Matching Items (34)
Description
The early to mid 20th century saw the rise of two woodblock print movements, shin-hanga and sosaku-hanga. Both movements involved changes in style and production in a time of changing landscapes and tastes. Increased industrialization and greater international contact impacted both movements, while an awareness of a market abroad and embracing modern art sensibilities defined shin- hanga and sosaku-hanga respectively. Ten prints by 6 sosaku-hanga artists and 4 shin-hanga artists demonstrate the conventions and variations of their respective styles. A close analysis of two prints applies the history of Japan and printmaking to two prints from different movements. A catalogue of all ten prints provides a brief overview of works in relation to their historical influences. Comparisons with the ukiyo-e prints from earlier Japan create a greater understanding of the shin-hanga prints discussed, while the lives of the artists themselves help elucidate readings of sosaku-hanga prints. Analyzing the work of sosaku-hanga artist Shiko Munakata demonstrates the tension that results from the combination of modern art and traditional craft that inform the perspectives of artists in that movement. A print by Takahashi Shotei reveals shin-hanga's approach to portraying modernizing Japan. Both movements addressed changes in Japanese society and formed relationships with the international art community.
ContributorsRandall, Madeleine Elise (Author) / Brown, Claudia (Thesis director) / Hoy, Meredith (Committee member) / School of Art (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2018-05
Description
During the politically charged period between the 1950s and 1970s in the United States, Nancy Newhall emerged as an important advocate for open space. She began traveling to the West which encouraged her dedication to land preservation and invigorated her enthusiasm for photography. Newhall was already a respected curator and author addressing the communicative roles of photographs. After spearheading groundbreaking museum retrospectives of contemporary photographers she expanded her artistic vison to include conservation activism. The notable photographers, scholars, writers, and politicians with whom she collaborated often overshadowed her contributions, and they have been under celebrated until recently. My project studies her efforts on a quintessential Sierra Club publication from 1960. While considering her book titled This Is The American Earth I was led to insightful explorations of her unique approach to contextualizing photographs. My investigations revealed the impact that the work of Nancy Newhall had on land preservation, alongside her prolonged influence on the acceptance of photography as fine art and a resilient device of communication. In This Is The American Earth her calculated, inspired approach, attaching text to photos conveyed stirring messages to readers and forwarded an innovative use of a genre that the Sierra Club willingly embraced. Working with its president and Ansel Adams, she edited, wrote, and published several popular illustrated volumes which brought an interpretation of open space into American living rooms. Her efforts produced iconic picture books that remain memorable examples of the mid-20th century conservation movement.
ContributorsWyman, Kari (Author) / Fahlman, Betsy (Thesis advisor) / Brown, Claudia (Committee member) / Serwint, Nancy (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2016
Description
The Iberian Queen Sancha (r.1037-1065), of the kingdom of León and Castile has received minimal attention from scholars. As the last Leonese heir, Sancha had the sole responsibility of ensuring that imperial traditions of patronage never waned. Her acts of giving and the commissioning of objects have been attributed by (male) scholars as an obligation to legitimize her husband, Fernando I of Castile. Persuasive evidence found in documents suggests that her involvement in donation transactions was predicated on more than formality. My thesis argues that Sancha used the act of giving, the act of commissioning objects, language in documents, and the powerful institution of the infantazgo, to assert an agency identical to her male predecessors to gain political influence. Creating a “donor profile” of Sancha that examines the total of her donating practices enables the exploration of her conscious and unconscious motives for donation. My investigation into these acts supports a new theory that the building construction projects of Sancha and Fernando I began at the beginning of their reign rather than after 1053 as is currently believed. As the first woman to use the titles regine emperatriz and regina totius Hispaniae, Queen Sancha did more than just legitimize her husband, she built a legacy that established a new female center of power in León that endured until the thirteenth century.
ContributorsWilson, Zaellotius A (Author) / Schleif, Corine (Thesis advisor) / Havens Caldwell, Susan (Committee member) / Brown, Claudia (Committee member) / Frederick, Sharonah (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2017
Description
After the opening of Japan in the mid-1800s many foreigners flocked to the
nation. San Franciscan Helen Hyde (1868-1919) joined the throng in 1899. Unlike many
of her predecessors, however, she went as a single woman and was so taken with Japan
she made it her home over the span of fourteen years. While a number of cursory studies
have been written on Helen Hyde and her work, a wide range of questions have been left
unanswered. Issues regarding her specific training, her printmaking techniques and the
marketing of her art have been touched on, but never delved into. This dissertation will
explore those issues. Helen Hyde's success as a printmaker stemmed from her intense
artistic training, experimental techniques, artistic and social connections and diligence in
self-promotion and marketing as well as a Western audience hungry for "Old Japan," and
its imagined quaintness. Hyde's choice to live and work in Japan gave her access to
models and firsthand subject matter which helped her audience feel like they were getting
a slice of Japan, translated for them by a Western artist. This dissertation provides an in
depth bibliography including hundreds of primary newspaper articles about Hyde who
was lauded for her unique style. It also expands and corrects the listing of her printed
works and examines the working style of an American working in a Japanese system with
Japanese subjects for a primarily American audience. It also provides a listing of known
exhibitions of Hyde's works and a listing of stamps and markings she used on her prints.
nation. San Franciscan Helen Hyde (1868-1919) joined the throng in 1899. Unlike many
of her predecessors, however, she went as a single woman and was so taken with Japan
she made it her home over the span of fourteen years. While a number of cursory studies
have been written on Helen Hyde and her work, a wide range of questions have been left
unanswered. Issues regarding her specific training, her printmaking techniques and the
marketing of her art have been touched on, but never delved into. This dissertation will
explore those issues. Helen Hyde's success as a printmaker stemmed from her intense
artistic training, experimental techniques, artistic and social connections and diligence in
self-promotion and marketing as well as a Western audience hungry for "Old Japan," and
its imagined quaintness. Hyde's choice to live and work in Japan gave her access to
models and firsthand subject matter which helped her audience feel like they were getting
a slice of Japan, translated for them by a Western artist. This dissertation provides an in
depth bibliography including hundreds of primary newspaper articles about Hyde who
was lauded for her unique style. It also expands and corrects the listing of her printed
works and examines the working style of an American working in a Japanese system with
Japanese subjects for a primarily American audience. It also provides a listing of known
exhibitions of Hyde's works and a listing of stamps and markings she used on her prints.
ContributorsMcMurtrey, Shiloh (Author) / Brown, Claudia (Thesis advisor) / Baker, Janet (Committee member) / Codell, Julie (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2016
Description
Peacocks are ubiquitous in art. Artists from societies across the globe, undoubtedly attracted to the male peafowl’s colorful plumage and unique characteristics, used images of the bird to form visual semantics intended to aid in the understanding of a work of art. This was particularly the case in Europe, where depictions of peacocks appeared in Christian art from the onset of the continent’s dominant religion. Beginning in Early Christianity, peacocks symbolized the opportunity for an eternal life in heaven enabled by Christ’s sacrificial death. Illustrations of peacocks were so frequent and widespread that they became the standard symbol for eternal life in Christian art consistently centered on recounting the stories of Christ’s birth and death.
Overtime, peacock iconography evolved to include thematic diversity, as artists used the peacock’s recognizable physical attributes for the representation of new themes based on traditional ideas. Numerous paintings contain angels wings covered in the iridescent eyespots located on the male peafowl’s tail feathers. Scientifically known as ocelli, eyespots painted on the wings of angels became a widespread motif during the Renaissance. Artists also recurrently depicted the peacock’s crest on figures of Satan or Lucifer in both paintings and prints. Indicative of excessive pride, a believed characteristic of peacocks, the crest is used as an identifying characteristic of the fallen angel, who was cast from heaven because of his pride.
Although the peacock is a known iconographic motif in medieval and Renaissance art history, no specific monographic study on peacock iconography exists. Likewise, representations of separate and distinctive peacock characteristics in Christian
art have been considerably ignored. Yet, the numerous artworks depicting the peacock and its attributes speak to the need to gain a better understanding of the different strategies for peacock allegory in Christian art. This thesis provides a comprehensive understanding of peacock iconography, minimizing the mystery behind the artistic intentions for depicting peacocks, and allowing for more thorough readings of medieval and Renaissance works that utilize peafowl imagery.
Overtime, peacock iconography evolved to include thematic diversity, as artists used the peacock’s recognizable physical attributes for the representation of new themes based on traditional ideas. Numerous paintings contain angels wings covered in the iridescent eyespots located on the male peafowl’s tail feathers. Scientifically known as ocelli, eyespots painted on the wings of angels became a widespread motif during the Renaissance. Artists also recurrently depicted the peacock’s crest on figures of Satan or Lucifer in both paintings and prints. Indicative of excessive pride, a believed characteristic of peacocks, the crest is used as an identifying characteristic of the fallen angel, who was cast from heaven because of his pride.
Although the peacock is a known iconographic motif in medieval and Renaissance art history, no specific monographic study on peacock iconography exists. Likewise, representations of separate and distinctive peacock characteristics in Christian
art have been considerably ignored. Yet, the numerous artworks depicting the peacock and its attributes speak to the need to gain a better understanding of the different strategies for peacock allegory in Christian art. This thesis provides a comprehensive understanding of peacock iconography, minimizing the mystery behind the artistic intentions for depicting peacocks, and allowing for more thorough readings of medieval and Renaissance works that utilize peafowl imagery.
ContributorsHarris, Kereese (Author) / Schleif, Corine (Thesis advisor) / Brown, Claudia (Committee member) / Baldasso, Renzo (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2016
Description
China's wildlife and the deep connection I felt with it fuelled "What the Dragons Know," a self-published children's book that I wrote and illustrated. My objective was to create a fun and interesting book for children that gave abroad introduction to Chinese wildlife, art and animal mythology. The Chinese landscape has a captivating and unique beauty, which competes daily with the devastating effects of pollution. This project was the manifestation of the passion and sorrow I felt for that landscape. I drew on these feelings, as well as personal past experiences and research into Chinese art, to portray the magnificence of that world and hopefully inspire others. My approach to this challenge consisted of researching Chinese art theories, styles, and techniques, and choosing aspects from all eras that I felt would most engage young readers. I then interpreted and transformed what I'd learned, filling it with my personal style and character. Dong Qichang, a Ming scholar-official, artist and art theorist, emphasized transformation of older models. He, among others, believed that artists should refer to the masters for guidance: using old models as inspiration, imbuing them with one's own style, and creating their own works. His ideas and those of other literati painters drove my approach to this project. This was not so much an effort to make the pictures "look Chinese" per se, but instead my own interaction with and response to Chinese art and art history. My approach to the writing process began with researching Chinese animal symbolism, which I planned to incorporate into my writing. I then outlined an interesting plot and began writing the story, which in turn influenced the illustrations. Like artists of Emperor Huizong's court who painted pictures based on lines of poetry, I also based my compositions around what was happening in the narrative \u2014 using each picture to capture a moment in the story. The illustrations, although primarily intended to be aesthetically appealing, were an experiment with how I reacted to and interacted with the long and intriguing history of Chinese painting. Essentially, I intended to complete a book that was both enjoyable to read and appealing to look at; that would portray the splendor of the Chinese landscape and reflect my feelings for it. The final book will be self-published using CreateSpace.com, and copies will be available for purchase during the Celebrating Honors Symposium or through Amazon.com.
ContributorsSilving, Justine (Author) / Brown, Claudia (Thesis director) / Schutte, Jerry (Committee member) / Videan, Ann (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / School of International Letters and Cultures (Contributor) / School of Art (Contributor)
Created2013-05
Description
Many cultures find connections between humans and nature. Chinese philosophies such as Daoism assert that mountains are sacred beings of cosmic energy. These cosmic beings have elements that coincide with parts of the human body: rocks are bones, water is blood and veins, trees and grass are hair, clouds and mist are breath, the mountains themselves are the body. "Bodyscapes" is an exploration of these concepts using charcoal and ink to merge the human form with natural landscape.
ContributorsMonar, Kayci Leilani (Author) / Solis, Forrest (Thesis director) / Pittsley, Janice (Committee member) / Brown, Claudia (Committee member) / School of Art (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2016-05
Description
This dissertation will examine particular aspects of Yuan and Qing dynasty Chinese art historiography and argue that Chinese artistic creation is built on a transreligious and transethnic aesthetic, rather than an aesthetic centered on a single unitary culture. My project has two primary goals. The first is to propose that transreligious and transethnic factors fundamentally altered Chinese aesthetics, and discuss specifically what those changes were. The second goal of this dissertation is to evaluate the importance of interdisciplinary research approaches — including literature, ceremonial traditions, religious scriptures, and multiethnic material culture — to the study of art history, and specifically to non-Han Chinese art historiography. By studying four artists of different ethnic backgrounds — Uyghur (Gao Kegong, 1248–1310), Nepali (Anige, 1245–1306), Manchu (Manggūri, 1672–1736) and Mongol (Fashishan, 1753–1813) — this dissertation intends to answer several questions: how did these artists’ native cultural and religious aesthetics influence their artworks? Might further examination of the transethnic and transreligious aspects of later Imperial artistic production bring new focus to previously unnoticed aspects of Chinese art? And, on the individual level, what new insights can be uncovered when art historians consider the works of a non-Han Chinese artist from these transethnic and transreligious perspectives? The materials used for this research include a close visual study of artworks from the Rubin Museum of Art, the Cleveland Museum of Art, the Philadelphia Museum of Art, and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.
ContributorsAIERKEN, YIPAER (Author) / Brown, Claudia (Thesis advisor, Committee member) / Berger, Patricia (Committee member) / Bokenkamp, Stephen (Committee member) / Codell, Julie (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2023
Description
Gai Qi 改琦 was a Chinese painter and poet active during the three Qing dynastyreigns of Qianlong (1736-1796), Jiaqing (1796-1821), and Daoguang (1821-1851). His name can be often seen in publications that are associated with the history of Qing painting, the genre of shi-nü-hua 仕女畫 or illustrations related to Chinese classic novels. However, past works on painting history only offer a brief introduction to Gai Qi and barely mention his other works. Besides being well-known for Illustration of Dream of the Red Chamber 紅樓夢圖詠, very little is studied about this artist.
There are various publications that mention Gai Qi and his works, however, questions have been asked but never carefully addressed, such as the function of specific paintings, his painting techniques, and the connection between his religious background and artworks. This thesis explores these issues by examining three of Gai Qi’s extant paintings in American collections, Portrait of Lüzhu (綠珠小像圖), Famous Women (列
女圖冊) and Four Luminaries of Mount Shang (商山四皓圖). The study fills in gaps in
the understanding of Gai Qi as a Muslim painter in the Qing dynasty and on his works in shi-nü-hua and other genres. In addition, this work begins to reveal the contribution of Gai Qi’s paintings to the history of Chinese painting during the 18th to 19th century, the period of transition between 18th-century styles, and the rise of Shanghai painting styles in the mid to late 19th century
ContributorsJiang, Chenxi (Author) / Brown, Claudia (Thesis advisor) / Codell, Julie (Committee member) / Fahlman, Betsy (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2021
Description
Based on literary works produced by the multiethnic literati of the Jin dynasty (1115–1234), this dissertation examines Chinese conceptions of the Steppe world in the early years of the Mongol era (1206–1260). As I show, late Jin literati, who took arduous journeys in the Eurasian Steppes, initiated transcultural communications between the Chinese and Steppe worlds. Their writings encouraged more Chinese literati to reach out to the Mongols and hence facilitated the spread of the ideal Confucian-style governance to the Mongol empire. In general, I follow the approach of New Historicism in analyzing poetic works. Even though the Mongol conquest of China damaged many northern literary texts, materials surviving from the thirteenth century still feature a great diversity. I brought historical records and inscriptions on stela to study the social conditions under which these literary works were produced. This dissertation aims to contribute a new voice to the ongoing effort to modify the traditional linear understanding of the development of Chinese literary tradition.
ContributorsWen, Zuoting (Author) / West, Stephen H. (Thesis advisor) / Tillman, Hoyt C (Committee member) / Bokenkamp, Stephen (Committee member) / Brown, Claudia (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2020