| UNAVAILABLE
This title is no longer available through GoodMinds.com
Native Arts of North America is a basic overview of the arts of Native North Americans from precontact to the modern. The author is a European anthropologist who applies the standard approach to the study of North American Indian visual art. The book is divided into two sections. The first section looks at the definition of art as it relates to American Indians as well as a brief historical overview of how Europeans have approached the analysis and study of the visual arts created by Indians. The arts were once collected by Non-Natives as simple curiosities for personal enjoyment and later the works began to be collected and viewed as art. The author outlines the culture areas of North America and how the environment influenced materials and artistic styles. The first section also explores the makers of fine craft and art work as well as the impact of European contact on these traditional arts. The second section of the book covers the variety of arts in terms of techniques and styles. Broad categories such as sculpture, painting and engraving, and textiles are discussed. Within each category the author briefly discusses artwork such as skin paintings on clothing, parfleches, and tipis; images on bark including bark scrolls and birchbark containers; and incising on pottery, bone, shell, horn and metal. Body art, rock painting, and mural art are also covered. The approach is generally chronological and the final section of painting and engraving describes some of the trends in the twentieth century Native art scene. The author explains the development of art school traditions in New Mexico and Oklahoma. The Canadian Woodland School of art established by Norval Morrisseau is briefly mentioned. In the textile section the author describes various basketry techniques and materials; interlacing, plaiting and braiding; woven quill and beadwork; twined textiles of the East, Southwest, and Northwest Coast; weaving; quillwork; hair and bead appliqué; leather, feather and textile appliqué; patchwork and quilting; and embroidery. In the sculpture section the work of artisans in stone, wood, ivory, bone, horn, and clay described. In this section, totem poles of the Northwest Coast, masks from various tribal cultures, and Inuit carvings receive attention. Throughout the text the author includes instructive black and white photographs of art pieces from various museum collections. Twenty colour photographs and a culture area map are provided. An extensive bibliography organized according to the book's structure proves useful. An index is also included. Overall this book is an excellent introduction for art historians and students of Native Studies who want to understand the way anthropologists have approached the study of First Nations, Inuit, and Native American artistic traditions. |
