Art History Final Exam

Question 1

Abstract/abstraction

Answer 1

Africa – origins of human creativity
Pablo Picasso sees sculptures from Africa and begins incorporating visuals in work
Simplistic, static, abstract simplified form of African style, appealed to avante garde – ignored ritual significance
Cubism

Question 2

Age of exploration

Answer 2

Great age of overseas expansion

Question 3

Berlin conference, 1884-85

Answer 3

How to border off Africa

Question 4

Benin Bronzes

Answer 4

Royal Arts – something like 3,000 artifacts that belong to category of Benin Bronzes
British museum, 50 plaques on display, but 1,000 in storage
Cannot be readily found in modern-day Benin
Relief plaque made in lost plaque technique
Bringing copper to Benin for trade/Copper bracelets as currency
Notion of overseas trade source of kingdom wealth
River-leaf pattern = Olokun
(Punitive expedition)

Question 5

Benin Kingdom

Answer 5

Colonial Africa – The scramble for Africa
Benin – territorial claim of Britain
Ancient Benin in Nigeria
Benin bronzes not all made of bronze – Ivory, wood, tusks, leopard statues

Question 6

Black ships

Answer 6

Coal powered ships
Perception of black ships in Japan – depictions look demonic + personified
The American depiction looks measured and methodical

Question 7

Bokashi technique

Answer 7

The gradation of colour to form a sense of space

Question 8

British punitive expedition

Answer 8

Of 1897: A retaliative war, seize Benin “loot”

Question 9

Commodore Matthew Perry (British soldier)

Answer 9

Sailed to Japan, demanded opening of trade

Question 10

Colonial/colonizing/colonization

Answer 10

Subsequent colonization, and then to the post-independence interactions with the West
Times article talk about sudden arrival of Portuguese sailor in 1450
“With their pale skin, the visitors fit an existing visual model for supernatural beings. That they came by sea, the realm of spirits and of the dead, reinforced this identity…”

Question 11

Contemporary photography

Answer 11

Take photos for function + art

Question 12

Cubism/cubist

Answer 12

shifting perspectives by putting it in one image

Collapsing length/depth/height/4th dimension of time

Question 13

Deadpan (in photography)

Answer 13

• Shot straight on
• Flat or undramatic light
• A documentation context
• Unemotional
• ‘Boring’ or understated

Question 14

Edo/Tokyo

Answer 14

Read modernization: Edo is no longer Edo, Edo is becoming Tokyo during Meji restoratio; Tokyo residence of emperor

Question 15

Edo Period

Answer 15

1185, Japan was ruled by warrior elite = Shogun (military dictators)

Question 16

Europhilia

Answer 16

A Europhile is a person who is fond of, admires, or loves European culture, society, history, food, music etc.

Question 17

Exotic/Exoticizing

Answer 17

Seeing the “Other” as excessively different

Question 18

Hiroshige

Answer 18

Utagawa Hiroshige influenced by Mount Fuji (multiple individuals named Hiroshige, likely related)

Question 19

Iberian art

Answer 19

Iberian sculpture – terracotta colour and heavy sculptur: ‘primitive’

Question 20

Industrialization

Answer 20

Jules Ferry – Pushing to expand France’s economy; mentions France’s need for new export markets… ideas of cultural and racial superiority : “superior races have right over inferior races… duty to civilize”
David Livingstone – “A prospect is before us of opening Africa for commerce and the Gospel…give him the light of Christianity”
Factories, ect.

Question 21

Imperial etc.

Answer 21

Practice of colonialism – idea of imperialism + nationalism

Question 22

Impressionism

Answer 22

Impressionists accused of being slap-dash, but credited with being systematic and methodological in their approach

• Studying light
• Paying attention to colour

Question 23

Japonisme

Answer 23

A French term coined in the late 19th century to describe the craze for Japanese art and design in the West

Question 24

Josiah Conder (architect)

Answer 24

A British architect who was hired by the Meiji Japanese government as a professor of architecture for the Imperial College of Engineering and became architect of Japan’s Public Works

Question 25

Kesai Eisen

Answer 25

The Courtesan (after Eisen) – copy of cover by Kesai Eisen

Question 26

Meiji Restoration

Answer 26

Restoration of Imperial rule

Question 27

Modernism/modernity

Answer 27

Modernism – brought about by the industrial revolution

Question 28

Mount Fuji

Answer 28

Mount Fuji (lone mountain) – element of the traditional

Question 29

Mudfish

Answer 29

King’s dual nature as both human and divine

Question 30

Nation-state/nationalism

Answer 30

National art; Western idea set in nation-state boundaries

Question 31

Oba

Answer 31

Benin ruler

Question 32

The "Other"

Answer 32

Sense of exoticism/preconceptions/viewing differences as separate from yourself

Question 33

Olokun

Answer 33

Spiritual counterpart to Oba

Question 34

Pointilism

Answer 34

“bedlam” “scandal” and “hilarity” | Dissolves brushstrokes to engage with what the eye fundamentally observes through the optic nerve

Question 35

Portuguese

Answer 35

- Hat/feather | - Holding hoop shaped object likely a manila

Question 36

'Primitive' art

Answer 36

African masks and statuary, sculptures from the Iberian Peninsula

Question 37

Printmaking

Answer 37

Printmaking as a product of line | Makes multiples

Question 38

Realism

Answer 38

Realism - morals in painting

Question 39

"scramble for Africa"

Answer 39

Colonial Africa – The scramble for Africa

Question 40

Shogun

Answer 40

Military dictators in Japan during Edo period

Question 41

Southern barbarians

Answer 41

Japanese

Question 42

Blue-eyed barbarians

Answer 42

Westerners

Question 43

Surrealism

Answer 43

A twentieth-century literary, philosophical, and artistic movement that explored the workings of the mind, championing the irrational, the poetic, and the revolutionary Mind, dreamscapes, subconscious, Freud, Id, etc.

Question 44

Tableau photography

Answer 44

A ‘tableau vivant’ French meaning “living picture.” Before photography was invented, it was a popular pastime to recreate scenes from famous paintings at parties. Participants would dress up, use props, backgrounds and poses to re-stage the original image

Question 45

Tengu

Answer 45

Tengu are a type of legendary creature found in Japanese folk religion. They are considered a type of yōkai or Shinto kami. The tengu were originally thought to take the forms of birds of prey, and they are traditionally depicted with both human and avian characteristics.

Question 46

ukiyo-e (images of the floating world)

Answer 46

Line and pattern drive composition: image is flat and decorative, influenced by Japanese aesthetics

Question 47

West/Westernization

Answer 47

Westernization also looks outward at international ring Constitutional monarchy – sign of westernization, but intended to earn Western/European approval Colonize or be colonized

Question 48

Woodblock print

Answer 48

Woodblock printing or block printing is a technique for printing text, images or patterns used widely throughout East Asia and originating in China in antiquity as a method of printing on textiles and later paper.