1. Exploring Art:A Global,Thematic
Approach
Chapter 5
Who Makes Art?

2. Who Makes Art?
• Art Production as a social activity
– Artists operate within the framework of their own
culture
– Various people provide support
– Leaders in society set standards

3. Imhotep. Stepped
Pyramid of Djoser,
2650-2631 BCE.
Saqqarah, Egypt.
Art Production as Social Activity
Thousands contributed to pyramid construction, including architects,
engineers, priests, skilled workers, and laborers.

4. Pyramids at Giza

5. About Artists
• Examine the education and training of artists across
cultures and time:
– medieval guilds,
– European art academies,
– Islamic kitab-khana among others.
• Examine the context for art making
– workshops
– community art making
– fabricators, assistants, and technicians
– the artist as object-maker
– collaborations

6. Italian Renaissance studio of Verrocchio
and his pupil Leonardo da Vinci.
The angel to the left is attributed to the
youthful Leonardo.
Verrocchio was a sculptor, goldsmith
and painter. He ran a large workshop in
Florence. His fame was chiefly in his
sculptured works.
The workshop, like the current day
college, functioned as a training ground
for young artists. It was headed by a
master, who would take commissions
and oversee the production of works.
Apprentices (12-14 yrs.) trained about
twelve years.
Andrea del Verrocchio.
Baptism of Christ, 1472-1475
Verrocchio’s Workshop

7. Based on a Sufi (Islamic mystic) poet,
(current day Afghanistan), best known
for his Walled Garden of Truth the work
expresses the poet’s ideas on God, love,
philosophy and reason.
After the Mongol conquest of Persia in
the 13th
c. miniature painting became a
major form of artistic expression in this
area of the Islamic world.
As foreign rulers of an Islamic culture the
Mongols found texts and illustrations an
effective way to communicate their
values and history. They set up
workshops known as the kitab khana in
their capital cities to produce and copy
books.
Workshop—main painter (drew outlines),
less senior painters (colored), third artist
(faces), border painters and scribes.
Sana’i d.1131
Jaganath, Scribe and Painter at
Work, from The Garden of Truth,
Mughal, c.1600 1st
miniature, folio
15. pen and ink on paper

8. Compare the kind of artist education necessary for the two images above.
Andrea del Verrocchio. Baptism of Christ, 1472-1475;
Jaganath. Scribe and Painter at Work, from the Hadiqat Al-Haqiqat
(The Garden of Truth) by Hakim Sana’I, Mughal, 1599-1600. First
miniature, folio 15. pen and ink on paper
GUILD AND SCHOOL
Early example of academy training 13th
—17th
c. Persia—
kitab khaan

9. 15th
Europe Academies replaced guilds.
1. Provide art training for students
2. Sponsor lectures in theory and establish
aesthetic standards
3. Accept mature artists as members
King Louis XIV established French
Academy—controlled decorative arts,
architecture (Versailles), painting and
landscape architecture
Portrait by Jollain shows absolute ruler—
ala academy influence
Jollain the Elder, Portrait of Louis XIV
holding the plan for the Royal House at
Saint-Cyr, 1661-75 oil on canvas,
87x65”

10. Royal Academy of Painting and Sculpture (1648)
Modeled after the Academy of St. Luke, Rome
Paris had a guild of the same name.
Purpose:
professionalize artists working for the
French court
1661—under Colbert—glorification of
Louis XIV
1683—Le Brun—greatest power—strict
system of education
1793—suspended by the revolutionary
National Convention
Later renamed Academy of Painting and
Sculpture

11. Community Art Making
• Who has ever seen!—Who
has every heard tell, in times
past, that powerful princes…
nobles, men and women, have
bent their proud and haughty
necks to the harness of carts
and that like beasts of burden
they have dragged to the
abode of Christ these wagons,
loaded with wines, grains, oil,
stone, wood and all that is
necessary for the wants of life,
or for the construction of the
church?

12. The Furriers and Drapers Guild, Donors of the St-James Window

13. Detail of Chartres stained-glass window of St. Lubin,1200-1210
Gothic stained glass
lancet window 13th
c.
Legend of St. Lubin;
the young shepherd
Lubin, later bishop
of Chartres, studies
this alphabet, while
his companions drink
wine.
North side of the
nave of the
Cathedral of
Chartres, France.

14. Role of Artists in Various Cultures
• Compare the different role of artists across
cultures and time periods
– Art making based on gender
• Quilters
– Artist as skilled worker
• Medieval craftsmen and Communist China
– The artist-scientist
– The artist-priest
– The creative genius
– Rulers as artists

15. Eva Hesse. (1936-1970). Repetition Nineteen III. 1968.
Fiberglass and polyester resin, nineteen units, Each 19 to 20 1/4"
• Nineteen bucketlike
forms, all the same
shape but none exactly
alike. Nor do they
have a set order, since
Hesse allowed latitude
in placing them: "I
don't ask that the piece
be moved or changed,
only that it could be
moved and changed.
There is not one
preferred format.”

16. Eva Hesse. (1936-1970). Repetition Nineteen III. 1968.
Fiberglass and polyester resin, nineteen units, Each 19 to 20 1/4"
• The Minimalist artists, who
emerged a little before Hesse
did, had explored serial
repetitions of identical units.
Hesse loosened that principle:
Repetition 19 is
simultaneously repetitive and
irregular. She also tended to
work on a humbler scale, and
her forms and materials are
less technocratic; she herself
called the forms in Repetition
19 "anthropomorphic," and
recognized sexual
connotations in these "empty
containers."

17. Baule Seated Female Figure
owner (not artist) associated with
work because they perform the
rituals that give the work
meaning.
Annunciation by Fra Angelico
(artist priest)

18. Diagram of the Dome of the Masjid-i-Shah, or Royal Mosque. Isfahan, Iran, 1612–
1637. The left diagram shows the pattern design on the dome, while the three on
the right show the interrelatedness of the square and circle, and the geometric
basis of the patterns.
Square symbolic or earthbound—rocks, crystals
Circle represented organic—heat, movement—closeness to Creator
Artist as scientist—metaphor for the infinite spirit of Allah

19. Leonardo, Proportions of the Human Figure, Vitruvian Man, 1492
The drawing was accompanied by
notes based on the work of the
ancient Roman architect Vitruvius.
Man as circle and square, based
on the correlations of ideal human
proportions with geometry.
Exemplifies the blend of art and
science during the Renaissance.
Leonardo believed the workings of
the human body to be an analogy
for the workings of the universe.
Artist as genius

20. The Artist Priest
• Art is a vehicle for spirituality
• Tie between sacred writing and art making
– Illuminated manuscripts
– Calligraphy
• Native American spiritual art
– Navajo sacred ceremonies
– Kachina Dolls

21. God Te Rongo and His Three Sons. Wood,
273/8" high. Cook Islands, Polynesia, c.
1800–1900. The British Museum,
London.
Cook Island deity—created by sculptor priest

22. Cross and Carpet page from the Lindisfarne Gosple
Decorative pages at the beginning
of each Gospel are know as Carpet
pages because the look like oriental
rugs.
In general, the artisans responsible
for an illuminated manuscript are
many and unknown. The
Lindisfarne Gospels are an
exception. The creator was a monk
know as Eadfrith who was Bishop
of Lindisfarne from 698 to 721.

23. Fra Angelica, Annunciation, Early Renaissance
Medieval manuscript image of scribe.

24. Imhotep. Stepped
Pyramid of Djoser,
2650-2631 BCE.
Saqqarah, Egypt.
Creative genius
Associated with the concept of genius—priest, scribe, physician and
minister to the pharaoh. After is death he was worshiped as one of the
Egyptian gods.

25. European concept of creative genius
Renaissance concept due to the rise of
humanism which asserted an individual’s worth
and emphasized learning.

26. 19th
c. Romantic era in Europe
New concept of genius expanded to included to
include, personal creativity, uniqueness, strong
feeling, adventure, individuality and imagination.
Turner, Snowstrom, 1842

27. A final variation—artist as troubled, tragic or
alienated genius
"This morning I saw the country from
my window a long time before sunrise
with nothing but the morning star,
which looked very big."
Rooted in imagination and memory,
The Starry Night embodies an inner,
subjective expression of van Gogh's
response to nature.
In thick sweeping brushstrokes, a
flamelike cypress unites the churning
sky and the quiet village below. The
village was partly invented, and the
church spire evokes van Gogh's
native land, the Netherlands.

28. Support for Art Making
• Patronage and private support
• “The Market” – the fine art market
and the tourist market
• Tax supported art

29. Japanese woodblock prints were
made for the merchant class.
Hokusai, Great Wave
Hokusai, The Great Wave, c.1831

30. Baule Female Figure—personal shrine.
14 November 2008,
sold at auction for $8,125.
A Baule Female Figure, Ivory Coast, 22 ½”

31. Aids Memorial Quilt, est. 54 tons
Largest piece of community folk art in the world as of 2010.

32. Dia Art Foundation
Dia has defined itself as a vehicle for the relaization
of extraordinary artists’ projects that might not
otherwise be supported by more conventional
institutions.
Smithson’s Spiral Jetty (1970)
was acquired by Dia as a gift
from the Estate of the artist in
1999.

33. Dia also owns and preserves
Walter De Maria’s Lightning Field,
1977
400 stainless
steel poles in
one mile grid in
a remote area of
the high desert
of western New
Mexico.
Dia offers
overnight visits
during the month
of May through
October.

34. Percent for Art
Please send résumé and cover letter to:
Percent for Art
New York City Department of Cultural Affairs
31 Chambers Street, 2nd Floor
New York, NY 10007
Alice Adams, schoolyard garden
at PS 12—inspired by African
design and woodwork…each
African Garden seat is different.
Sponsor: Dept. of Education
Brownsville section of Brooklyn

35. Public Art Fund (non-profit private funds)
• Tatzu Nishi (b. 1960, Nagoya, Japan) is known
internationally for his temporary works of art
that transform our experience of monuments,
statues, and architectural details. His
installations give the public intimate access to
aspects of our urban environment and at the
same time radically alter our perceptions. For
his first public project in the United States,
Nishi has chosen to focus on the historic statue
of Christopher Columbus.

38. The marble statue, which rises to
more than 75 feet atop a granite
column, was designed by the
Italian sculptor Gaetano Russo. It
was unveiled in 1892 to
commemorate the 400th
anniversary of Columbus’s first
voyage to the Americas. Despite
its prominent public location, the
statue itself is little known, visible
only as a silhouette against the
sky or at a distance from
surrounding buildings.

39. • Nishi’s project re-imagines the colossal 13-foot-tall
statue of Columbus standing in a fully furnished,
modern living room. Featuring tables, chairs, couch,
rug, and flat-screen television, the décor reflects the
artist’s interpretation of contemporary New York
style. He even designed wallpaper inspired by
memories of American popular culture, having
watched Hollywood movies and television as a child in
Japan. Discovering Columbus offers both a unique
perspective on a historical monument and a surreal
experience of the sculpture in a new context.
Allowing us to take a journey up six flights of stairs to
a fictional living room, Tatzu Nishi invites us to
discover for ourselves where the imagination may
lead.

44. What do we do with art?
• Using art: decoration, display, performance, ritual
and prayer, entertainment, leadership and power
displays
• Keeping art: museums, collections, restoration
• When art is not saved: destruction of art, art in
rituals, non-object art
• Studying art: art history, aesthetics, art criticism,
archeology, cultural anthropology, human
development

45. Keeping Art
• WHY: PLEASURABLE, AESTHETIC AND
STIMULATING
• HOW:
– Art collections
– Museums and private collections
– National, regional and other art museums
– Museums and new technology
– Museum design
– Preservation and restoration

46. Equestrian statue of Marcus Aurelius, ca.
175 CE. Bronze, approx. 11’6” high.
Musei Capitolini, Rome.
The original function—to reinforce or assert authority. In museums
today, the function is to educate the public about other cultures, to
provide visual pleasure, and to entertain.

47. Exterior of the Cathedral of St.
Basil the Blessed, 1555-1561.
Moscow (red square).
GLORY OF A NATION
Why:
Aesthetics
Power—commissioned by Czar
Ivan to celebrate military victories
over the Mongols
Today:
National pride—symbol of Old
Russia
Tourist attraction

48. TOTEM POLES, VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA, C.1950-90
• GLORY OF A SUBGROUP WITHIN A NATION

49. Feathered Headdress of Moctezuma. Quetzal and cotinga feathers, gold plaques. Aztec, c.
1519. Kunsthistorisches Museum.
• War booty from last Aztec ruler to Cortes—sent to
Spanish king Charles V

50. One of over a dozen Egyptian obelisks in Rome
• Heliopolis—one of the
oldest cities of ancient
Egypt—obelisk from the
5th
Dynasty
• Egypt was invaded and
occupied by ancient
Rome and France under
Napoleon.
• It’s treasures were
seized by the Romans,
French and British
Empires.

51. One of over a dozen Egyptian obelisks in Rome
• Taking an obelisk from
Egypt and placing it at an
important site in the
Roman Empire was an act
of great symbolic
importance
political/religious.
• Political—spoils of triumph
• Augustus was the first ruler
to relocate an Egyptian
obelisk into a new context.
• Moved by Augustus to
Alexandria, Caligula moved
it to Rome.

52. One of over a dozen Egyptian obelisks in Rome
• 1585, Pope Sixtus had the
330-ton obelisk moved ¼
mile to St. Peter’s Square.
• The obelisk provides an
ideal visual anchor with the
cross on the summit. This
once trophy of Roman
imperialism…symbol of
triumph of Christianity over
paganism.

53. Herakles or Dionysus, c. 447-432 BCE,
from the east pediment of the
Parthenon, Acropolis. Athens, Greece.
Marble, approx. 3’6”. British
Museum,London.
Museums and art saved in museums
The Elgin Marbles reside in The British
Museum, 1823-1847. London.

54. Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer
• The Bloch-Bauer paintings,
stolen by the Nazis in 1938,
hung in Vienna's Belvedere
museum.
• June 19, 2006…A dazzling
gold-flecked 1907 portrait by
Gustav Klimt was purchased
for the Neue Galerie NYC
by the cosmetics magnate
Ronald S. Lauder for $135
million, the highest sum ever
paid for a painting.

55. When Art is Not Saved
• Discuss the loss of art and art that
is meant to be temporary
– Art destroyed in conflicts
• Destruction of art and
architecture throughout
history
• “Iconoclasm”
– Art used dynamically in rituals
• Art created – and
destroyed – as part of a
ritual
– Non-object art

56. The Buddha Statues of Bamiyan, Afghanistan destroyed in 2001
World’s tallest statue of Budda 175 feet, 2,000-years-old (90 miles west of Kabul)
Taliban Supreme Commander ordered the destruction of all statues in Afghanistan.
The destruction of pre-Islamic figures was designed to stop the worshipping of “false
idols”.

57. In ancient Rome, art was displayed in the Baths of Caracalla

59. • 15th
c. museum meant
collection
• 18th
c. museum came to
mean the building in
addition to the collection
• 19th
c. museums became
common in Europe
• Capitalism with its
emphasis on ownership,
control and possession
encourged its growth
Studiolo of Francesco de’ Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany, c.1570.

60. • National museum—
• British Museum
• Louvre
• Smithsonian Institute
• Vatican Museum
• Many founded in the
18th
c. – 19th
c. in the
same atmosphere of
categorizing that led
to the encyclopedia.

61. Herakles or Dionysus, c. 447-432 BCE,
from the east pediment of the
Parthenon
Museums and art saved in museums
1753 British Museum—focus ancient
Greece and Rome and Renaissance Italy
Large museums often benefit from conquest
and colonization
Ingres, Grand Odalisque—during the
colonial era—European fascination with the
exotic
The British Museum, 1753, founded for “inspection and entertainment of the learned
and curious, for the general use and benefit of the public.”

62. • Art Museum
– Private institutions
– Public museums
– University-run
• Art Musuems
• 19th
c.—first US art
museum featured
plaster copies of
famous sculpture
• 20th
c.—expanded
to include painting,
sculpture,
printmaking and
decorative arts

63. Army of the First Emperor of Qin in pits next to his burial mound, c.210 BCE Lintong, China
painted terra-cotta, average 5’10”
• Regional museums
serve the interests of
a specific locality and
reflect that area’s
cultural history.
• The Army’s purpose
was to help rule
another empire in the
afterlife.

64. No two faces are the same.
In 221 BCE, Qin declared himself emperor, ending 100 years of war and
unifying China—money, system of measure, writing, language. He even
had all axle widths the same size so all wheels would fit in street ruts.
It took 700-thousand people more than 30 years to complete.

65. Media museum and virtual museum
• Media museum
• Artwork technology
driven
• Virtual museum
• online

66. Preservation and Restoration
• Preservation
• Climate-control
counters—weather,
pollution, tourist wear
and tear, damage by
souvenir hunters,
damage from war
• Restoration goal
• Return damaged or
deteriorating art to its
original condition.

67. Leonardo, Mona Lisa, c.1503
• Bulletproof glass as well as humidity, temperature and controlled lighting.

68. Michelangelo, Pieta,
• Attached with
hammer in
1972.

69. • Hall of the Bison, Paleolithic cave painting, 15000—8000 BC. Altamira, Spain
• Closed to the public in and replica opened in 2001

70. Buddha face, Temple of Bayon, Angkor Thom, Angkor, Cambodia
• Cleaning practices in
question.
• Subjected to modern
detergents and
herbicides to clean off
mold and fungus and
to retard new plant
growth

71. Michelangelo,
Sistine Chapel Sibyl before and after cleaning

72. Iconoclasm
• Destruction of sacred images

73. Bamiyan Stone Buddha, 4th
or 5th
c. CE Bamiya, Afghanistan
demolished March 2001 by the Taliban because the Koran forbids religious images

74. -object”
Andy Goldsworthy. Dandelion Line,
2000. Storm King Sculpture Park,
New York.
Outdoor installation (like
performance art)—preserved and
sold in photographs through
galleries.

75. Robert Smithson. Spiral Jetty, 1970.
Compare the different ways of art making
and how people contribute
Smithson, Floating Island to
Travel around Manhattan Island,
1970/2005
September 17-25, 2005

76. Danish artist Olafur Eliasson created The New York City Waterfalls Project
Four waterfalls ranging from 90 to 120 feet, 2008

77. Studying Art
• Art history: historical study of visual art
• Aesthetics: branch of philosophy that studies
“beauty”
• Art criticism: judgments about the value of art
exhibits and events
• Archeology: study of physical remains of past
human life
• Cultural anthropology: study of humanity within
cultures
• Human development: various studies of human
growth and development

78. • Art is experienced through performance or
display.
• People keep art because it is important to
them.
• Governments keep art for its sacred or
aesthetic qualities, for national pride, for
enriching their cultural treasure and for a
stronger economy

79. • Art is kept in private an public collections.
• Museums vary in kind and purpose
• Art preservation and restoration bring
economic, aesthetic and technological
challenges,