2010.34 Mirror case
GENERAL DESCRIPTION
This mirror case features a pair of standing male and female figures wearing waist beads, each holding the other’s shoulder with their arms crossed behind their backs. The borders and handle of the case are decorated with incised geometric designs.
2004.16.McD Kneeling female figure with bowl (olumeye)
GENERAL DESCRIPTION
This female figure holds a large lidded bowl with the aid of kneeling female caryatids.
2010.1.McD Linguist staff (okyeame poma)
GENERAL DESCRIPTION
The finial on this linguist staff depicts a man climbing a tree with help from another man.
Realism (style or movement)
GENERAL DESCRIPTION
Realism calls for an objective and truthful depiction of contemporary life. The art movement emerged after the Revolution of 1848 that overturned the French monarchy. Just as the French population called for democratic reform, the Realists democratized the subject matter of works of art by rejecting idealized classicism and exotic romanticism for the portrayal of modern subjects observed in the every-day.
Gustave Courbet (1819-1877)
GENERAL DESCRIPTION
Complex and self-obsessed, with an idealistic to make a difference in the world, Gustave Courbet grew up in the rural village of Ornans, the son of a well-to-do landowner and farmer.
Andes, South America
GENERAL DESCRIPTION
In South America, the greatest concentration of cultural development occurred along the western edge of the continent. This geographic area is often referred to as the Andes, and distinctive cultural characteristics include: 1) the preservation of fragile materials—textiles, wood, and feathers
Direct carving
GENERAL DESCRIPTION
Direct carving is the process of carving away the block of stone (or other material) to create a sculpture. This method had a resurgence in the 20th century when modernist artists rejected of traditional sculptural techniques that required multiple assistants working within an artist's workshop to produce monumental marble works or multiple bronze casts.
Epa headdress
GENERAL DESCRIPTION
Annual festivals held throughout Yorubaland incorporate masquerades that celebrate the values and social roles upon which the well-being of the towns depend. The festival, called Epa (or Elefon) in Ekiti towns, is characterized by the appearance of large-scale wooden headdresses. The animals and humans carved on the superstructure of the headdress represent real or mythical ancestors who provide the foundation and continuity of Yoruba society.
Art for Security and Well-Being
GENERAL DESCRIPTION
Traditional African art addresses an essential human concern, that of well-being or the state of feeling content. Feeling secure in a peaceful and orderly environment, being mentally and physically healthy, having a family of one’s own, prospering in one’s occupation, and dying in old age of natural causes contribute to this sense of well-being and contentment.
Teotihuacan (Teotihuacán)
GENERAL DESCRIPTION
Teotihuacan has been called the first true city of the New World. This planned urban complex flourished in a pocket of the Valley of Mexico, some 30 miles northeast of Mexico City, during the period 150 BCE-750 CE. At its peak, around 600 CE, Teotihuacan was one of the largest cities in the world, with a population of perhaps 200,000 people. The city occupied almost nine square miles and had 5,000 structures, of which 2,000 were residences.