W25-01 Around the World In 6 Days: Western and Non-Western Art NEW
Class | Registration closed 12/15/2024
The artistic traditions of Europe, Sub-Saharan Africa, East India, China, the Pacific Islands and Pre-Columbian America are compared, contrasted and defined in style and cultural contexts in this series of six lectures. First in focus is European realistic art represented by 17th century Dutch Art. The 2nd lecture will cover African Sub-Saharan abstract arts used for various rituals. The sensual religious art of India and the Imperial Art of China follow in sessions 3 and 4. The arts and rituals of Oceanic Polynesia, Australia and other Pacific islands will be covered before the last session on Pre-Columbian art in North and South America.
- Descriptions of content:
- THE AGE OF REMBRANDT: Dutch painting in the 17th Century
- This class will cover the protestant secularism that created a new realistic art in Holland of which Rembrandt is the most famous practitioner. Portraiture, landscape, still life and genre scenes all become important new art forms.
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- THE DARK CONTINENT: Sub-Saharan African Art
- Spiritualism, masks, divination, initiation rites, leadership roles, ancestor beliefs all play important roles in the formation of African art. This program will follow the development of African art from its earliest beginnings during the ancient Nok and Benin cultures through the colonial period and into the 20th century.
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- THE PATH TO ENLIGHTENMENT: The Art of India
- The spiritualism of Buddhist and Hindu architecture and sculpture is the subject of this journey into the mysticism of the East.
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- THE ART OF IMPERIAL CHINA: Splendor from the East
- The powerful ceramic army of Emperor Shi Huang Di, misty mountain landscapes and luminous blue and white porcelain are discussed in a historical and artistic survey of China.
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- OCEANIC ART: Religion and Ritual in the South Pacific
- From the art of the Aborigines of Australia to the art of Paul Gauguin, the South Pacific has drawn people to its lush, verdant landscapes. The last region on earth to be settled, the islands of Melanesia, Micronesia, Polynesia and the continent of Australia have attracted cultures whose art is unique from any other place on earth. The ancestor heads on Easter Island, the Maori Meeting Houses, the art of body tattooing, and the Tamberan Houses on New Guinea are imbued with the rituals and religious beliefs of the inhabitants of these far away islands.
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- THE FIRST AMERICANS: Pre-Columbian Art
- Kachina dolls, beautiful pottery, majestic palaces built into cliffs, pyramids topped with temples, courts for a mysterious type of ball game and cities built on mountain tops are some of the subjects covered in this survey of the art of America's indigenous people who created these masterpieces before the time of Columbus' arrival.
Sean Crum
Sean Crum has a Master of Art from Case Western Reserve University (1977) and was an art teacher at North Ridgeville City Schools for 35 years, retiring in 2012. He was the chairman of the Art Department and taught AP Art History in a program he created, as well as authored the curriculum (published by The College Board online in 2005). He is also an artist, printmaker, and musician.