia University) LINK
  (this site is important for the paintings we'll be looking at next week too! so read it!)
• Architecture of the Song Dynasty (Wikipedia) LINK
• Pagoda (Wikipedia) LINK
  
• the Pagoda of Fogong Temple (Wikipedia) LINK

CHINA Assignments

Week 8:
M: Housekeeping & China intro
W: the First Emperor's Terracotta Army (3-5)
F: Fougang Si Pagoda (3-21 & 22)

Week 9:
M: Fan Kuan: Travelers among Mountains and Streams (3-18) Northern Song School
W: Ma Yuan: On a Mountain Path in Spring (3-23) Southern Song School
F: Dong Qichang: Dwelling in the Qingbian Mountains (4-11) Ming Dynasty

Week 10:
M: No Class -- assignment TBA
W: No Class -- assignment TBA
F: Ceramics -- assignment TBA

The First Emperor's Tomb, Xian -- Terracotta Warriors

[picture to be added]

• Terracotta Army -- article at Wikipedia
• Qin Shi Huang -- article at Wikipedia
  
• Qin Shi Huang -- student paper online (Wilson, University of Texas, Anthropology)

MIDTERM EXAMINATION

Tasks: Choose any FIVE of the following questions and answer them as clearly and as completely as possible.



Rules: Although this is called an exam, I am not asking for hurry-to-finish work. Make sure your answer has a clear thesis supported by appropriate evidence. Feel free to include sketches (hand-drawn only) as illustrations to assist (not replace) your writing. All answers must be typed, and must be written in clear and correct language. If you use any outside sources they must be appropriately referenced and documented. (A plagiarized answer will get you a failing grade on one-third of your total course work, so please be careful about this.)



Due: Hand in your completed work no later than class-time on Friday the 20th.

• Explain the various meanings an ikegobo might have.
• Explain how either an akua’ba or an nkisi n’kondi would be created and used.
• Describe and explain the typical features of a sculpture of the Buddha.
• Describe the key features of a typical Hindu temple.
• What is the subject of a Shiva nataraja – and how is that subject portrayed in such a work?
• Explain the purpose(s) of the Taj Mahal
• Explain, with at least one example of each, the difference between perceptual and conceptual naturalism.
• Explain the differences between prestige art and of communal art – using at least one specific example of each.
• Explain the most important thing(s) you've learned in the course so far.

Any questions? Please email me at wolin@cazenovia.edu

Taj Mahal

• Taj Mahal article at Wikipedia
• Taj Mahal article at Asiah Historical Architecture
• Taj Mahal article at MANAS (UCLA)
  
• Taj Mahal at 1001 Wonders (Quicktime)
• NEW: Photosynth view of Taj Mahal (reguires Photosynth)
  

Schedule

This week:

Monday: Northern Temples

Wednesday: Taj Mahal

Friday: Taj Mahal

Over break: Midterm Exam will be posted

After break: we'll begin China

• the First Emperor's army (Xian)
• Fouguang Si Pagoda
• Song Dynasty painting
  

Northern Temple Style: Khajuraho

• Kandariya Mahadeva page at Dr. Frances Pritchett's page at Columbia University
• Khajuraho page at Asian Historical Architecture
• Kandariya at Great Buildings Online

CLASS WILL MEET ON FRIDAY

We'll begin work on Hindu temples, starting with the Mamallapuram temples (1-20) and then moving on to the Rajararajeshvara Temple (also known as the Brihadishwara Temple) at Thanjavur (1-21)

ALSO: CLASS WILL NOT MEET IN McDONALD -- WE WILL BE BACK in WILLIAMS HALL 245 (where we were last week) -- SEE YOU THEN




Links:

• Brihadishwara Temple at Wikipedia
• Unesco site
• Templenet.com

Shiva (day 2)

Shiva Nataraja

• Here's one at the Metropolitan Museum of Art
• And another one at the Asia Society
  

Shiva (day 1)

<<>>





(Shiva Trimurti a better choice for journal)

• Hinduism (Wikipedia) -- general introduction
  
• hindunet.org
  
• Shiva (Wikipedia) -- many useful links
  
• Elephanta Caves (Wikipedia)
• Elephanta Caves (templenet.com)
  

Buddha Statues (Sarnath & Beyond)

• Wikipedia article on Sarnath
• Buddhanet article on Sarnath
• Gupta period Standing Buddha (Metropolitan Museum)

Buddha Statues from Gandhara & Mathura

• Buddhism and Buddhist Art (Metropolitan Museum article)
• Greco-Buddhist Art (Wikipedia)
• Early Buddhist Art (National Museum, New Delhi) gallery
• The Art of Buddhism (Sackler Gallery)
• Mathura Standing Buddha (Metropolitan Museum)

REMINDER: ROOM CHANGE this WEEK

PLEASE REMEMBER that our class MEETS in WILLIAMS 245 this whole week!

REMINDER: Friday

Friday: take class time to produce a turn-in copy of a journal entry for one day. I strongly encourage you to try this with the Stupa at Sanchi!

Remember, journal entries have a sketch and answers (as complete as possible) to the basic questions:

• What is it?
• What is it for?
• Who made it? When and where?
• What's it made of? How?
• Why is it made like that?

the Great Stupa at Sanchi

• article at Wikipedia
• Unesco World Heritage page
  
• images & information at Great Buildings Online
• many images at the Berger Foundation
• Quicktime 360 images at 1001 Wonders
• "The Hill of Sanchi" at Buddhanet
• Buddhanet's "Basic Buddhism Guide"

INDIA assignments

Week 4:
M: Ghana akuaba (11-10)
W: Great Stupa, Sanchi (1-5, 6, & 7)
F: (Class does not meet) : prepare sample journal entry

Week 5: --CLASS MEETS in WILLIAMS 245--
M: More on the Stupa + Rock-Cut Monastic Halls (1-8, 13)
W: Buddha from Gandhara (1-9)
F: Buddha from Sarnath (1-12)

Week 6:
M: Shiva I (1-16, 17)
W: Shiva II (1-24)
F: (Class does not meet) : assignment will be given

akuaba

• one at the Metropolitan Museum (w description)
  
• one at the British Museum
  
• one at the Indianapolis Museum of Art

These should be enough. But if you want, just search Google for "akuaba" and you'll also find plenty of them for sale. Even ones made of chocolate.

ALSO: Just a reminder that we won't be meeting this coming Friday. Look here for the assignment.

Dogon Seated Couple

One page on this work at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
And another page.

Related essay on "Couples in Art" (also Metropolitan MoA)

Kongo Nail Figure (nkisi n'kondi)

Mangaaka Power Figure: A comparable Nkisi Nkondi at the Metropolitan Museum (with a good explanation)
An article on the ritual use of the Mangaaka Figure

And another example at the Metropolitan Museum

Six different ones at the Brooklyn Museum

And a dog-form one at the World Museum in Liverpool

Be ready to answer the questions -- especially "what is it for?"

Altar to the Hand (Ikegobo) of Ezomo Ehenua

This Altar to the Hand (Ikegobo) of Ezomo Ehenua is the key work for our discussion on Monday. Please note that there are additional views of the object (at the bottom of the page).

Please also read about these other ikegobos:

• Altar to the Hand (Ikegobo) -- also Metropolitan Museum
• another Ikegobo at the British Museum
  

Benin Royal Ancestor Shrine

Ok, so Friday's going to be busy -- the Benin Royal Ancestor Shrine is not one art object, but a display involving a lot of specific art objects as well as ritual. We can use everything we've learned so far, but there will be a lot to talk about.

There is tons of stuff on Benin and its art to supplement what's in the book on page 202.

This page at the University of Pennsylvania's Museum of Archaeology & Anthropology is exceptionally good -- make sure to read this one!

The Pitt Rivers Museum (Oxford) also has a useful article about the Court Art of Benin

And of course the Metropolitan Museum of Art has good stuff too:

• an overview of Benin & other nations in the region.
• an article on lost-wax casting (the casting technique used for Benin metalwork)
• an article on the history of Benin
• an article on Idia, the first Queen-Mother of Benin

(These are all quite short, so please give them a look! I think they'll be helpful!)

Ife (Metropolitan Museum)

Another example at the British Museum

Another one at the Brooklyn Museum

ALSO: even though there isn't much on p. 191 about this guy, now would be a great time to read the three boxes on "Dating African Art and Identifying African Artists" (p. 187); the one on p. 189 about "Art and Leadership in Africa" and (very important) the one on "Idealized Naturalism at Ife-Ife" on page 190.

Nok Terracotta Heads: additional materials

Nok Terracottas (Metropolitan Museum of Art)

Also -- a lot of Nok artifacts have ended up in Western museums and personal collections, but the business of selling Nok artifacts to collectors is really controversial. Here are a couple links that show what I mean.

The Rape of Nok and Kwatakwashi: the crisis in Nigerian Antiquities (University of Cambridge)

UNESCO, Nok terracotta and the Met (Elginism blog)

Nok Heads for Sale (Hamill Gallery)

Nok Terracotta for sale on Ebay

AFRICA assignments

Week 2:
M: Nok Heads (10-2)
W: Ife-Ife Oni figures (10-6)
F: Benin Altarpiece (11-8)

Week 3:
M: Benin ikegobo
W: Kongo nkisi nkondi (11-6)
F: Dogon ancestor couple (11-6)

Week 4:
M: Ghana akuaba (11-10)

Additional information will be posted for each specific day.

Key Questions

• What is it?
• What is it for?
• Who made it? When and where?
• What's it made of? How?
• Why is it made like that?
  

Welcome to the blog

I'll be using this blog to post information regarding FA 210: Art of the World for the Spring 2009 Semester. Assignments, links, resources, and pictures will all be here.