Category: Art

Hitler, the Nazis, and the Rape of Europa

Before this week, did you know about Hitler’s campaign to loot the priceless cultural treasures of Europe during World War II? Discuss with others your awareness of this situation. Do you think the war would have turned out differently if Hitler and the Nazis hadn’t been so obsessed with art?

• Ensure that you have completed the assigned textbook reading for this unit.
• Choose one of the following topics for your essay:

1. Comparing the teachings of Confucius with the art of his time
2. Comparing Daoism, Chinese art, and Feng Shui
3. Examining Xie He’s aesthetic canon
4. The technical and artistic history of Chinese porcelain

Prompt

• Respond to the appropriate prompt according to the topic you have chosen:

1. Are the teachings of Confucius, which reflect many social and political ideas of ancient China, the same ideals expressed in the art of the time period?

• Discuss his contributions to the humanities by explaining his concept of moral rectitude and its impact on art.
• Do we find a direct relationship between his words and visual images?
• Explain this using four different works of art, one from four different time periods of Chinese history, from your assigned textbook readings, in your answer.

1. Please discuss Daoism’s principal of natural order (which is that it is often described as the most eloquent expression of the natural order as it relates to humankind) as first established in ancient Chinese philosophy.

• How does this philosophy conform to the basic aesthetic of Chinese art and to the philosophy of Feng Shui?
• Imagine that you’ve been hired by a boutique hotel in Guthrie, Medicine Park, Ardmore, Bartlesville, or Tulsa to incorporate Feng Shui in the building. What will you do? What will you add? (The boutique hotel can be real or imaginary). Please add four examples in your answer from your assigned textbook readings, each from different media (such as painting, jade, porcelain, architecture, etc.). You may also use museum websites.

1. Discuss the aesthetic canon as explained by Xie He in the fifth century.

• Can you apply his ideas to Chinese art from different time periods?
• Please look at four examples of painting and calligraphy from your assigned textbook readings from four different time periods to answer this question.

1. Imagine that you have been hired to put together an exhibit of Chinese porcelain. Please select five representative pieces from your collection, share the images, and describe them. As you do so, please discuss the technical and artistic history of Chinese porcelain.

• Remember that porcelain was likely invented in China, and Chinese porcelain is some of the highest quality ceramic-ware in history.
• Be sure to include four examples from your assigned textbook readings that span four different time periods in Chinese history. Be aware that pottery and stoneware techniques that led to the development of porcelain may be included in your overview. You may also use museum websites.

Procedure

• Write a 5-page essay (roughly 1250 words).
• Include an APA-formatted title page and reference page in Word format.
• Paste your images at the end of your essay, after the reference page.
• All images included should have typed under the image the following information: Title, artist, date, medium, and location. Each artwork you describe should have an image included.
• See the for general writing requirements.
• Consider the grading rubric when planning your assignment.

Texts and Materials: Kleiner, F. S. (2016). Gardner’s Art through the Ages: Backpack Edition, Book C, Non-Western Art to 1300 (15th ed.). Cengage Learning. ISBN: 9781285838007 ISBN10: 1285838009 Kleiner, F. S. (2016). Gardner’s Art through the Ages: Backpack Edition, Book F, Non-Western Art Since 1300 (15th ed.). Cengage Learning. ISBN: 9781285838151 ISBN10: 1285838157

• Ensure that you have completed the assigned textbook reading for this unit.
• Choose one of the following topics for your essay:

1. How Buddhist and Hindu temples reflect religious ideals
2. Comparing image of Buddha with images of Hindi gods and goddesses
3. Examining the Bhagavad Gita and the fundamental teachings of Hinduism
4. A historical and artistic overview of the Taj Mahal

Prompt

• Respond to the appropriate prompt according to the topic you have chosen:

1. How are Buddhist and Hindu religious ideals reflected in temple structures from this region of the world?

• Select, identify, describe, and discuss four examples from your assigned textbook readings (two of each type) to focus your discussion.

1. Please compare the image of Buddha with images of Hindi gods and goddesses.

• How do they reveal differing religious beliefs?
• Find three very unique temples that shocked or surprised you when you first saw them.
• What was it about the temples that shocked you? What kinds of values were reflected? What kinds of religious practices or holiday merriment might have been included?
• Identify, describe, and discuss four specific examples from your assigned textbook readings (two of each type) or scholarly sources (in the OU online library).

1. Please examine how the Bhagavad Gita reveals the fundamental teachings of Hinduism.

• How are those teachings expressed in visual images?
• How is this poem written to express its ideas in a lyrical format?
• Do these aesthetics find a parallel in visual images?
• Use four examples of art from your assigned textbook readings to answer these questions.

1. Give a historical and artistic overview of the Taj Mahal in Agra, India. Describe ten unique aspects that reflect Islamic art and ideals. They can range from the decorations to landscaping and architecture. Explain why the Taj Mahal has been controversial.

• Use your textbook readings and three additional online scholarly sources to discuss this important architectural complex. See the .

Procedure

• Write a 5-page essay (roughly 1250 words).
• Include an APA-formatted title page and reference page in Word format.
• Paste your images at the end of your essay, after the reference page.
• All images included should have typed under the image the following information: Title, artist, date, medium, and location. Each artwork you describe should have an image included.
• See the for general writing requirements.
• Consider the grading rubric when planning your assignment.

Texts and Materials:

Kleiner, F. S. (2016). Gardner’s Art through the Ages: Backpack Edition, Book C, Non-Western Art to 1300 (15th ed.). Cengage Learning.

ISBN: 9781285838007

ISBN10: 1285838009

Kleiner, F. S. (2016). Gardner’s Art through the Ages: Backpack Edition, Book F, Non-Western Art Since 1300 (15th ed.). Cengage Learning.

ISBN: 9781285838151

ISBN10: 1285838157

Archive Exercise: Lets rewrite the textbook! Understanding the Art of the 1980s and Activism by

using both the textbook and interviews

Due: Please submit on Blackboard on Feb. 24

The purpose of this assignment is to help students understand the differences between primary

versus secondary sources. By definition, primary sources are immediate, first-hand accounts

of a topic, from people who had a direct connection with it (e.g., interviews, oral histories, an art

object, and letters). Archives often have primary source material that you can access for your

research. Secondary Sources are one step removed from primary sources, though they

often quote or otherwise use primary sources. They can cover the same topic, but add a layer of

interpretation and analysis (e.g., books and articles). For more information, please check out:

Primary Sources: A Research Guide, https://umb.libguides.com/PrimarySources/secondary

Your textbook for this class is a secondary source. While textbooks are useful, they have to

cover a lot of different artists and cannot always address nuances and specific issues for a

particular artist or a group of like-minded artists. Your job for this assignment is to rewrite the

textbook on a specific artist. You’ll need to read the textbook passage on your chosen artist(s)

and then read the corresponding excerpt from the interview with the specific artist(s), which

comes from the Smithsonian Archives of American Art (https://www.aaa.si.edu/). The interviews

are actually oral histories, and I have created excerpts to make the assignment easier for you.

Please note that all the necessary texts can be found on Brightspace. Youll then have to identify

how the information might differ in the two types of sources, and then rewrite the paragraph(s) in

your textbook to add more nuanced information. But please keep in mind that you will have to

write in your own words and you must have notes and a bibliography. You do not have to do any

other research.

Please complete the following steps:

Step 1. You have three options to consider for this assignment, and you must choose only one

of the following:

Option 1 is Ross Bleckner, a painter who lived during the height of the AIDS crisis in the 1980s

in New York. He is interviewed by Linda Yoblansky.

Option 2 is the Guerrilla Girls, a feminist activist group that began in 1985 to help promote

women in the visual arts and expose sexist biases in the visual arts. The interview is Judith

Richards talking with Guerrilla Girls Alice Neel and Gertrude Stein. Please note that in this

instance Alice Neel and Gertrude Stein are fake names that the members used to protect their

anonymity.

Option 3 is Nan Goldin, a photographer who documented much of the East Village in the 1980s

during the AIDS crisis. She is being interviewed by Alex Fiahlo.

Step 2. After you identify which option you will examine, you must complete parts A, B, and C:

Part A. After you have picked option 1, 2, or 3, please read the textbook passage on the chosen

artist AND the excerpt from the specific interview. Then answer the following questions:

What did you find in the textbook paragraph(s) that was NOT mentioned in

interviews. Please try to list two examples. Your list could be written as bullet

points.

What did you find in the interviews that was NOT discussed in the paragraph(s)

in the textbook? Please list two examples. Your list could be written as bullet

points.

Do you see any possible contradictions in the information found in the interview

versus the information in the textbook? Please identify one example if possible. If

you cannot find a contradiction, then please feel free to say so.

Part A should be no more than one-half of a typed page.

Part B. The next part of the assignment requires you to rewrite the paragraph(s) in the textbook,

so that it incorporates some of the information found in the interviews. Please note your writing

should try to indicate when you are relying upon primary source material.

Please keep in mind that you cannot talk about everything that you read for this assignment.

Youll have to make choices about what you think is most important to include in a textbook. The

purpose is for you to figure out how to integrate information from both primary and secondary

sources. If the textbook entry is only one paragraph, you can expand the text into two

paragraphs, and if your textbook entry is two paragraphs, you could expand it to three

paragraphs, if necessary. I will grade you on how well you combine information from the two

types of sources and how clear your writing is overall.

Part B should be about 2 pages of text, typed and double spaced, with notes and a

bibliography; please see my sample notes and bibliography below. Please note that you

have to write in your own words and CANNOT quote from Kalb’s textbook. You may

quote from the interview, if you wish, but only once, and the quotation should be short

and concise (no more than one or two lines of text) and must enhance your text (put

differently, please don’t use long quoted statements as filler). In the end, your text must

make sense on its own and provide your reader with a clear beginning, middle, and end.

I will grade you on how well you combine information from the two types of sources and

how clear your writing is overall.

Part C. Based on your experience, please distinguish the general pros and cons of a textbook

and the pros and cons of an interview. Part C should be no more than one-half of a typed page

Learning Outcomes

-To distinguish between primary and secondary source materials

-To understand the nature of what is typically included in a textbook

-To understand the nature of an interview or oral history

-To learn to write by combining secondary and primary sources together

-To explore a wider variety of sources when doing research

Sample Notes and Bibliography

Textbook

Note format:

Peter Kalb, Art since 1980: Charting the Contemporary (Upper Saddle River,

N.J.: Pearson, 2014), 145.

Short note format:

Kalb, Art since 1980, 180.

Bibliography format

Kalb, Peter. Art since 1980: Charting the Contemporary. Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Pearson,

2014.

Interviews

Note format:

Nan Goldin, interview with Alexa Fialho, Visual Arts and the AIDS Epidemic: An

Oral History Project, Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution,

Washington, D.C., April 30 and May 7, 2017.

Guerilla Girls Alice Neel and Gertrude Stein, interview with Judith Richards,

Guerilla Girls Oral History Project, Archives of American Art, Smithsonian

Institution, Washington, D.C., December 1, 2007.

Ross Bleckner, interview with Linda Yablonsky, Visual Arts and the AIDS

Epidemic: An Oral History Project, Archives of American Art, Smithsonian

Institution, Washington, D.C., July 6 and 8, 2016.

Short note format:

Goldin, interview with Fiahlo.

Guerilla Girls Alice Neel and Gertrude Stein, interview with Richards.

Bleckner, interview with Yablonsky.

Bibliography format:

Bleckner, Ross. Interview with Linda Yablonsky. Visual Arts and the AIDS Epidemic: An Oral

History Project, Archives of American Art. Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., July 6 and

8, 2016.

Goldin, Nan. Interview with Alexa Fialho, Visual Arts and the AIDS Epidemic: An Oral History

Project. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., April 30 and May

7, 2017.

Guerilla Girls Alice Neel and Gertrude Stein. Interview with Judith Richards. Guerilla Girls Oral

History Project. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., December

1, 2007.

Checklist for the Assignment

_____ Did you choose only ONE option?

_____ Did you complete parts A, B, and C?

_____ Did you use spelling and grammar check to catch any possible errors?

_____ Do you have notes when necessary and a bibliography?

_____ Does your text, especially for part B, make sense? Are the individual paragraphs clear

and cogent (not choppy)?

Essay #1 Deriving Meaning In Deriving Meaning we learned how art communicates complex ideas and emotions and the ways in which this is achieved, as well as how writings about art enrich our experience of it. Select one artist from the chapter and discuss the meaning that may be derived from one artwork using two of the following philosophical positions: ideological criticism, psychoanalytic criticism, structuralism, post-structuralism, deconstruction, feminist criticism, or relational aesthetics. How do the philosophical positions impact the meaning of the work? Do they contradict or complement each other? Essays should be a minimum of 3 pages in length, typed, double-spaced, 12 pt. font, free of all spelling and grammatical errors, no plagiarism, no AI, Chicago Style formatting with footnotes and bibliography. Include images on the last page. Submit in Canvas in DOCX format. Be sure that you answer the question asked in its entirety and be sure to proofread your answer.

My initial impression of MOMAs website was quite surprising as someone whos first time seeing the website. From just scrolling through the homepage, it was fascinating to find, see and hear the exhibits that are currently running. The website did not feel confusing or overwhelming, which surprised me because museums sometimes present information in a complicated way. Instead, MoMAs website felt welcoming and easy to understand, even for someone who does not regularly visit art museums online. The exhibits that are currently running at MOMA are A Retrospective by Ruth Asawa, Wifredo Lam: When I dont Sleep, I Dream, Ideas of Africa: Portraiture and political imagination, and Artists choice: Arthur Jafa-Less Is Morbid.What stood out to me was how different each exhibition felt, even though they are all part of the same museum. This showed me that MoMA does not focus on just one style of art, but instead highlights a wide range of artistic voices and perspectives. The themes of these exhibitions are sculpture, painting, photography and video. Each medium allows artists to communicate their ideas in different ways. For example, sculpture often focuses on form and space, while photography and video can capture moments in time or tell visual stories. This variety helped me understand how modern artists choose the medium that best fits their message. If I had to choose an exhibit that I would like to visit the most, it would be The Many Lives of the Nakagin Capsule Tower because it reminds me of how theres different paths that people can take in life. Before working on this assignment, I honestly did not spend much time thinking about museum websites or how they function. I mostly thought of museums as physical spaces rather than online ones.