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What are your perceptions of non-Western art? Any favorite pieces?

I have never studied art history formally, but I know something about Italian and Northern Renaissance paintings and book illustrations, and a little about medieval manuscripts.

I have looked at a lot of Chinese art and now I'm onto art of the Persian and Mughal Empires. Chinese art, at least for me, is an acquired taste. In particular, the use of perspective is so different from European Renaissance painting and it really requires a shift in expectation on the part of the viewer. I really like Chinese painting now, especially of the Ming and Qing dynasties. (Tang, Song, and anything earlier I don't like quite as much.)

For whatever reason, I am not warming to Persian and Mughal (below) art. I'm not sure why ... something about it -- the colors? -- grates. Maybe I just haven't looked at enough. And I admit I am very ignorant of its art historical context. Sometimes I wonder if I've been unconsciously conditioned to look at all art through a Western perspective and it negatively impacts my taste.

What are some of your favorite pieces of non-Western art, DL? Help me expand my horizons.

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by Anonymousreply 100February 7, 2021 6:08 PM

Persian miniature:

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by Anonymousreply 1November 21, 2020 4:11 PM

I do love a lot of Asian art. Japanese, Mughal and Persian, Indian arts/crafts/textile design. I also do love "Islamic" art: some of the artwork on buildings is beautiful. Nice that you are broadening your horizons aesthetically.

by Anonymousreply 2November 21, 2020 4:17 PM

Here are the basic non western art traditions.

East Asian, southeast Asian, south Asian including Indian-Persian, and Sub Saharan. There's also tribal art traditions predating all these but now a minor but very wide spread stream.

There are variations of these.

Did I leave anything out?

by Anonymousreply 3November 21, 2020 4:35 PM

Gold work of ancient American empires is amazing.

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by Anonymousreply 4November 21, 2020 4:44 PM

None of it compares to the greatness Europe produced.

by Anonymousreply 5November 21, 2020 5:05 PM

^ Nothing compared to your ignorance.

by Anonymousreply 6November 21, 2020 5:07 PM

I used to think Chinese watercolors like this one were so highly stylized and clichéd that I dismissed them. Then I visited southern China and discovered that they are realistic to the point of being photographic. The strange stone landscapes. The mist rendering everything monochromatic. Clearly you see things differently when you have different things to see.

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by Anonymousreply 7November 21, 2020 5:24 PM

r7 I lived in (northern) China for a while and I think it helped me develop an appreciation for the Chinese aesthetic.

I never made it to the south, sadly. A Chinese friend told me Guilin is considered the most beautiful place in China. I would also love to visit Anhui

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by Anonymousreply 8November 21, 2020 5:35 PM

R6 Please list the great masters of non western art that you feel compare to the Europeans.

by Anonymousreply 9November 21, 2020 5:39 PM

R6 it is also a different way of seeing. Not just what you are seeing.

Here's a one minute clip from a film called A Day in the Canal with the Emperor of China, where David Hockney opens ones eyes to the Chinese way of seeing in their art.

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by Anonymousreply 10November 21, 2020 5:42 PM

R10 Oh please. What Hockney is describing there is pretty elementary. Nothing the Romans weren't doing BC. For sophisticated use of perspective study Vermeer.

by Anonymousreply 11November 21, 2020 5:49 PM

"Bharat Mata" by Abanindranath Tagore

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by Anonymousreply 12November 21, 2020 5:53 PM

"Manasa" by Jamini Roy

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by Anonymousreply 13November 21, 2020 5:55 PM

I really enjoy Japanese art. They understand economy of color and form, and like Chinese art, there is a large emphasis on the emotion imbued in a brush stroke. I just love this paining of a raccoon wrapped around a tea kettle.

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by Anonymousreply 14November 21, 2020 5:56 PM

R11 there's no competition in art. Art is art. Each makes us see. Each is a world view. There's no need to put down one to like another, except to Philistines.

You should watch the while film, it's only an hour.

by Anonymousreply 15November 21, 2020 6:01 PM

I like Persian manuscript painting as much for the storytelling aspect as for the aesthetics. I like the marginal notes and people or animals used as decoration in western illuminated manuscripts for similar reasons.

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by Anonymousreply 16November 21, 2020 6:01 PM

Among the 'tribal' art traditions so offhandedly dismissed above, I would single out Australian aboriginal art, a product of the world's oldest continuous cultures.

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by Anonymousreply 17November 21, 2020 6:07 PM

Oh I didn't mean to dismiss tribal art. What would Picasso be without it? And yes I like aboriginal Australian art, the little that I've interacted with ur.

by Anonymousreply 18November 21, 2020 6:23 PM

[quote]there's no competition in art.

Of course there is.

Otherwise everything is art and everyone is an artist.

If that's your view, fine.

by Anonymousreply 19November 21, 2020 6:50 PM

Forget that eastern spawn of the pagans, nothing says art like a Hummel of two wee children giving the nazi salute.

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by Anonymousreply 20November 21, 2020 7:35 PM

R20 Hummel figurines?. Nothing says art like this!

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by Anonymousreply 21November 21, 2020 7:42 PM

[Quote] Otherwise everything is art and everyone is an artist.

Sure, put that way. You think art is what you or I or a critic says it is?

by Anonymousreply 22November 21, 2020 8:21 PM

R22 Like it or not, there has always been someone in a position to decide what goes and what doesn't. Even in the world that R17 linked too.

by Anonymousreply 23November 21, 2020 8:50 PM

"to"

by Anonymousreply 24November 21, 2020 8:51 PM

I like this Hokusai (Japanese) wave. I think it's woodblock.

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by Anonymousreply 25November 21, 2020 9:04 PM

Of course. That's why we say the cave paintings at Lascaux are art. That painter was an artist and none was "better", whether Roman or Chinese.

If you don't see that it's because you don't know art. You only want it to be a handmaiden to jingoism that reinforces ignorance. Art is debased when it's used to make people feel not transcendence but better about their ignorance.

by Anonymousreply 26November 21, 2020 9:08 PM

R17, love that piece. Never knew about that kind of art. Thank you!

by Anonymousreply 27November 21, 2020 9:14 PM

R26 Can the doodles on my notebook that I claim are art be compared to Michelangelo's David?

by Anonymousreply 28November 21, 2020 9:25 PM

Cool! How do you compare to hiroshige?

by Anonymousreply 29November 21, 2020 9:40 PM

R4, One can only imagine the artistic treasures melted down by the ignorant Spaniards.

by Anonymousreply 30November 21, 2020 10:57 PM

Ancient Egyptian art, especially in the Middle and New Kingdoms, was wonderfully vibrant, with remarkably sensitive portrayals of everyday life.

by Anonymousreply 31November 21, 2020 11:18 PM

There's Richard Spencer at R5.

by Anonymousreply 32November 21, 2020 11:21 PM

I really love Japanese ink and watercolor paintings. I have a lot of Japanese influences in my apartment but it's small so I am careful not to overdo it so it doesn't move into cliche (or in modern parlance, problematic)

by Anonymousreply 33November 22, 2020 12:11 AM

For DLers who are interested in Chinese art, here's a great gallery by courtesy of the National Palace Museum in Taiwan.

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by Anonymousreply 34November 23, 2020 4:09 PM

that's wonderful r34, thank you!

by Anonymousreply 35November 23, 2020 4:59 PM

R32 It is just the truth. The depth, the scope of European art is unparalleled.

by Anonymousreply 36November 23, 2020 5:13 PM

R34 that's another bone of contention between Taiwan and Beijing, the foundation of the Taiwan Museum was the result of evacuation of objects in the Imperial Museum in Beijing before WWII and their eventual relocation to Taiwan during the civil war.

by Anonymousreply 37November 23, 2020 5:22 PM

How on earth Muslims gone from having fabulous bareback orgies centuries ago to throwing gays from tall buildings in 21st century?

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by Anonymousreply 38November 23, 2020 6:07 PM

Of course on DL a thread asking for perceptions on non-Western art will immediately attract an invidious neo-Nazi troll who wants everything to ratify the greatness of the "West." Let's play his game and rule out every tradition in the "West" except for Italian and French. "You like Constable? Pfft, nothing in British art compares to the richness and complexity of the [fill in the blank]."

by Anonymousreply 39November 23, 2020 6:24 PM

R36 is the definition of white supremacy.

by Anonymousreply 40November 23, 2020 6:38 PM

[quote]Of course on DL a thread asking for perceptions on non-Western art will immediately attract an invidious neo-Nazi troll

Oh please.

R40 You are absurd. The thread title asks "What are your perceptions of non-Western art? ". If I said "Western art cannot compare" of course, you would be fine with that.

We all have our opinions. Mine? The depth, the scope of European art is unparalleled.

by Anonymousreply 41November 23, 2020 6:43 PM

It doesn't interest me at all.

by Anonymousreply 42November 23, 2020 7:02 PM

About that "depth and scope" of European art: would this be the same artistic tradition that has been pretty much exclusively devoted to renderings of scenes from absurd Abrahamic fairy tales for most of its existence?

by Anonymousreply 43November 23, 2020 7:48 PM

Khuni panja - "The Bloody Claw". A masterpiece of Indian art.

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by Anonymousreply 44November 23, 2020 7:57 PM

R43 Wow, you are rather ignorant.

by Anonymousreply 45November 23, 2020 8:02 PM

Thank you r34!

by Anonymousreply 46November 23, 2020 10:07 PM

There is so much more to art than paintings, drawings, and illustrations. The visual arts also includes sculpture the decorative arts, and architecture.

I posit that the Terracotta Warriors (2nd century BCE), the classical gardens of Suzhou (11th - 18th centuries), the Temple of Karnak at Luxor, and the Taj Mahal are artistic marvels.

by Anonymousreply 47November 23, 2020 10:31 PM

Celestial Dance (Devata) - 11th century India

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by Anonymousreply 48January 16, 2021 6:12 AM

Isis and Wepwawet, ca. 1279–1213 B.C. Egypt

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by Anonymousreply 49January 16, 2021 6:19 AM

Plaque with dragon, pheasant, quail, and other birds amidst bamboo and plum blossom - late 19th century China

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by Anonymousreply 50January 16, 2021 6:44 AM

God of Wealth, late 17th–early 18th century China

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by Anonymousreply 51January 16, 2021 6:47 AM

Maharana Ari Singh with His Courtiers - Indian, 1767

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by Anonymousreply 52January 16, 2021 7:04 AM

I love the Assyrian and Sumerian reliefs and also the Lamassu!!

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by Anonymousreply 53January 16, 2021 7:13 AM

Me too, R53. I haven't seen them in person but have seen pics of them from the Met, Louvre, British Museum.

by Anonymousreply 54January 16, 2021 7:33 AM

Standing Vishnu as Keshava - Dasoja of Balligrama, 12th century India

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by Anonymousreply 55January 16, 2021 9:05 AM

R38, I would venture to say that, though the manuscript page may be centuries old, the actual painted scene is 20th C.

I've bought a few such hybrid works of Arabic art myself, albeit of much tamer hunting and palace scenes.

by Anonymousreply 56January 16, 2021 2:08 PM

Maybe 21st C.

by Anonymousreply 57January 16, 2021 2:09 PM

R43, Man, you are ignorant! Have you HEARD of the post-Renaissance centuries?!

by Anonymousreply 58January 16, 2021 2:11 PM

Sculpture in Zimbabwe. Not traditional folk art as it dates to the late colonial era.

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by Anonymousreply 59January 16, 2021 2:53 PM

Frog Dreaming by Clifford Possum Tjapaltjarri

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by Anonymousreply 60January 17, 2021 12:13 AM

Altar tusk - Edo peoples, 18th century

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by Anonymousreply 61January 17, 2021 6:57 PM
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by Anonymousreply 62January 17, 2021 7:05 PM

"Smiling" Figure - Remojadas, Mexico, 7th–8th century

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by Anonymousreply 63January 18, 2021 3:37 AM

Gold Figure Pendant - Tairona (north Colombia), 10th-16th century

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by Anonymousreply 64January 18, 2021 3:41 AM

Ready to rip out a human heart, r64. Intricate, but not pleasing.

by Anonymousreply 65January 18, 2021 8:46 AM

Ok, it’s Japanese 15th century Kintsugi and when I first saw it in person, I thought it was a shit repair. Then, I held and felt it and understood why porcelain bullshit could run $750+ The philosophy behind it is too exquisite for these fingers.

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by Anonymousreply 66January 18, 2021 9:06 AM

[quote]Ready to rip out a human heart, R64. Intricate, but not pleasing.

I don't know, R65. The wikipedia article about the Tairona doesn't mention human sacrifice, nor does the description of the pendant on the Met's website, though they probably killed prisoners of war. I heard a radio documentary in which the host said that the widespread, brutal ritual sacrifice of humans by the Aztecs and similar peoples are greatly exaggerated.

I agree it's interesting but not pretty. Love the fabulous headdress.

by Anonymousreply 67January 18, 2021 7:27 PM

This thread makes me miss the old link previews

by Anonymousreply 68January 18, 2021 7:30 PM

Radio program about the Aztecs.

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by Anonymousreply 69January 18, 2021 7:34 PM

Buddha of Medicine, China, ca. 1319

Too bad it's faded so much.

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by Anonymousreply 70January 18, 2021 8:34 PM

Bronze wine container (Pou), China, 13th century BC

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by Anonymousreply 71January 19, 2021 12:23 AM

"Non-Western" art is something only a hegemonist would conceptualize, much less "perceive."

by Anonymousreply 72January 19, 2021 12:27 AM

Moche vase (Peru).

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by Anonymousreply 73January 19, 2021 12:37 AM

Statuette of Amun, Egypt, ca. 945–712 B.C.

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by Anonymousreply 74January 20, 2021 12:31 AM

Nikare with his Wife and Daughter, Egypt, ca. 2400 BC

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by Anonymousreply 75January 20, 2021 12:36 AM

Ok, this one has been popping up at me for years. It’s Victor Delfin and there doesn’t seem to be a title to the piece, but the article is “Visiting A Master” and that’s what I associate with the sculpture.

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by Anonymousreply 76January 20, 2021 4:26 AM

Some kind of elegant display at the Met.

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by Anonymousreply 77January 20, 2021 5:34 AM

I like that one thing by that one guy

by Anonymousreply 78January 20, 2021 5:38 AM

If anyone is in San Francisco, I highly recommend a visit to the Museum of Asian Art. Fantastic, art of many kinds from many cultures.

Classical Chinese painting can be utterly fabulous, as are the decorative arts - the ceramics, jade carvings, and metal artifacts on display. Some of my favorite paintings are of natural scenes, both landscapes and small things like sprigs of bamboo or birds and insects. Here's a bamboo painting, it's a subject where the spontaneous yet controlled brushwork really shines.

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by Anonymousreply 79January 20, 2021 7:50 AM

I can never get into chinese art it just looks ugly to me. Egyptian art is fascinating as is south and central american art.

by Anonymousreply 80January 20, 2021 7:52 AM

I like the art of Giuseppe Castiglione, an Italian missionary who ended up as a painter in the Qing court in the eighteenth century. His work synthesizes European and Chinese art to great effect.

So ... quasi-Western, I suppose.

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by Anonymousreply 81January 20, 2021 8:53 AM

More Castiglione

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by Anonymousreply 82January 20, 2021 8:54 AM

More Castiglione

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by Anonymousreply 83January 20, 2021 8:55 AM

Castiglione's portrait of the Qianlong Emperor

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by Anonymousreply 84January 20, 2021 8:57 AM

And finally, Castiglione's famous painting of horses (click the link, as it's panoramic).

I don't know for certain as I'm not an art historian, but I think Castiglione introduced linear perspective to Qing painting.

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by Anonymousreply 85January 20, 2021 9:00 AM

Adjacent to this thread, but if you like the Chinese aesthetic, check out these amazing performances I recently discovered on YouTube. They're like paintings come to life:

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by Anonymousreply 86January 20, 2021 5:02 PM
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by Anonymousreply 87January 20, 2021 5:03 PM

Fairy and immortal boy, China, 19th century. Made of coral.

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by Anonymousreply 88January 21, 2021 1:59 AM

Personally, I think the West could learn a lesson or two about patterns and design from Islamic architecture.

There's something so mesmerizing about a pleasing symmetrical pattern / patterns that work well together.

I'd like to see more of that than the typical pediments, columns, and overdused ornamentation / construction. We need more original looking buildings.

by Anonymousreply 89January 21, 2021 2:04 AM

Thanks for the beautiful art, R81. I especially like the Portrait of Lady Hoja and the vibrant colors of the Qianlong Emperor in Ceremonial Armor.

by Anonymousreply 90January 21, 2021 2:06 AM

I agree with much of what you're saying, R89, but I'm not really a fan of the contemporary Turkish, Persian, etc take on architecture. Too many windows, too many curved lines. I guess it depends what you're used to.

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by Anonymousreply 91January 21, 2021 2:20 AM

Pierced window screen, India, 16th century. Made of red sandstone.

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by Anonymousreply 92January 21, 2021 2:24 AM

R91 - that's a joke response, right?

Because obviously, some residential mid-level McMansion of new immigrants to Canada was not what I was referring to.

by Anonymousreply 93January 21, 2021 2:51 AM

How did you know that was in Canada, R93 / Sanjay?

Then what are you referring to in terms of contemporary architecture, R93 / Sanjay?

by Anonymousreply 94January 21, 2021 4:37 AM

R89 / Sanjay, everybody knows that the only acceptable style for a house is "Stockbroker Georgian". You know, like that jailbird Conrad Black's old digs in Rosedale.

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by Anonymousreply 95January 21, 2021 5:23 AM

Capital of a column from the palace of Darius I, 510 BC.

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by Anonymousreply 96January 23, 2021 10:54 PM

Folding screen with birthday celebration for General Guo Ziyi, China, 19th century.

Carved red and black lacquer

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by Anonymousreply 97January 23, 2021 10:59 PM

Chun Liao - Installation IV

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by Anonymousreply 98January 23, 2021 11:14 PM

Ceremonial House ceiling, Kwoma people, Papua New Guinea - at the Met

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by Anonymousreply 99January 28, 2021 6:25 AM

Night Revels by Gu Hongzhong

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by Anonymousreply 100February 7, 2021 6:08 PM
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