Frames of Reference: Art, History, and the World with CD-ROM

Driven by the authors' conviction that education ought to be a process of inquiry rather than submission to received wisdom, Frames of Reference develops students’ critical understanding and appreciation of art by focusing on interesting intersections among the viewpoints of patrons, artists, viewers, and critics. Thematically organized with a chronological underpinning, the text includes thought-provoking chapter topics such as "The Earth as Art," "Representations of the Gods," "Patrons and the Role of the Artist," "Utopia and Dystopia," and "Identity in Contemporary Art."

Table of Contents:
Introduction Acknowledgements Pedagogy Ancillaries Timeline 1. The Earth as ArtMounds and Henges Neolithic Britain Japan North America Celestial Orientation in Mesoamerica The ZigguratModern Earthworks Excerpt from Washington Irving’s The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, 1819Further Reading, Source References, Discussion Topics 2. Representations of the GodsAntiquityGods and MythsGreeceHerodotus and the Ideal CitizenMarble versus BronzeChristian EuropeFresco versus MosaicHindu IndiaSiva and GaneshaBuddhist India and East AsiaThe BuddhaAztec MexicoUnder the Great Temple in Mexico CityFurther Reading, Source References, Discussion Topics 3. The Art of RulersThe Middle EastMesopotamiaPersiaAfricaAncient EgyptThe Most Famous Tomb in the WorldSub-Saharan AfricaBeninAsanteKubaThe WestRoman and Byzantine EmpiresArchesEquestrian StatuesOttoman Tributes to Justinian’s AchievementDivine ApprovalWestern Europe in the Middle AgesSoutheast AsiaHawaiiMonuments to PowerFurther Reading, Source References, Discussion Topics 4. PilgrimageGreek Shrines of AntiquityThe Persian WarChristian Pilgrimage in the Middle AgesThe Holy LandTaking ShipEurope Pagan Origins for Christian SymbolsRomanesque Churches CanterburyThe Gothic Style Our Lady of GuadalupeModern Versions of Medieval PietyIslamic PilgrimageFurther Reading, Source References, Discussion Topics 5. Patrons and the Role of the ArtistBeninChinese PaintingConfuciusNorthern SongChinese Painting FormatsWriting on Art (Literally)Southern SongThe Ming Dynasty: Revival and Breakdown of TraditionThe Italian RenaissanceThe Greco-Roman Classical TraditionRenaissance FlorenceIntellectual Trends: Humanism and Neo-PlatonismVitruviusAlberti and Fifteenth-Century PaintingFlorence’s Two DavidsLeonardo da VinciDisputes over the Restoration of Leonardo’s Last SupperRome: Julius II and Leo X Titian in VeniceGiorgio Vasari and Grand Duke Cosimo INew IrelandTwo Patrons: Akbar and Louis XIV AkbarLouis XIV Further Reading, Source References, Discussion Topics 6. Art and CollectingCommissioning Illuminated ManuscriptsNetherlandish CollectionsThe Grand TourWinckelmann and the Origins of Art HistoryThe American Nouveau-RicheAmerican Loot and the Invention of the Ethnographic MuseumSpoils of WarThe First National MuseumHiding the LouvreAfrican Artifacts and SouvenirsCross-influences in collecting: Japan and FranceEmile ZolaModern CollectionsFurther Reading, Source References, Discussion Topics 7. Art and Revolution in the Modern World (1760–1960)The French RevolutionThe Social ContractSpain: Francisco de GoyaEngland and the Grand MannerThe American RevolutionOngoing Revolution: France in the Nineteenth Century Political Strife in the 1830s The Fall of the French Monarchy, 1848Renewal and Destruction, 1851-74 The Industrial Revolution in France and the Rise of the Poster Mexico Russia China Further Reading, Source References, Discussion Topics 8. Utopia and DystopiaFrench Art after ImpressionismTwo Visionary Thinkers: Charles Darwin and Karl MarxParis in the Early Twentieth CenturyParis: Capital of the Art WorldThe Universal Exposition (1900) and the Trocadéro Museum in ParisGerman ExpressionismLe Corbusier and the Classical FutureItalian FuturismThe United States: Color and the Future AbstractionDystopian Visions in Germany after World War IFritz LangCounterpoint: Utopian Visions in Germany After World War IWomen at the BauhausFurther Reading, Source References, Discussion Topics 9. Art, the Spirit World and the Inner MindAboriginal ArtYoruban ArtFrobenius and the Ife HeadsNative American ArtSigmund Freud and ExpressionismWorld War I and Dada SurrealismShell ShockBreton and Surrealism in MexicoDegenerate Art Postwar AbstractionThe IrasciblesEuropean Postwar Art and the Mind Pop Art: Rejecting the Inner Mind Further Reading, Source References, Discussion Topics 10. Identity in Contemporary ArtEarly FeminismSex versus GenderPerformance ArtFeminist Art HistoryThe Second Wave of Feminist Art Conceptual ArtMale Superstars of the 1980sBlack IdentityAfrican-American QuiltsAfrican-American Art HistoryPostcolonial Identity in Asian, Africa and the West IndiesIndian and Pakistani ArtistsNigerian and South African ArtistsWest Indian ArtistsMulticultural Art in the United States1990: Culture Wars in the USANative American ArtifactsFurther Reading, Source References, Discussion Topics Elements and Approaches to Art HistoryMapsGlossaryBibliographyPicture CreditsIndex