CHICAGO ART SCENE
WEEK 2

 

 

Representational Art
Works that represent
the world around us

 

Nonrepresentational
(nonobjective) Art
Art that does NOT
depict the natural world

 

Representational Art
Works that represent the world around us
Naturalistic
Closely
resembles
the forms it
portrays

 

Abstract
Simplifies,
fragments, or
distorts the
form

Stylized
Relies on
standardized
methods for
depicting form

 

Naturalistic

Bronze Head, 
Yoruba people, Ife Region

Pablo Picasso,  First Communion
 

 

Abstract

Pablo Picasso,  
Seated Woman Holding a Fan
 

Jacob Lawrence,
Harriet Tubman Series
 

Stylized

Sample of 
Egyptian Art
 

 

Representational Art
Works that represent
the world around us

 

Nonrepresentational
(nonobjective) Art
Art that does NOT
depict the natural world

 

 

Mark Rothko, 
Yellow and Orange
 

Benin Art: An Overview

 

 

The Benin Kingdom

 

 

Basic Terms
• Relief: sculpture in which figures 
project from the background
– Basrelief: figures project a little
– High relief: figures project a lot, 
often by half their depth or more

 

 

Basic Terms
• Casting: the process of of pouring 
liquid into a mold, letting it harden, 
then releasing it

 

 

Basic Terms
• Scale: Size in relation to what’s 
“normal”

– Hierarchical Scale: More important 
figures are larger than less important 
figures

 

 

Basic Terms
• Symbol: an image or sign that 
represents something else
– Mudfish
– Leopards
– Snakes
– Crocodiles
– Elephants
– Birds
 

 

Craft Guilds
•
•
•
•
•
•

Brass casters
Blacksmiths
Ivory & wood carvers
Weavers
Leather workers
Bead makers
 

 

Two guildsmen: brass caster 
and ivory carver
 
 

At the Art Institute
• Altar objects

 

 

    Altar Head of an Oba (16th cent.);
Oba’s Altar Tusk (mid19th cent.)   

 

 

 

Ancestral altars
 

At the Art Institute
• Altar objects
• Ceremonial objects & regalia

 

 

Oba Erediauwa in 
coral regalia

 

 

Oba’s Fly Whisk
(18th/19th cent.)

 

 

Iyoba (“Queen Mother”) Idia
• Mother of Oba 
Esigie
• Medicine woman
• Commander
• Given her own 
palace
• Altar head crafted 
at death
 

Hip Pendant, 16th cent.
 

At the Art Institute
•
•
•

Altar objects
Ceremonial objects & regalia
Palace “décor”

 

 

Plaque of Oba Ozolua 
with warriors and attendants