Matching Items (19)
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- All Subjects: Art History
- Genre: Masters Thesis
- Creators: Brown, Claudia
- Creators: Mesch, Claudia
Description
The history of jade in many ways reflects the evolution of Chinese civilization, encompassing its entire history and geographical extent and the many cultural traditions associated with the various regions that have finally been brought together in the unity of present-day China. The archaic jade collections investigated in this thesis, from an archaeological point of view, primarily consist of pieces from the late Neolithic through early historic era, named the "Jade Age" by academics. Although well-researched museum catalogues of archaic Chinese jades have been widely published by major museums in the United States, they are mostly single collection oriented. It is, then, necessary to conduct research examining the overall picture of collecting practices in the U.S. Given the proliferation of fake early jades, this study will provide an essential academic reference for researchers, students, and the present art market. This thesis seeks to explore how shifting tastes, political climates, and personal ambitions, as well as various opportunities and personalities, were instrumental factors in shaping these important collections of archaic Chinese jades in the U.S. today.
ContributorsWang, Yijing (Author) / Brown, Claudia (Thesis advisor) / Fahlman, Betsy (Committee member) / Baker, Janet (Committee member) / Schleif, Corine (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2014
Description
The medieval bestiary is often simply described as a moralized "encyclopedia of animals," however, these so-called "books of beasts" were made for humans, by humans, about humans. It is therefore surprising that one common pictorial subject of the bestiary has been left unexamined: humans. By viewing bestiary images through this lens, one may easily see man's underlying and unresolved struggle to maintain dominance over the beasts, and the Others projected onto them, thereby ensuring that "the (hu)man" remains a discrete definition. This study begins as the bestiary does, with the Naming of the Animals. Illustrations of Adam as a king, bestowing names of his choosing upon tame beasts express a kind of nostalgia for a now-lost time when humanity was secure in their identity as non-animal. This security no longer exists in the postlapsarian world, nor in the bestiary images following these scenes. In an attempt to maintain the illusion of dominion, many bestiary illuminations forego simple descriptive images in favor of gory hunting scenes. However, these conspicuous declarations of dominion only serve to highlight the fragility of the physical form, and even demonstrate the frailty of the human (male, Christian) identity. One such example is MS Bodley 764's boar illumination, in which the animal is killed at the hands of male hunters. This thesis unpacks this image of dominion in order to reveal the associated insecurities regarding race, gender, and species that lie beneath the surface. Subsequently, the study turns to the many bestiary images depicting human bodies brutally fragmented within the jaws of an animal. Anthropophagous bestiary animals often carry fears of the gender and ethnic Other; despite the bestiary's posturing of order and hierarchy, both the human body and identity are easily consumed and subsumed into the ever-present animal/Other. Just as in life, the human figures in the bestiary struggle to establish unquestioned dominion, only to be constantly undercut by the abject. By using a psychoanalytic approach to the human bodies of the bestiary, this study will explore how this imagery reflects the ambiguous position and definition of the human.
ContributorsAnderson, Susan (Author) / Schleif, Corine (Thesis advisor) / Brown, Claudia (Committee member) / Broglio, Ronald (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2014
Description
The Romanian avant-garde artist Constantin Brancusi is considered one of the most significant artists of modern sculpture. This is due to his innovative use of materials, such as wood and marble, and his reduction and precision of form. Brancusi developed his abstraction with "primitive" sources of art in mind. This thesis examines how and to what extent primitivism played a central role in Brancusi's sculptures and his construction as a primitive artist.
Romanian folk art and African art were the two main sources of influence on Brancusi's primitivism. Brancusi identified himself with the Romanian peasantry and its folk culture. Romanian folk culture embraces woodcarving and folk literary fables--both of which Brancusi incorporated in his sculptures. In my opinion, Brancusi's wood pedestals, such as the Endless Column, are based on wood funerary, decorative, and architectural motifs from Romanian villages.
Brancusi was exposed to African art through his relationship with the New York avant-garde. The art dealers Alfred Stieglitz, Marius de Zayas, and Joseph Brummer exhibited Brancusi's sculptures in their galleries, in addition to exhibiting African art. Meanwhile, Brancusi's main patron John Quinn also collected African art. His interaction with the New York avant-garde led him to incorporate formal features of African sculpture, such as the oval forms of African masks, into his abstract sculptures. Brancusi also used African art to expose the racial prejudice of his time. African art, along with Romanian folk art, informed Brancusi's primitivism consistently throughout his long career as a modern sculptor.
Romanian folk art and African art were the two main sources of influence on Brancusi's primitivism. Brancusi identified himself with the Romanian peasantry and its folk culture. Romanian folk culture embraces woodcarving and folk literary fables--both of which Brancusi incorporated in his sculptures. In my opinion, Brancusi's wood pedestals, such as the Endless Column, are based on wood funerary, decorative, and architectural motifs from Romanian villages.
Brancusi was exposed to African art through his relationship with the New York avant-garde. The art dealers Alfred Stieglitz, Marius de Zayas, and Joseph Brummer exhibited Brancusi's sculptures in their galleries, in addition to exhibiting African art. Meanwhile, Brancusi's main patron John Quinn also collected African art. His interaction with the New York avant-garde led him to incorporate formal features of African sculpture, such as the oval forms of African masks, into his abstract sculptures. Brancusi also used African art to expose the racial prejudice of his time. African art, along with Romanian folk art, informed Brancusi's primitivism consistently throughout his long career as a modern sculptor.
ContributorsMiholca, Amelia (Author) / Mesch, Claudia (Thesis advisor) / Brown, Claudia (Committee member) / Forgács, Éva (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2014
Description
Morgan Library MS M.905 (the Geese Book) is the last known illuminated gradual produced for the Church of St. Lorenz in Nuremberg, Germany. The Geese Book, which was created during the early sixteenth century, has been in the collection of the Morgan Library since 1961. This thesis describes the iconography of the eight historiated initials that illustrate the earthly life of Christ from the Annunciation to the Ascension. A detailed description of the content of each initial is followed by a brief history of the iconographic development of the identified event in order to determine whether or not the Geese Book uses a standard or nonstandard iconography. The results of this analysis reveal how this manuscript fits into the broader contexts of Christian art as well as the specific time and place of its creation. It shows that the iconography of the Geese Book reflected current theological beliefs and societal norms and allowed contemporary viewers of the Geese Book to feel a strong connection to the depicted events.
ContributorsDankert, Rebecca Lynn (Author) / Schleif, Corine (Thesis advisor) / Schier, Volker (Committee member) / Brown, Claudia (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2011
Description
In the middle of the 20th century, juried annuals of Native American painting in art museums were unique opportunities because of their select focus on two-dimensional art as opposed to "craft" objects and their inclusion of artists from across the United States. Their first fifteen years were critical for patronage and widespread acceptance of modern easel painting. Held at the Philbrook Art Center in Tulsa (1946-1979), the Denver Art Museum (1951-1954), and the Museum of New Mexico Art Gallery in Santa Fe (1956-1965), they were significant not only for the accolades and prestige they garnered for award winners, but also for setting standards of quality and style at the time. During the early years of the annuals, the art was changing, some moving away from conventional forms derived from the early art training of the 1920s and 30s in the Southwest and Oklahoma, and incorporating modern themes and styles acquired through expanded opportunities for travel and education. The competitions reinforced and reflected a variety of attitudes about contemporary art which ranged from preserving the authenticity of the traditional style to encouraging experimentation. Ultimately becoming sites of conflict, the museums that hosted annuals contested the directions in which artists were working. Exhibition catalogs, archived documents, and newspaper and magazine articles about the annuals provide details on the exhibits and the changes that occurred over time. The museums' guidelines and motivations, and the statistics on the award winners reveal attitudes toward the art. The institutions' reactions in the face of controversy and their adjustments to the annuals' guidelines impart the compromises each made as they adapted to new trends that occurred in Native American painting over a fifteen year period. This thesis compares the approaches of three museums to their juried annuals and establishes the existence of a variety of attitudes on contemporary Native American painting from 1946-1960. Through this collection of institutional views, the competitions maintained a patronage base for traditional style painting while providing opportunities for experimentation, paving the way for the great variety and artistic progress of Native American painting today.
ContributorsPeters, Stephanie (Author) / Duncan, Kate (Thesis advisor) / Fahlman, Betsy (Thesis advisor) / Mesch, Claudia (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2012
Description
A Japanese national identity is generally thought to have originated in the 17th century, with the advent of the Kokugaku movement. I will argue that there is earlier evidence for the existence of a Japanese national identity in the Kumano Nachi mandalas of the Kamakura and Muromachi periods. These mandalas employ the Nachi waterfall as a symbol of the strength and power of the Japanese land, counterbalancing Chinese Buddhist visual motifs. In this paper, I further assert that these mandalas are an early example of an artistic tradition of painting specific landscape features as symbols of a Japanese national identity, and that this tradition continues into the modern period.
ContributorsGossett, Sarah (Author) / Brown, Claudia (Thesis advisor) / Codell, Julie (Committee member) / Gabbard, Ralph (Committee member) / Hedberg, William (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2017
Description
Shirin Neshat is recognized as the most prominent artist of the Iranian diaspora. Her two photographic series, Women of Allah (1993-97) and The Book of Kings (2012), are both reactions to the socio-political events and the change of female identity in Iran. The search for Iranian identity has a long tradition in Iranian photography. Neshat's figures, with their penetrating gazes, heavy draperies, and body postures, make reference to nineteenth-century Qajar photography. Through various cultural elements in her artworks, Neshat critiques oppression in Iranian society. Neshat employs and inscribes Persian poetry to communicate contradiction within Iranian culture.
To read Neshat’s photography, it is crucial to register her use of Persian language and historical poetry. Although the reading and understanding of the Persian texts Neshat inscribes on her photographs plays a fundamental role in the interpretation of her work, Neshat’s artworks are not entirely conceptual. The lack of translation of these included texts in Neshat’s exhibitions indicates a decorative use of Persian calligraphy. The Western eye can aesthetically explore this exotic Eastern decorative calligraphy. The formal qualities of Neshat’s photographs remain, even if the viewer is unable to read or understand the Persian texts.
To read Neshat’s photography, it is crucial to register her use of Persian language and historical poetry. Although the reading and understanding of the Persian texts Neshat inscribes on her photographs plays a fundamental role in the interpretation of her work, Neshat’s artworks are not entirely conceptual. The lack of translation of these included texts in Neshat’s exhibitions indicates a decorative use of Persian calligraphy. The Western eye can aesthetically explore this exotic Eastern decorative calligraphy. The formal qualities of Neshat’s photographs remain, even if the viewer is unable to read or understand the Persian texts.
ContributorsBokharachi, Elnaz (Author) / Mesch, Claudia (Thesis advisor) / Hoy, Meredith (Committee member) / Anand, Julie (Committee member) / Ghanem, Carla (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2015
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
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