Adorning the world : art of the Marquesas Islands / Eric Kjellgren with Carol S. Ivory.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Kjellgren, Eric.

Contributor:

Ivory, Carol S.

Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York, N.Y.)

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Art, Marquesan--Exhibitions.

Art, Marquesan.

Genre:

Exhibition catalogs.

Physical Description:

1 online resource

Place of Publication:

New York : The Metropolitan Museum of Art ; New Haven : Yale University Press, 2005.

System Details:

Mode of Access: World Wide Web.

text file

Summary:

"The imagery of Marquesan art is testament to the myriad beings and creatures who inhabited the Marquesan universe - gods, ancestors, humans, lizards, turtles, fish - and to the islands' complex social and political organization. These art forms are explored in the present volume, published in conjunction with the exhibition "Adorning the World: Art of the Marquesas Islands," held at The Metropolitan Museum of Art."--BOOK JACKET.

Known for the elegance and complexity of their decorative art, Marquesan artists were described by Paul Gauguin as possessing "an unheard of sense of decoration" in all they created. The extraordinary ways in which Marquesans adorned their world are reflected in virtually every type of object they made and used, from sacred figures of gods and ancestors to items that were purely functional. Their work was fashioned from a diversity of materials in forms ranging from delicate ivory ornaments and luxuriant featherwork to imposing figural sculpture in wood and stone. The human body was also an important focus for artistic expression. Adorned with finely crafted ornaments, elaborate coiffures, and intricate tattoos that sometimes covered the entire body, Marquesans themselves became living art forms. In this book, Kjellgren and Ivory place the artistic traditions of the Marquesans within their cultural and historical context, giving insights into their distinctive visual imagery and their enduring influence on Western art and literature.-- Metropolitan Museum of Art website.

Contents:

Statement from the Marquesan people / Toti Te'ikiehu'upoko

Director's foreword / Philippe de Montebello

Map of the Marquesas Islands

Adorning the world / Eric Kjellgren

Art and aesthetics in the Marquesas Islands / Carol S. Ivory

Catalogue / Eric Kjellgren and Carol S. Ivory

Glossary of Marquesan terms.

Notes:

Exhibition title: Adorning the world : art of the Marquesas Islands.

Catalog of an exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, May 10, 2005-Jan. 15, 2006.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

1588391469

0300107129

OCLC:

57434092