1. CHICAGO ART SCENE
WEEK 2

2. Works that represent the world around us
Representational Art
Works that represent the world around us
Nonrepresentational (nonobjective) Art
Art that does NOT depict the natural world

3. Works that represent the world around us
Representational Art
Works that represent the world around us
Naturalistic Closely resembles the forms it portrays
Abstract Simplifies, fragments, or distorts the form
Stylized Relies on standardized methods for depicting form

4. Bronze Head, Yoruba people, Ife Region
Naturalistic
Pablo Picasso, First Communion

5. Abstract
Pablo Picasso,
Seated Woman Holding a Fan
Jacob Lawrence,
Harriet Tubman Series

6. Stylized
Sample of Egyptian Art

7. Works that represent the world around us
Representational Art
Works that represent the world around us
Nonrepresentational (nonobjective) Art
Art that does NOT depict the natural world

8. Mark Rothko,
Yellow and Orange

9. Benin Art: An Overview

10. The Benin Kingdom

11. Basic Terms
Relief: sculpture in which figures project from the background
Bas-relief: figures project a little
High relief: figures project a lot, often by half their depth or more

12. Basic Terms
Casting: the process of of pouring liquid into a mold, letting it harden, then releasing it

13. Basic Terms Scale: Size in relation to what’s “normal”
Hierarchical Scale: More important figures are larger than less important figures

14. Basic Terms Symbol: an image or sign that represents something else
Mudfish
Leopards
Snakes
Crocodiles
Elephants
Birds

15. Craft Guilds Brass casters Blacksmiths Ivory & wood carvers Weavers
Leather workers
Bead makers

16. Two guildsmen: brass caster and ivory carver

17. At the Art Institute
Altar objects

18. Altar Head of an Oba (16th cent.); Oba’s Altar Tusk (mid-19th cent.)

19. Ancestral altars

20. At the Art Institute
Altar objects
Ceremonial objects & regalia

21. Oba Erediauwa in coral regalia

22. Oba’s Fly Whisk
(18th/19th cent.)

23. Iyoba (“Queen Mother”) Idia
Mother of Oba Esigie
Medicine woman
Commander
Given her own palace
Altar head crafted at death
Hip Pendant, 16th cent.

24. At the Art Institute Altar objects Ceremonial objects & regalia
Palace “décor”

25. Plaque of Oba Ozolua with warriors and attendants