Essay

by

Humanities

will be further exploring the topic raised by this week’s discussion forum. However, you will also be writing in depth about at least one specific example of European art that was inspired by another culture. Please discuss the visual similarities and differences between the work of Western art and the source that inspired it. What was the original cultural context of the non-Western art or artifact that was appropriated? How did it inspire a European or American artist? What was happening in each culture when each work was created? How did the meaning of the imagery change when it was appropriated?

I encourage you to write about a new topic for your essay assignment, but if you would like to revisit the topic you’ve chosen for the discussion forum this week, significant additional analysis and research should be apparent in the essay. Here is a list of possible topics but you are not limited to these options. Please note that several of these options refer to artists that you have not yet studied.

  • Near Eastern art and history: Delacroix’s Death of Sardanapalus, Ingres’ Turkish Bath, etc.)
  • Islamic architecture and tile mosaics: artists of the Aesthetic movement (for example, Frederic Leighton’s Arab Hall); M. C. Escher’s tesselations and the Alhambra
  • Chinese art and architecture: “Chinoiserie” in European art, such as Boucher’s The Chinese Garden
  • Japanese ukiyo-e prints: 19th century painters such as Mary Cassatt, Gauguin, Van Gogh, and Whistler.
  • Oceanic culture, religion, and art (native peoples of the Pacific Islands and Australia): Gauguin, Die Brücke artists, etc.
  • African sculptures and tribal masks: Brancusi, Picasso, Matisse, Modigliani, and many other early modern artists
  • Ancient Iberian sculpture: Picasso
  • Ancient Cycladic art: Brancusi, Giacometti, Hans Arp, Barbara Helpworth, etc.
  • Mesoamerican art (specifically Chacmool sculptures): Henry Moore’s reclining figures
  • Navajo sand paintings: Jackson Pollock
  • Persian and Indian miniature painting: Shahzia Sikander

Your essay should be about three pages (850 to 1000 words), and in it, you should cite your sources according to MLA standards. Attach images if you can but please note that sometimes Canvas causes some formatting problems. Your work will be checked for plagiarism, so please paraphrase carefully, use quotation marks when using direct quotes, and include a works cited.