The Hawk Blog

Non-western Art Japanese Art      Japanese art consists of a variety of different paintings, pottery, sculptures, jade carvings, calligraphy, and other visual decorative art pieces. The earliest complex art in Japan was produced in the 7 th and 8 th centuries and was connected to Buddhism. In the 9 th century Japan began to turn away from China. They began to develop indigenous forms of expression and arts became important, and both secular and religious arts began to flourish. Painting is the preferred artistic expression in Japan.      The Edo period is one of the richest in the history of Japanese art. “Edo refers both to the City of Edo (Tokyo) and the time period of 1615-1868. During this time there was a significant stability in politics, which allowed a vibrant popular culture and new styles of artistic express to emerge.      Woodblock prints became popular during the Edo period. “ The Great Wave off Kanagawa ”, by Katsuchika Hokusai was published sometime between 18

  Mid Modern Art      The longest war in American history prior to 2002 was the Vietnam war, and it was the only war that was ever considered a loss. From 1954-1975 the United States and many other countries from the Southeast Asia Treaty fought alongside the Republic of South Vietnam against the Viet Cong and North Vietnamese Army. This war brought many changes and effected many people. The art from this time reflects that. Attack at Twilight, by Roger Blum 1966      Roger Blum served the Vietnam War and painted Attack at Twilight in 1966 while in Hawaii. He was part of the Vietnam Combat Artists Program that was established through the United States Arm Art Program. The program was meant to pictorially document the Vietnam War. The painting shows a burning hut during twilight. Blum used acrylic paint to show dramatic lighting to emphasize the emotion of the painting. The cool blue colors mixed with the dark red does a great job to depict the violent destruction that is happenin

  The Early 20 th Century: The Age of Anxiety      The early 20 th century has been referred to as “The Age of Anxiety”. There was very little stability throughout the world between the years of 1900-1939. There were so many things going on during this time frame, which included World War 1, the Great Depression, mass migrations, continued industrialization of economies, and the Roaring Twenties. The effects of “The Age of Anxiety” can be seen though the art that was created during that period.      World War I occurred during the years of 1914 and 1918 and was one of the deadliest wars to take place. Over 16 million people were killed during these years, including both soldiers and civilians. The use of machine guns, grenades, tanks, airplanes, and poisonous gas lead it to be considered one of the first modern wars. Traditional styles of art were rejected during this time frame and art became more abstract and art began to defy social norms.      One style of art that came fro