Non western art history - Essay Example

and Section # of Non-western art history (Museum paper) I visited Asia Pacific museum, isone of the four museums in the country, who specialize in the arts and culture of Asia and Pacific region and the museum contains a lot of art work from various artists of Asia and Pacific region. The mission of the museum is to make people aware and to make them know about the culture and art of the region, which is not well known to them. I have seen many art pieces of the Asian origin and the ones who represent the culture of East and Pacific region. I chose the work of Elizabeth Keith, a painting named, "The Cock Fight", which was made in China in 1925. Thesis statement: This painting shows the Chinese culture and the poor people of China and their only entertainment. This shows their own way of enjoying the "blood sport", which seems to be the only way to get their anger out, which was building in them due to their failures of being the disadvantage class of the society. Asia Pacific museum: Art represents the history and culture of the region, and by displaying the artwork of the artists from Asia and Pacific region; they are actually demonstrating the culture and history of the region. The museum contains a collection of more than 14,000 artwork of different artists from Asia, which includes paintings, sculptures, ceramics, textiles etc. Apart from the artwork, there is a research library, which contains more than 7,000 reference books about the art and culture of Asian and Pacific region. The museum contains a lot of interesting and beautiful art pieces by various artists. The sculptures are amazing, because they gave a good view of the culture and art of the region, and I saw many sculptures of Buddha, made in Bronze, Gold etc. I saw a picture by Elizabeth Keith, it was named as "The Cock Fight", and it was made I China. The painting is placed in the "Oriental list" of the museum. Elizabeth Keith: Elizabeth Keith was born in Scotland, and is known to be a great artist, and an interesting thing about her is that she was self-taught. Her sister married an English publisher, who lives in the Asia and Pacific region and works in Japan at that time. Elizabeth went to Japan to meet her sister in1915, and stayed there for quiet a long time. She thought to explore the region and visited the neighboring countries, such as China, Korea and Philippines. She spent her time in water painting the interesting and fascinating scenes, which she witnessed. She made quiet a number of paintings in that time and when she came back in Japan to her sister, she was able to hold an exhibition of her paintings. After looking at her paintings, the entrepreneurial Japanese print publisher, Watanabe Schozaburo, persuaded her to move further on this regard. He convinced her that his carvers and printers would produce woodblock prints for some of her watercolor paintings and this will enhance her work as an artist. This idea fascinated Elizabeth Keith and she prolonged her stay in Japan, and started learning woodblock printing. Her work was highly appreciated and she met success in Japan and her publisher was sure that she would get a huge response in Europe and America as well. Fritz Capelari, who is an Australian artist, influenced Elizabeth Keith work and Watanabe also published his work. Elizabeth Keith traveled a lot in Asia and especially in East Asia and produced number of paintings, which reflect the culture of the region. Her paintings are very popular in United States and European countries and are counted as an important work when talked about the Asian and Pacific Art. Most of her work was displayed in Watanabe studio and was destroyed in the earthquake, which hit Tokyo in 1923. She went to France for studying Art and stayed for almost six years, but her love for the Eastern region made her come back to Japan and she stayed there for few years, until the World War II started. She came to United States of America, where she completed the remaining years of her life and held an exhibition in Tokyo in her last year. Cock Fight: I saw her painting "The Cock Fight", in the museum, which was made in China, in 1925. It is a sport in China, which is also known as a blood sport. It is a fight between two roosters, and is held in the ring, which is like a wrestling ring, and this ring is known as cockpit. The owner of the cocks, set pairs of birds to fight, and gambling is a major factor in the fight. The term cockpit, was also used in the ancient times, as in 16th century, it was used as a place, which was used for the entertainment purpose and also for the frenzied activity. We can see the use of this term by the famous poet, William Shakespeare, in Henry V, where it was used to describe an area around the stage of the theater, which also means the place of entertainment. In the times of Tudor, the term, "cockpit" was used for a place, which was in the "Palace of Westminster", and it was generally known as the "Cockpit-in-court". The game of cockfighting is said to begin back in the Indus Valley Civilization as long as 2000 BC1. This game was popular in India, China, Persia and other Asian countries. Later it was introduced in Greek, Europe, in the time of Themistocles (c. 534-460 BC), and got popularity in other parts of Europe as well. It was popular in Sicily and Rome, and people like to spend their times in the sport, which makes them excited and enthusiastic. When Elizabeth Keith saw cockfight in China, she liked the idea and her painting shows not only the cocks but also the owner of the cocks and the crowd. When looking at the crowd, it became clear that they are not rich people, they are the ordinary people, who came for this entertainment after working for the whole day and there seems to have no other source of entertainment for them. The owners of the cocks are standing with their cocks and are representing their cocks or may be encouraging them by making sounds and actions. There is a third person standing near them and it seems that he is a referee, who will make the decision about the winner and the looser and will take appropriate action, if any injustice will take place from any side. There is always a chance that one of the owners can try to do something against the rule and referee will take action in this case. It is a small hall, where the competition is being held and seems to be an old place as well. This shows that cockfight was a game of poor people and they enjoy it a lot. People are not only on the seats of the hall but also in the galleries too. Crowd is chanting excitedly and they would definitely supporting one of their favorite cock. China has always been an overpopulated country and the people, shown in the painting do not seem like happy and rich people. These people look like poverty stricken and desperate to have some fun. It seems like the only entertainment of these poor people, and they are aggressive as well. Their aggressiveness might be a result of their being deprived of basic necessities of life and their rights in their lives. The people are taking out their aggressiveness in these violent games and are supporting cocks to hit the other as strong as it can. It is the sign that these people are the underprivileged class of the society and are not given any rights. These are the people who fight on small things and like to take out their anger in any way that they can. It is a possibility that the cockfight is followed by another fight between the two owners or the supporters of the both sides, as people can get serious and violent if their cock loose the fight or any kind of injustice happen by the referee. Conclusion: Elizabeth Keith was a western women and this scene would have inspired her a lot. The western countries, at that time, were in a far better condition than the eastern countries and for women like Elizabeth Keith, who was sensitive and in a habit of thinking deeply, this scene touched her and she decided to paint her, so that she can show it to her countrymen and to the people in the other regions, that how the people in East spent their time and what kind of entertainment do they have. She might be touched with the enthusiasm and chanting of the crowd, which shows their excitement about the game. She was showing the cultural differences, which she discovered in her trip and was ready to share it with the people in her part of the world. Works Cited Sherman, David M. Tending Animals in the Global Village. Blackwell Publishing. 46, (2002). Helen Gardner, Fred Kleiner, Christin J. Mamiya, Gardeners Art Though The Ages, Thomson/Wadsworth, 2004 Watson, W., The Arts of China to AD 1900 (Yale University Press, 1995). Read More