Arts of the Americas Ms. Lee Art History & Criticism
Mesoamerica Beringia. - Sometime around 30,000 to 10,000 BCE, the first American possibly crossed what is now a submerged landmass.
Geography & Climate The term Mesoamerica names the region that comprises part of present-day Mexico, Guatemala, Belize, Honduras, and the Pacific coast of El Salvador. The principal regions are: Gulf Coast Region (Olmec) States of Jalisco, Colima, and Nayarit (West Mexico) Chiapas, Yucatan, QuintanaRoo, and Campeche in Mexico, and the Peten area of Guatamala (Maya) Southwestern Mexico and the state of Oaxaca (Zapotec and Mixtec cultures) The central plateau surrounding modern-day Mexico City (Teotihuacan, Toltec, and Aztec cultures).
Language and Chronology Numerous languages are distributed among no fewer than 14 linguistic families. Many still survive today. Various Mayan languages linger in Guatamala and Southern Mexico. The Nahuatl of the Aztecs endures in the Mexican highlands. The Zapotec and Mixtec languages persist in Oaxaca and its environs. While their languages were diverse, they shared maize cultivation, religious beliefs and rites, myths, social structures, customs, and arts.
Preclassic (ca. 2000 BCE 300 CE) The Olmec Present day states of Veracruz and Tabasco It is often called the mother culture of Mesoamerica. They cultivated a terrain of rain forest and alluvial lowland washed by numerous rivers flowing into the gulf. Between 1,500 and 400 BCE, social organization assumed the form that later Mesoamerican cultures adapted and developed.
Colossal Head La Venta, Mexico 900-400 B.C.E. basalt 9 ft. 4 in. high.
Ceremonial ax in the form of a jaguar-human from La Venta, Mexico 900-400 B.C.E. jadite 11 1/2 in. high.
seated figure with raised arms from Colima, Mexico ca. 200 B.C.E. - 250 C.E. clay with orange and red slip 1 ft. 1 in. high
aerial view of Teotihuacán Pyramid of the Moon (foreground) Pyramid of the Sun (top left) Citadel (background) Valley of Mexico, Mexico structures ca. 50-200
detail of the Temple of Quetzalcóatl The Ctadel, Teotihuacán Valley of Mexico, Mexico 3rd century
Goddess Tetitla apartment complex at Teotihuacán 650-750 C.E. pigments over clay and plaster
The Maya The Classic (ca. 300-900 CE) Strong cultural influences stemming from the Olmec tradition and from Teotihuacan contributed to the development of the Classic Maya culture. The foundation of the Maya culture was laid in the Preclassic period. They occupied the lowland areas of Belize, southern Mexico, Guatemala, and Honduras. City-state style of Government. Huge building centers: Terraced temple-pyramids, palaces, plazas, ball courts, and residences No one site ever achieved total dominance. All meaning was fixed on symbolism and imagery of art.
Decoding Maya Script Similar to the decipherment of Egyptian writing early in the 19 th century. By the end of the 19 th century, numbers, dates, and some astronomical information could be read, but little else. They depicted their rulers (not gods or priests) in their art and noted their rulers achievements in their texts. Mayan writing is phonetic Hieroglyphs are made up of signs representing sounds in the Mayan language. Fortunately manly of those languages are spoken still today.
Stele D portraying the ruler 18-Rabbit Great Plaza at Copán, Honduras 736 stone 11 ft. 9 in. high
Ball Court Middle Plaza at Copán, Honduras 738
Ball Court Middle Plaza at Copán, Honduras 738
Ball Court Middle Plaza at Copán, Honduras 738
Ball Court Middle Plaza at Copán, Honduras 738
Complex R Mound Tikal, Petén, Guatemala ca. 790
Complex Q Pyramid Tikal, Petén, Guatemala ca. 731
Temple IV Tikal, Petén, Guatemala ca. 741 212 ft. high
Temple IV Tikal, Petén, Guatemala ca. 741 212 ft. high
Temple IV Tikal, Petén, Guatemala ca. 741 212 ft. high
View of Temples I & II from Temple IV Tikal, Petén, Guatemala ca. 741 212 ft. high
Temple I Tikal, Petén, Guatemala ca. 732 145 ft. high
Temple I Tikal, Petén, Guatemala ca. 732 145 ft. high
Temple I Tikal, Petén, Guatemala ca. 732 145 ft. high
Temple I Tikal, Petén, Guatemala ca. 732 145 ft. high
Temple I Tikal, Petén, Guatemala ca. 732 145 ft. high
Great Plaza Ballcourt (Structure 5D-74) Tikal, Petén, Guatemala ca. 732
Ballplayer from Jaina Island, Mexico 700-900 painted clay 6 1/4 in. high
Presentation of captives to Lord Chan Muwan Room 2, Structure 1, Bonampak, Mexico ca. 790 mural approximately 17 x 15 ft.
Shield Jaguar and Lady Xoc from Lintel 24, Temple 23 Yaxchilán, Mexico ca. 725 limestone 3 ft. 7 in. x 2 ft. 6 1/2 in.
Enthroned Maya lord and courtiers, cylinder vase (rollout view) from Motul de San José region, Guatemala 672-830 ceramic with pigment on cream slip approximately 8 in. high
The Caracol (foreground) and the Castillo (background) Chichén Itzá, Yucatán, Mexico ca. 800-900
The Castillo Chichén Itzá, Yucatán, Mexico ca. 800-900
The Caracol Chichén Itzá, Yucatán, Mexico ca. 800-900
Toltec Art
Colossal atlantids Tula, Hidalgo, Mexico ca. 900-1180 stone 16 ft. high
Aztec Art
Mictlantecuhtli and Quetzalcóatl illuminated page from the Borgia Codex from Puebla/Tlaxcala, Mexico ca. 1400-1500 mineral and vegetable pigments on deerskin approximately 10 5/8 in. x 10 3/8 in.
Great Temple Aztec (Reconstruction Drawing) Tenochtitlán, Mexico City ca.1400-1500
Coyolxauhqui from the Great Temple of Tenochtitlán Mexico City, Mexico ca. 1469 stone approximately 10 ft. 10 in.
Coatlique from Tenochtitlán, Mexico City, Mexico 1487-1520 andesite 11 ft. 6 in. high
South America
Geography The Central Andean region of South America lies between Ecuador and northern Chile, its western border the Pacific Ocean. It consists of three well-defined geographic zones: The narrow western costal plain is a hot desert crossed by rivers, creating habitable fertile valleys. The high peaks of the Cordillera of the Andes hem in plateaus of a temperate climate. The region s inland border, the eastern slopes of the Andes, is a hot and humid jungle.
Chronology Andean civilizations flourished both in the highlands and on the coast. Highland cave dwellers fashioned the first rudimentary art object by 8800 BCE. Sophisticated textiles started to be produced as early as 2500 BCE during the Preceramic Period. Firing of clay began around 1800 BCE during the so-called Initial Period.
Andean chronology alternates between periods known as horizons, when a single culture appears to have dominated a broad geographic area for a relatively long period. There are also intermediate periods characterized by more independent regional development. Early Horizon: Chavin culture (ca. 800-200 BCE). Middle Horizon: Tiwanaku and Wari cultures (ca. 600-1000 CE). Late Horizon: Inka Empire. Early Intermediate period: Paracas and Nasca cultures of the south coast of Peru, and the Moche to the North (ca. 200 BCE-700 CE).
Tairona Art
pendant in the form of a bat-faced man from northeastern Colombia after 1000 gold 5 1/4 in. high
Chavín Art
reconstuction drawing of a sacred center Chavín de Huántar, Peru first millennium B.C.E
Raimondi Stele Chavín de Huántar, Peru first millennium B.C.E incised green diorite 6 ft. high
Paracas Art
Embroidered funerary mantle from southern coast of Peru first century C.E. plain weave camelid fiber with stem-stitch embroidery with camelid wool 4 ft. 7 7/8 in. x 7 ft. 10 7/8 in.
Nasca Art
Hummingbird Nasca Plain, Nasca, Peru ca. 500 dark layer of pebbles scraped aside to reveal lighted clay and calcite beneath 200 ft. wingspan, 459 ft. length
Moche Art
Vessel in the shape of a portrait head from north coast, Peru 5th - 6th century painted clay 12 1/2 in. high
Ear Ornament from a tomb at Sípan, Peru ca. 300 gold and turquoise approximately 4 7/8 in. wide
Wari Art
Lima Tapestry from Peru ca. 500-800 textile 3 ft. 3 3/8 in. x 2 ft. 11 3/8 in.
Inka Art
Machu Pichu Peru 15th century
Wall of the Golden Enclosure (surmounted by the church of Santo Domingo) Cuzco, Peru 15th century
North America
Mississippian Art
Pipe from a mound in Ohio ca 500-1 B.C.E. stone 8 in. high
Serpent Mound Adams County, Ohio ca. 1070 1200 ft. long, 20 ft. wide, 5 ft. high
Incised shell gorget from Summer County, Tennessee ca. 1250-1300 4 in. wide
Mimbres Art
bowl with two cranes and geometric forms from New Mexico ca. 1250 ceramic, black on white diameter approximately 1 ft. 1/2 in.
Anasazi Art
Cliff Dwelling Mesa Verde National Park, Colorado ca. 1150-1300
Canyon Dwellings Hovenweep National Monument, Utah/Colorado border ca. 1150-1300
detail of Kiva painting from Kuaua Pueblo (Coranado State Monument) Anasazi, New Mexico late 15th to early 16th century
Hopi Art
Otto Pentewa Katsina Figurine before 1959 cottonwood root 1 ft. high
Pueblo Art
Maria Montoya Martínez Jar from San Ildefonso Pueblo New Mexico ca. 1939 blackware 11 1/8 x 13 in.
Kwakiutl Art
Eagle Transformation Mask from Alert Bay late 19th century wood, feathers and string approximately 1 ft. 10 in. x 11 in.
Tlingit Art
Chilkat blanket with stylized animal motifs early 20th century mountain goat s wool and cedar bark 6 ft. x 2 ft. 11 in.
War helmet collected 1888-1893 wood 1 ft. high
Haida Art
Reconstruction of a 19th century Haida village with totlem poles Queen Charlotte Island, Canada 1962
Eskimo Art
Burial Mask from Point Hope, Alaska ca. 100 ivory 9 1/2 in. wide
Yupik Art
Mask from Alaska early 20th century wood and feathers approximately 3 ft. 9 in. high
Plains Peoples Art
Karl Bodmer Hidatsa Warrior Pehriska-Ruhpa (Two Ravens) 1833 watercolor 1 ft. 3 7/8 in. x 11 1/2 in.
Honoring Song at painted tipi 1880 pencil, ink and colored pencil 7 1/2 in. x 1 ft.
Jaune Quick-to-see Smith Trade (Gifts for Trading Land with White People) 1992 oil and mixed media on canvas 5 ft. x 14 ft. 2 in.
Tiwanaku Art
Gateway of the Sun Tiwanaku, Bolivia ca. 375-700 stone 9 ft. 10 in. high
Bridge-spouted vessel with flying figures from Nasca River Valley, Peru ca. 50-200 painted ceramic approximately 5 1/2 in. high