An approach to the pre-columbian art collections in Andalusia: origin, history and aquisition criteria

En Andalucía, encontramos piezas y colecciones de arte precolombino en distintos museos e instituciones, como el Museo Arqueológico de Sevilla, el Museo de Arte Precolombino Felipe Orlando (Benalmádena, Málaga), el Instituto de América-Centro Damián Bayón o la colección particular de Juan Manuel Brazam, estos últimos en la provincia de Granada. En el presente escrito pretendemos realizar un recorrido por este rico y desconocido acervo precolombino, analizando cómo y cuándo estas piezas pasaron a formar parte de sus respectivas instituciones.In Andalusia, it is possible to find pre-Columbian art pieces and collections in museums, institutions and private collections, such as the Archaeological Museum of Seville, the Felipe Orlando's Museum of pre-Columbian Art, in Benalmádena (Málaga), the Institute of America-Damián Bayon's Centre, or the particular collection of Juan Manuel Brazam, both of them in Granada. The aim of this paper is to briefly analyze this rich and not well known pre-Columbian heritage, trying to clarify how and when this pieces became part of their institutions

Narrative Quilts and Quilted Narratives: The Art of Faith Ringgold and Alice Walker

There have been two main streams of influence on Chicano artists aside from the obvious one that is the result of their artistic training, education and development in the United States. The primary influence came from Mexico, first during the colonial period in the form of New Spanish art and architecture, and then in modem times provided by the Mexican muralists through their work and their use of pre-Columbian art. The New Spanish materials formed the nucleus for the second stream of influence composed of the various manifestations of religious folk art found primarily in the Southwest

Sources of Chicano Art: Our Lady of Guadalupe

There have been two main streams of influence on Chicano artists aside from the obvious one that is the result of their artistic training, education and development in the United States. The primary influence came from Mexico, first during the colonial period in the form of New Spanish art and architecture, and then in modem times provided by the Mexican muralists through their work and their use of pre-Columbian art. The New Spanish materials formed the nucleus for the second stream of influence composed of the various manifestations of religious folk art found primarily in the Southwest

Incised images among the palaces and temples : the content and meaning of pre-Columbian Maya graffiti

The pre-Columbian Maya civilisation flourished in the jungles of Central America, where many monumental centres developed with examples of sophisticated architectural complexes, such as pyramids, temples, palaces and ballcourts. The interiors of some of these buildings were inscribed or painted with depictions that escape the canons of classic Maya art and are usually described as ‘graffiti’. Maya graffiti constitute one of the most fascinating but still poorly studied aspects of pre-Columbian art. This chapter deals with several different aspects of pre-Columbian Maya graffiti, such as their architectural and archaeo- logical contexts, dating and meaning. We will also elaborate on the subject of an exact definition of graffiti in the scientific discourse of Maya and Mesoamerican studies. As we will demonstrate, the style and content of graffiti are highly com- plex and may reflect different authors and diverse motivations behind their creation. This contribution will also deal with the iconographic diversity of the ancient Maya graffiti corpus, pointing out differences and similarities to graffiti from other pre-industrial societies

Elizabeth Polk Benson (13 May 1924-19 March 2018

An appreciation of the life and work of Pre-Columbian art historian Elizabeth Polk Benson.is presented from multiple points of view

Anni Albers: Pre-Columbian Resonances: The Significance of Pre-Columbian Art in Her Textiles and Writings

Anni Albers is known primarily for her contribution to the Bauhaus Weaving Workshop and her woven prototypes for industrial production; she has rarely been acknowledged for her role in reviving and redefining the Pre-Columbian fiber art tradition. She researched, analyzed, collected, and extensively wrote about Pre-Columbian textiles. Her seminal text, On Weaving, 1965, is not only dedicated to Andean weavers, my great teachers, the weavers of ancient Peru, but is essentially a textbook of Andean weaving techniques, revived and meticulously analyzed by Albers. Furthermore, she and her husband, Josef Albers, amassed an important collection of ancient Mesoamerican sculpture, acquired during and after their many trips to that region. Her pictorial weavings, (a term she preferred over tapestry, even though they are not pictorial in a figurative or narrative way), and her industrial designs (often one and the same) owe a great deal to the monuments of ancient Mesoamerica as well as to Andean textiles. The technical and philosophical approaches that Albers developed at the Bauhaus from 1922 to 1933 are surprisingly similar to those of her Pre-Columbian counterparts; both succeeded in maintaining the inherent truth to their chosen materials, and in creating a visual grammar based on abstraction. Although Albers doubtless had knowledge of the extensive non-western collections in Munich and Berlin, it was only after her emigration to the United States in 1933 and her subsequent direct contact with Pre-Columbian art and source material that her theories were fully refined. This paper will illuminate and analyze some of the essential issues shared by Albers and her Pre-Columbian counterparts

Intermix: traditional pre-Columbian art meets contemporary design

Cultural identity is something that impacts the individual, shaping and influencing them, during their lifetime journey. Each person chooses to embrace that identity differently. For my thesis, I investigated pre-Columbian culture and it’s rich history, specifically source visuals of faces as symbolic forms integrated into my visual study. Exploring: various media, elements that are expressive of national identity, image-making techniques, and my graphic design knowledge as vehicles in my work to uncover a different point of view of my own cultural heritage. The process of finding new graphic representations of traditional pre-Columbian faces, while deconstructing and reconstructing their structure and re-contextualizing into a unique contemporary visual vocabulary, was one of my main goals. This exploration helped me better understand those images that I have carried with me since I was a child, but mostly guided me in the right direction of sharing them with my audience which has never been exposed to pre-Columbian symbols and icons. As a graphic designer, I wanted to share the beauty and rich ethnic traits of my culture. I had a story to tell and I had an obligation and responsibility to tell that story through what I know best, graphic design. I believe that exploring our identity can help us communicate our unique individuality and can be used as a source of inspiration and national pride to tell a unique story. In addition, my goal was to not only challenge myself as an artist while developing an in-depth academic body of work

Origin stories.

This thesis is an investigation into the Peruvian pre-Columbian collection at the Speed Art Museum in Louisville, Kentucky. The Speed Art Museum acquired this collection in 1934 and it has largely remained unresearched for nearly a century after acquisition into the museum’s collection. This investigation is not an attempt to make broad characterizations of pre-Columbian ceramics. Nor is its goal to fill in all the gaps of the collection’s history. Instead, this thesis follows the evidence the collection presents: the physical attributes of the ceramics, the donor’s history, U.S. history, and information from the collection file provided by the Speed Art Museum. A small subset of this collection is investigated in this thesis due to time constraints. Of this subset, two ceramics can be attributed to the Moche civilization and two ceramics can be attributed to the Chimú civilization. With these attributions, the next step is to authenticate the ceramics. The profuse reproduction of pre-Columbian ceramics has been frequently ignored by opportunistic dealers and overlooked by collectors in private collections and directors and curators in museum collections. It is much simpler to brush aside these concerns of authenticity than actually delving into the origins of the object, as detailed in this thesis. Still, the story of this collection should have been written long ago, as many of the resources relied on for this investigation have been available for the past 30 years or more

The Controversies of Deaccession in Museums: The Pre-Columbian Collection at the University of Texas at Austin

Examination of the legal, ethical, and social context and implications of deaccession in museums. Case study on the orphaned pre-Columbian collection at the University of Texas at Austin, deaccessioned from the Texas Memorial Museum.Art and Art Histor

Visual Documentation for Barnett Newman’s Curatorial Projects, 1944-1946 PART II: Commentary and Assessment

The article discusses visual documentation for American artist Barnett Newman\u27s curatorial projects, 1944-1946. Topics include two exhibitions curated by Barnett Newman, Pre-Columbian Stone Sculpture and Northwest Coast Indian Painting; drawing using brush and ink on paper by Newman and double-faced wolf mask; and how Newman\u27s embodied identification with the art of pre-Hispanic and Indigenous American Indian art, as represented in his drawing and in his portrait photograph