chap23

CHAPTER 30
Before and After the Conquistadors:
Native Arts of the Americas After 1300

1. Read the chapter.

Just added -- an extraordinary site on The Aztecs, including the sounds of Aztec music! Then, explore contemporary prints in The Mesoamerican Art Portfolio from New Odyssey Art.

2. Remember these words:

Tenochtitlan, atrial crosses, codex, beadwork, Quetzalcoatl, blackware, matte, dry joining, coiling, shaman

Detail of the gold Tairona pendant from Columbia; page 949 Gardner text.

3. Examine these ideas and issues:

    a. What are some of the Aztec mythological symbols and imagery see in the art? See pages 905-908, and the inset on page 906.
    b. Why did the Spanish conquerors destroy so much of the Aztec, Inka, and other arts of the native peoples of the Americas? See pages 908 and 910.
    c. Discuss the Inka architectural methods of of dry-joined masonry. See pages 908-910.
    d. What does the Kachina doll represent and how is it used by traditonal Hopi and Navajo cultures? See discussion on pages 912-913.
    e. Discuss the revival of puebloan pottery and other Native American traditonal art forms. See pages 913-914.

4. Remember these works of art from the text:

    a. Mictlantecuhtli and Quetzalcoatl, illuminated page from the Borgia Codex, Mexico, c. 1400-1500. Deerskin. Biblioteca Apostolica, Vatican, Rome. See page 905 in the Gardner text.
    b. Coyolxauhqui (She of the Bells), Aztec, from the Great Temple of Tenochitlan, Mexico City, late 15th century. Museum of the Great Temple, Mexico City. Also view Coatlicue (She of the Serpent Skirt). See page 907 for both.
    c. Machu Picchu, Inca, Peru, 15th century. Page 909 in the Gardner text.
    d. Kachina Doll by Otto Pentewa, Hopi, New Oraibi, Arizona, before 1959. Arizona State Museum, University of Arzona, Tucson. Page 912.
    e. View a pot similar to the Blackware Jar by Maria Montoya Martinez, San Ildefonso Pueblo, New Mexico, 1939. National Museum of Women in the Arts, Washington, D.C. See page 913.
    f. Eagle Transformation Mask, open and closed views, Kwakiutl (North West Coast), late 19th century. American Museum of Natural History, New York. See page 914. View a similar Eagle Transformation Mask.
    g. Chilkat blanket with stylized animal motifs. See page 916. View a similar Chilkat blanket.
    h. Honoring song at painted tipi, from the Julian Scott ledger, Kiowa. See page 918.

5. Explore these sites on the Internet:

    a. Visit the Michael C. Carlos Museum at Emory University and a site on Latin American Studies.
    b. Learn all about the Aztec world -- excellent images and information plus more at Dunbarton Oaks!
    c. Examine the traveling exhibition Mexican Folk Retablos: Images of Devotion .
    d. "Welcome to the Taos Pueblo," is a site providing excellent information and images of Pueblo Indian life, virtually unchanged since 1540.
    e. View a collection of Navajo textiles.
    f. Explore Puebloan pottery from the Americas.
    g. Examine "Plains Indians Drawings" at the Drawing Center in New York.
    h. Visit "Curare," a site dedicated to art and cultural criticism, and a new understanding of contemporary Mexican art. Site is available in Spanish and English.

6. Write a one-page report that explains how the native art of the Americas is seen in contemporary art and email your report through the LISTSERV. See the Schedule for date due. If you haven't done so by now, take a look at the additional "links" provided; there are many that relate to the arts of the Americas.

7. Respond to someone else's question and/or discussion issue through the LISTSERV and be sure to participate. See the Schedule for date due.

Here's something extra: find me an authentic "Maria Montoya Martinez" ceramic pottery...somewhere in the Internet...and see if you can find out the price. Send this information to me only.

Then for fun...you must think I have a strange notion of what is "fun"...find the "Wall of Skulls" and tell me the URL.

Page Updated 7/31/06

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