Focus on Faces

The February 2012 Issue of the Smithsonian Magazine has a story about Ancient Modernism. The story delves into the role of the portrait in ancient cultures.

The story focuses on portraits on wood panels that were associated with mummified bodies. These items, found in the later 1880s near Alexandria give historians a glimpse into an ancient culture. Not only do the portraits reveal styles of the times, but their association with the preserved bodies hint at the culture's respect for the dead and perhaps belief in an afterlife.

This story got me to thinking about the importance of PORTRAITS in ART HISTORY. Portraits have been produced by artists in many cultures, for many centuries. As one studies art history, one encounters artists' self-portraits, portraits made on commission, partner portraits, group portraits and portraits of pets. They style and function are a product of the values of the communities in which they were made.

The image shown here is from the Smithsonian Article's online story. This Egyptian portrait is an eye-opener. Most images from ancient Egypt are related to the Pharaohs' and their preparations for the afterlife. This image reinforces the Egyptian's importance in the afterlife as it is demonstrated through a mere citizen.

San Diego Museum of Art

The San Diego Museum of Art FIRST FRIDAY FILMS are a great way to get an up close and personal view of art and the art world.

The First Friday in February Midnight in Paris will be shown. This is a GREAT film with a great cast. It depicts the creative community of Paris in the early 1900s. The lead actor talks with Ernest Hemingway as well as Pablo Picasso during his midnight strolls through Paris. To learn more,view the SDMA website, www.sdmart.org, and click on the Programs and Events Tab at the top.

Check out the Museum's website for details about future titles. If you attend a lecture and movie, bring in your signed ticket, notes from the lecture and movie.

NOK Terracotta Heads Found...

2010 discovery of NOK heads allows archaeologists of today to study the ancient culture. Unfortunately, little evidence of the NOK people exist in the public realm as many artifacts have been stolen and sold to individual investors.

If people loot art, they are stealing from their own past. They are denying all people the opportunity to learn about those what came before them. If we do not learn from the past, how can we hope to avoid mistakes of past generations/cultures?

Read the full story here.

The Mayan Culture...a Fascination in 2012

We made it past Y2K. We "partied like it was 1999" along with Prince, or the artist formally known as Prince. Now it is 2012 and the Mayan calendar ends this year. This sparks interest in the Mayan Culture and debate as to the date of the end of the world. Can anyone actually know? That is a question that will be debated until the end of time. As Art Historians, what we can look into is the Mayan Culture and what the Mayans contributed to our global community.

The foundation of the Mayan Culture was established during the PRECLASSIC Period. They lived in city-states governed by rulers who assumed their position through heredity. The culture flourished for just over 500 years in what is Belize, Guatemala and Honduras today.

According to Gardner's Art Through the Ages, the Mayan people "were obsessed with time and religion" but not concerned with recording daily events (387). The deciphering of the Mayan writing was a significant achievement, rivaling that of cracking the code to decipher Egyptian hieroglyphics. Both achievements allowed people of today a clear glimpse into early cultures. These windows into the past allow us to learn without conjecture. Their calendar was precise, although different from the Roman calendar used around the world today. Theirs also factored in the "genealogical lines of their rulers"(387). For what reason is the calendar only written through 2012? That remains a mystery. The Mayans were people interested in precise detail, thus causing people to wonder what the symbolism of the 2012 end date? Some wonder if it predicts the end of the world. Other theories include the calendar starting over after 2012.

The Mayans created the only know written history in ancient America. We know they practiced ritual sacrifice and were combative people. Not only were they aggressive,they were also creative. Their architectural achievements are numerous. Each structure was large and imposing and centrally located within the city-states.

A GREAT web resource to learn more about the Mayan Culture is PBS - Nova Cracking the Mayan Code.

The Study of Art...The Collecting of Art

As an Art Historian, I am fascinated by the manner in which artists gained the fame they have today. I wonder, out of the numerous creative people in the world, how did a few people become so well-known? Was their work superior? Were they just in the right place at the right time? Did they have friends and relatives that were well-connected?

Every time I visit an art fair I wonder If I am looking at teh art of a future "name" on the art scene. When I walk into the studio art classroom at school, I wonder what is needed to help a young artist with talent become an artists that can make a living out of his or her talent?

Today I finally got to reading the January 2012 issue of the Smithsonian Magazine and happened upon an article about art collecting, An Eye for Genius. The article explained how Gertrude Stein and her siblings were fascinated be unknown artists and collected their work. The Steins collected work that caught their eye. Many of the paintings were those that the rest of the public did not have interest in purchasing. It was due to the interest of the Stein siblings that the artists they collected continued to produce work.

The artists the Stein family supported were unknown at the time. They included man maned Matisse, Picasso, and Renoir to name a few. The artists are known today as great masters and their work is invaluable.

I wonder who are the Steins of 2012 and who are the future master artists? Who has the eye to discern talent and to get talent noticed in 2012? Art History is an ever changing discipline. I wonder what artists from my lifetime will be analyzed and studied by Art Historians 100 or 200 years from now?

Watch a PBS Video about the Stein family's collecting.

High Schools Keep Art Alive

Art is a subject that is not present in every school in the country. When budgets need to be cut, art programs tend to get slashed. Studies show that studying the arts is valuable (more to come on this idea). Online Colleges posted a list of 12 Inspiring High Schools Keeping the Arts Alive in the United States. Read the article to see what these 12 schools are doing to promote the arts!

Art History Reading

I recently completed The House of Medici, Its Rise and Fall by Christopher Hibbert. The book is an excellent read for anyone who is interested in learning HOW and WHY the Medici family had so much influence in Europe.

The book begins with the early influence of the Medici family during the Quattrocento and concludes with the death of the last in the Medici line in 1743. The book contains POWER, INTRIGUE, and ROMANCE. It details the interconnectedness of the Papacy with the lay rulers of the era. No detail is spared. After reading this book, the reader is left with a better understanding of how one family can exert so much influence. Their power was widespread and almost unstoppable.