Cultural Styles
Read this text which explores how cultural identity influences and is often shaped by artistic expression. Pay close attention to this theme of art and identity. It recurs throughout this course.
Cultural styles refer to distinctive characteristics
in artworks throughout a particular society or culture. Some main
elements of cultural styles are recurring motifs
created similarly by many artists. Cultural
styles are formed over hundreds or even thousands of years and help
define cultural identity. We can find evidence of this by comparing two
masks, one from Alaska and the other from Canada. The Yup'ik dance mask from
Alaska is stylized with oval and rounded forms divided by wide
bands in strong relief. The painted areas outline or follow shapes.
Carved objects are attached to the mask and give an upward movement to
the artwork, while the face carries an animated expression.
By comparison, a Wolf Mask from the Tlingit culture in coastal
northwestern Canada exhibits similar forms and many of the same motifs.
The mouths of each mask are particularly similar to each other. Wolf's
visage takes on human-like characteristics, just
as the Yup'ik mask takes the form of a bird. This cultural style
ranges from western Alaska to northern Canada.
Casco y collera de lobo tlingit, Tlingit wolf mask, M. América, Madrid, Spain
Celtic art from Great Britain and Ireland shows a cultural style that
has been identified for thousands of years. Its highly refined organic
motifs include spirals, plant forms, and zoomorphism.
Intricate and decorative, the Celtic style adapted to include early book illustrations. The Book of Kells is considered the pinnacle of this cultural style.
Page from the Book of Kells, around 800 CE. Trinity College, Dublin
Saylor Academy Knowledge Check
Source: Christopher Gildow, http://opencourselibrary.org/art-100-art-appreciation/
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.