Contact with Western regions and the Middle East led to a flourishing of equestrian culture in China during the Tang Dynasty (618-907). This era in Chinese history is often referred to as a "Golden Age," for arts and architecture reached a pinnacle. Porcelain was invented during the Tang Dynasty, and painted portraits began to gain favor among the nobility. Sculpture and painting both reflected a love of horses in motif and energy. Colors used in Tang Dynasty art were bright, usually blues and greens.
Ceramics blossomed during the Tang Dynasty, especially small earthenware figurines. Models of animals, guardian spirits, and women became particularly prolific; many of these figures were colored with yellow, green, and white glazes. Horses, both with and without riders, can be recognized as quintessentially Tang, as can figures of camels and oxen. The female form was also a popular subject in Tang sculpture. Voluptuous and sensual renderings of Court women demonstrated superior techniques. Larger scale stone sculptures of Boddhisattvas exhibit Indian and Tibetan Buddhist influences. Indian artistic influences can be seen in these forms with their flowing robes and curvaceous hips.
Huge developments were made in Chinese pottery during the Tang Dynasty. The new medium of porcelain gained favor; its white, delicate look helped artists decorate functional objects with increased flair. Bowls, vases, and other containers make with porcelain exhibited a fine, flowing quality. The thin nature of the kaolin clay from which porcelain is made caused the green and blue lead glazes to glow. Earthenware and stone pottery done in browns and sepias are reminiscent of Hellenistic art.
Small guardian spirits and portrait paintings both decorated the gravesites and tombs of emperors. The Tang Dynasty saw an upsurge in demand for court-commissioned paintings, and Chinese artists began to be known by name. Landscape artists like Wang Wei and Li Ssu-hsun and his son Li Chao-tao painted with vivid hues of blue and green. Wild horses were also popular subjects, reflective of Tang equestrian culture. Horses done in ink on paper with calligraphy backgrounds are some of the most special Tang Dynasty works.
Chinese Art By the fifth millennium BCE, China had developed the basic elements that were to identify it as a civilization, such as social structure, agricultural skills and the domestication of animals (Schmidt pp). It was also developing concepts related to the order of the natural environment, to life, death, and life after death (Schmidt pp). China's cultural identity, as it is known today, can be traced to the endeavors of
"In the period from the late Tang to the end of the Song there was an especially broad distribution of kiln sites and ware types, which supported local economies. International trade in export ceramics, mostly for household use, extended from Southeast Asia, India, and Africa to the Near East and to Japan, where Chinese tea bowls for monastic use were highly prized" (Thorp, and Vinograd 233). Among the main reasons
Art India: Unknown artist. Unknown date. This is a painting of Vedic art, depicting Krishna eating lunch with his friends. It was commissioned for an Indian monastery. Culturally, this form of art depicts a story from the life of Krishna. Krishna is usually depicted as an adult, so this is somewhat unusual, but in this case as a child from folklore. The story would probably be well-known to the audience at the
Art and Death: The Chinese Portraying death to children In the preschool age, educators seldom broach the topic of death. However, some picture books for kids directly address death and related issues. Their current approach is worth utilizing as reference. Book presentations follow the steps: comprehending death with preschoolers' internal experiences, slowly probing into what death means in the eyes of preschoolers, and expanding on the subject by seeking the continuance of
Art Analysis: Art21 After reviewing the artists from Art21, the artists chosen are Pierre Huyghe and AI Weiwei as the subjects of this paper. The pieces the paper will be "This is not a time for dreaming" by Huyghe and "Forever" by Weiwei. Both pieces are installation pieces although the artists are not classified under the same grouping on the Art21 website. Weiwei is listed as "Featured in Change" and Huyghe
In essence, this painting "mixes a toothpaste smile with the grimace of a death's head" and symbolizes the true work of an American "action" painter (de la Croix & Tansey, 774). Another great example of an American abstract expressionist master is Mark Rothko (1903 to 1973), who emigrated to the United States in 1914 from Latvia with his family to escape Czarist Russia and its strict policies towards Jews. Although
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