NATIVE ART OF THE AMERICAS By Eddie Yang, Michael Huang, and Nikhil Srikumar.

NATIVE ART OF THE AMERICASBy Eddie Yang, Michael Huang, and Nikhil Srikumar

Introduction to Native Arts of the Americas

• This chapter studies the art of pre-Columbian (before arrival of Columbus and Europeans) Mesoamerican, South American, and North American.

• The principal regions of pre-Columbian Mesoamerica would consist of the northern region of modern day Central America, and while being in North America, its art is not considered North American Art.

• The Spanish conquests of Cortes and Pizarro cause for the rapid decline and destruction of Native America.

Importance of Olmec Culture in Mesoamerican Art

• The diversity of the vast region of Mesoamerica all seemed to have roots from the Olmec Culture. The Olmec Culture acted as a mother culture of Mesoamerica. The reason for this, is that main parts of Mesoamerican culture, such as religious, social, and artistic traditions came from Olmec Culture. As seen so many times in history before, the culture of the time impacted the art. Even though new cultures arrive in this region, Olmec culture had a strong influence on them.

Teotihuacan and Monumental Architecture• In traditional Olmec culture, there are embryonic civic

centers, however this changed with the building of the Teiotihuacan. The Teiotihuacan was a monumental Metropolitan area at an Olmec site. This city was supposedly the sixth largest city in the world at it’s peak. The city was planned out like Greek and Roman cities. One of the main aspects of the city is a grand avenue down the middle of the city that leads to a temple called the Pyramid of the Sun. The variety of buildings in the city, and the city plans show one of the first examples of monumental and planned architecture in Mesoamerica. Besides monuments, the city also had a grand variety of bright mural paintings that appeared on buildings and walls. The streets of Teotihuacan must have been brightly adorned, during the peak of the city.

Mayan Civilization in Mesoamerica• Aspects from Olmec tradition and Teotihuacan, can both be

shown in the Classical Maya period. The Mayans built a great variety of monumental architecture, such as temple-pyramids, palaces, plazas, and ball courts. The buildings usually had large symbols or images that showed the purpose of the building. All of these monuments were then fully adorned in Mayan paintings and sculptures. Mayan paintings and sculptures usually glorified the greatness of their rulers and gods, the Mayans used vivid colors and extravagant props to emphasize this. Besides architecture and art, the Mayans were also skilled in science and astronomy, with records of the movement of the moon and sun. Overall, the Mayan culture differed from the Olmec culture in many ways, but influence from the Olmec culture is still seen.

Art of South America• South American culture predates even the oldest of Mesoamerica. The

indigenous people of Andean South America also created a grand variety of monuments, sculptures, paintings, and much more during the peak of their civilization. The central region of Andean South America was in between Ecuador and Chile and contained a variety of cultures.

• On of these cultures was the Chavin culture who created large U-shaped buildings with flat tops. Some of these grand structures were as high as twenty stories tall, which is quite a feat as the Chavin culture thrived at a relatively early point in the history of Pre-Columbian South America.

• Coastal Cultures such as the Paracas, Nasca, and Moche also thrived in South America, and they all showed a grand variety of different art. These cultures produced remarkable ceramics, textiles, and turquoise that was inlaid with gold. These pieces also did not focus on only one topic, as the subject of these pieces varied from depictions of humans and animals, to depictions of great rulers.

• The Tiwanaku and Wari were Northern South American cultures that thrived in modern day Bolivia and Peru. The Tiwanaku culture created monumental architecture, and the Wari people created intricate and colorful tapestries.

Art of North America• The cultures of early Native America called for lots of movement. The

Eskimo culture specifically called for this, which is the reason why all of their art is small and compact, as it needed to be easily transported. Their artwork consisted of small ivory and stone statues.

• The Adena people that settled in the woodlands east of the Mississippi lived in large urban areas, and stayed in one place unlike the Eskimos. The Adena people built great mounds, one of these mounds in Southern Illinois was to believed to be an Urban area that once housed about twenty thousand people. The Adena people also created mounds that resembled animals or birds. Another example of monumental architecture like these great mounds is the Cliff Palace that was made by the Puebloans (Anasazi) in modern day Colorado. This monumental structure is wedged into a ledge, which helped the Puebloans keep warm in winter and cool in summer.

• Besides the Nasca and Moche cultures in South America there was also a great tradition for ceramics in the Mimbre culture in what is now Southwestern U.S.A. The black and white painted bowls that were produced by the Mimbres are arguably the finest ceramics of any of the Native American cultures.

Image of Serpent Mound made by the Adena

Major Art and ArchitectureN: Colossal Head, Olmec, La Venta, MexicoD: 900-400 BCEP/S: Mesoamerica, Olmec/Preclassic West MexicoA: UnknownM/T: Basalt, Subtractive CarvingF: Evoke Awe When SeenC: This is one of over a dozen similar huge basalt heads found in Mexico. Depicts ruler of Olmec rulers.DT: Massive (weighs about 10 tons), Full round, symmetrical, neutral colors (gray), shows perspectiveIdeas: The huge head is meant to express the great power of the Olmec leaders. The individualized features and distinctive headgear as well as the Mayan practice of carving portraits of their rulers suggests that this head represents a ruler rather than a deity.

N: the Castillo, Maya, Chichen Itza, Mexico

D: 800-900 BCE

P/S: Mesoamerica, Postclassic Mexico

A: Unknown Mayans

M/T: Stone, layering of stone

F: Temple dedicated to Kukulkan

C: A result of the Mayans experimenting with building construction and  materials. Example of monumental architecture that has some influence from Teotihuacan.

DT: Tall, total number of steps total 365 (matching days of a year), During winter and summer equinoxes the sun casts a shadow along the northern staircase of the pyramid

Ideas: Putting temple on top elevates it to a god-like level.

• N: Ear ornament, Moche, from tomb at Sipan, Peru• D: 300 CE• P/S: South America before 1300s; Moche Civilization• A: Unknown• M/T: Gold and turquoise, Subtractive technique• F: Ornament to decorate the ear• C: Showed the wealth of the Moche civilization, which only the Greeks and Mayans surpassed in

prosperity. Reveals much about Moche culture along with other things found at the tomb. An example of a turquoise and gold work from this region.

• DT: Shiny gold color, shiny texture, smooth texture, has perspective and uses foreshortening, gold and turquoise contrast each other nicely, four and four fifths inches tall.

• Ideas: Shows a warrior priest dressed similar to the Lord of Sipan. Priest is in the center and is larger compared to the two less significant figures in the back to show he is the center of the artwork. 

Comparisons to Greek Art

Colossal head, La Vente, Olmec New York Kouros

• Similarities• Both sculptures are examples of subtractive method.• Both sculptures are also sculpted in high relief.• Both sculptures seemingly show emotionless faces.• Collosal head• Created in Mesoamerican Olmec culture where four of these 10 ton heads

were discovered• Sculpted out of basalt• Made to portray a ruler and a not deity due to the particular headwear and

features that hint toward being a ruler.• Kouros• Sculpted from marble • Created during the early archaic period of Greece• Artist is not known but what they had in mind was to portray a young man or

otherwise known as “kouros”• Clenched fists of the figure suggest power as borrowed from the Egyptians and

similar, the Olmec head’s sheer sizes as well as strong expression that show power as well.

• Both sculptures are carved in full round• Greek idea of a perfect body is evident in the full nude of the figure