Paul Gauguin (1848-1903)

GENERAL DESCRIPTION
Paul Gauguin was born in Paris during the unsettled political era of the Paris Commune in 1848. His family soon left for Lima, Peru, where Gauguin lived until he was seven. Between 1865 and 1871, he was a sailor with the merchant marines.

Gandharan Art

GENERAL DESCRIPTION
The region of Gandhara (an area that now includes Afghanistan, Pakistan, and northern India) appears in writings dating from the time of the Achaemenid Persian empire (550-330 BCE).  In one, the emperor Darius I claimed possession of Gandhara as the most easterly territory of the empire.

Émile Bernard (1868-1941)

GENERAL DESCRIPTION
Émile Bernard was born in Lille, France, but moved with his family to the Paris suburb of Asnières in 1881. In 1884, he enrolled in the atelier of the artist Ferdinand Cormon, an École des Beaux-Arts professor.

Chola dynasty

GENERAL DESCRIPTION
The Chola Dynasty (c. 860-1279 CE), to which the Dallas Museum of Art Shiva Nataraja dates, dominated southern India for nearly four centuries and expanded as far as Sri Lanka and the Maldive Islands. This period saw the production of exquisite portable bronzes depicting Hindu figures, as well as the flourishing of performance arts. Chola art and architecture were intended to communicate the power, wealth, and piety of the dynasty’s rulers.

Ming dynasty (1368-1644)

GENERAL DESCRIPTION
The first emperor of the Ming occupied Nanjing in 1368 after the last Yuan emperor fled north. In less than a decade, he reestablished territories held during the Tang dynasty. Thailand and Burma were vassal states, and Chinese navies were active on the southern sea.

Neolithic China (c. 5000 B.C.E - c.1600 B.C.E.)

GENERAL DESCRIPTION
The Neolithic period in China is marked by settled, agricultural societies and the building of villages. It is divided into pottery-based phases within which are related culture branches, all of which derive their names from excavation sites. Painted pottery traditions were the earliest art form. These early wares were soft pottery baked in low temperature firings.