History of Art, Architecture, and Archaeology Commons^™

The Niched Figures Of The Olmec And Maya Sculpture: Stylistic And Iconographic Similarities Between The Olmec Altars And The CopáN And Quiriguá Stone Zoomorphs, Anna Chyczewska

Art & Art History ETDs

The purpose of this paper is to describe some of the relationships which exist between Olmec and Maya art by comparing style and iconography of the Olmec altars and the Maya zoomorphs of Quiriguá and Copán. A stylistic analysis of these Olmec and Maya monuments indicates that Olmec sculpture included both three-dimensional and two-dimensional compositions; Maya sculpture suggests development from the two-dimensional into a more complex and dynamic three-dimensional arrangement of forms. The great importance of the more or less stylized features of the jaguar, of the serpent, and of grotesque creatures combining both reptilian and feline aspects emerges from …

Recent Sculpture, Joseph A. Chavez

Art & Art History ETDs

This thesis will attempt to focus upon the purpose behind my recent work by examining in general, and then individually, five sculptural projects. Two of these are ceramic stoneware sculptures, and three are alabaster stone sculpture.

Common Elements In Existentialism, Theories Of Concrete Art And My Work, Rita King

Art & Art History ETDs

The thesis exposition is concerned with three areas related to the thesis exhibition. First, the philosophical process which culminated in Colin Wilson’s New Existentialism. Second, theories defined by de Stijl artists and Wassily Kandinsky which were the formal beginning of Concrete Art are presented. And third, the developments and changes which occurred during the production of the works of the thesis exhibition are noted.

American Family Memorial Imagery, The Photograph, And The Search For Immortality, Daniel Gyger Snyder

Art & Art History ETDs

In this dissertation I trace the development of family (as opposed to public) memorial imagery and note the unique contribution of photography. I examine attitudes toward photography during its early years. These attitudes reveal that the medium was uniquely appropriate for the continuation and extension of the tradition of memorial imagery in America.

I suggest that America holds expectations for the Machine and for the power of Science that have at various times (the mid-nineteenth century and today) led some to assume that death is not inevitable and that physical Immortality is possible. From Puritan times, when death was accepted, …

Light, Form And Polyester Resin, Michael A. Willins

Art & Art History ETDs

It will be within the scope of this paper to acquaint my thesis committee with my background, reasons for returning to graduate school and my development while completing the required curriculum. Further, I will discuss my present work and attempt to clarify my intentions in its creation.

René Lalique: A Biographical And Stylistic Analysis Of Two Areas Of Influence - Classical And Japanese Art, Judith Gayle Booth

Art & Art History ETDs

One of the outstanding artists of the Art Nouveau period was the French jeweler René Lalique. Despite the designation of Lalique as "les plus ropresentatif de l 'Art Nouve.1u" very little research has been done on him or the sources of his unusual jewelry. The dual purpose of this study is to establish a biography of Lalique and present a stylistic analysis of two of his sources: Classical and Japanese art. It is hoped that an analysis of the career and sources of this major figure will aid in producing a deeper understanding of the French Art Nouveau movement.

Biographical …

Recent Developments In Representational Painting, William Arthur Richards

Art & Art History ETDs

Continuing since its eminence in the High Renaissance during the Fifteenth Century in Europe, representation had been the predominant mode of painting until the early decades of the Twentieth Century. This form also has firm foundations in America's artistic heritage. The progress and momentum of realistic painting, however, was to a large extent eclipsed during the late 1940's and 1950's by non-objective painting, particularly Abstract Expressionism. Unexpectedly the recent decade has seen numerous artists who have shown a renewed interest in representation as a basis for painting.

This study surveys the productions of these painters, probinR into their artistic ambitions, …

Art At The "Mexican Front": Robert Henri, George Wesley Bellows And Leon Kroll In New Mexico, 1916-1922, Denise Catherine Melnick

Art & Art History ETDs

In the decade following the Armory Show of 1913, New York City lost its appeal for many painters. Disillusioned by the rivalry between various artists’ groups, the attitude of a smug public and prevented from visiting Europe by the outbreak of the First World War, many artists migrated from New York to explore various regions of the United States in order to find new and stimulating subjects to paint. A number of New York artists, attracted by the landscape, the colorful Indian and Mexican population and the democratic exhibition policies of the museum of New Mexico, visited the art colonies …

A Study Of Spanish Colonial Silver In New Mexico, Leona Davis Boylan

Art & Art History ETDs

This study has two purposes. First, to isolate and characterize a distinctive "Northern Provincial" style of Spanish Colonial silver associated with the southwestern part of the United States. Second, to describe and classify 329 articles in five museum collections: the Sylvanus Griswold Morley Collection, the International Business Machines Collec­tion, the Mrs. Henry Lyman Collection, the Museum of New Mexico Collection (all in the latter Santa Fe institution) and the Mary Lester Field Collection in the University Art Museum, Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Navajo Pictorial Weaving: Its Past And Present Condition, Dorothy Elizabeth Boyd

Art & Art History ETDs

The purpose of this study is to describe and classify a type of Navajo weaving usually termed the pictorial which has never been treated in all aspects by any single author. The term "pictorial" is used in this study to indicate any blanket or rug in which naturalistic motifs or intelligible lettering are used for their decorative or expressive qualities rather than for their ritual connotations or the sole purpose of permanently recording ritual designs such as sandpainting rugs. After reviewing anthropological literature relating to Navajo weaving and culture, extensive study was conducted on pictorials owned by various Southwestern museums. …

European And Japanese Influences On Winslow Homer's Early Oil Paintings, 1859-1876, Cleta Honeyman Downey

Art & Art History ETDs

Winslow Homer has often been described as the "most American" painter. Many of Homer's biographers claim that he was not affected by the artistic movements taking place in Europe in the la e 1850's and 60's. They tend to discount Homer's ten month stay in Paris and state that the influences he must have e countered there did not affect his work. This paper pro es that Homer was influenced by the new artistic innovations occurring in France during this period and that he w1as prepared to accept and assimilate them because of a previous acquaintanceship with contemporary European art …

An Historical And Practical Investigation Of Photogravure, James Norman Kraft Jr.

Art & Art History ETDs

Photogravure, a unique synthesis of intaglio and photography, is a manual method of printing photographic images in ink from etched copper plates. A print made by this method is a hand-crafted work of art, equal or superior to a silver-gelatin print. Photogravure offers the advantage of permanence through its use of fine ink and pure rag paper. This combination, coupled with the impression into the paper by an intaglio plate, gives the gravure image a richness and subtle relief not possible in the less permanent, flat-surfaced photographic print. In Part I the writer has outlined the history of photogravure--directly related …

The "Depth" Versus The "Breadth" Method For The Development Of Creativity At The Sixth Grade Level, Onetia Jean Leonard

Art & Art History ETDs

Statement of Problem: There have been many studies on student behavior, personality and intelligence in relation to creativity. Also, research has been conducted on methodologies of teaching, but very little has been done on the methodology or how we teach art and its relationship to creativity. This study involved an experiment in carious art activities to determine if there was any difference between a breadth (carried activities and media) and a depth (varied activities with concentration in one medium, paper) method of teaching art in developing greater creativity among sixth grade students.

Hypotheses: 1. There is no significant difference between …

Developing Use Of Student's Imagination In High School Art Classes, Lawrence Henry Sinnott

Art & Art History ETDs

In the introduction of my thesis, I state what I believe to be the basic goals of education in his country today. One of the most important goals in education should be to teach the students how to use their imagination. This goal, I believe, has been greatly neglected. To back up this statement I cite examples from my own personal observation in the classroom. I also use my experience as a substitute teacher, in over twenty schools in the Albuquerque area to verify this point. In addition, I base my study on books and publications which pertain to this …

A Report On A Thesis In Sculpture Entitled "Experiments With Electro-Mechanical Light Switching As A Means Of Visual Expression.", Richard Franco Baronio

Art & Art History ETDs

The purpose of this report is to explain my work with electro-mechanical light switching as a means of visual expression. This work extends over the period, June, 1968, to June, 1969, and is in the form of five experiments. I consider switching light as an art medium, and, rather than works of art, these experiments are investigations of the possibilities of this medium. As an introduction to the experiments, my previous studies in art, both on the graduate level at the University of New Mexico and on the undergraduate level at Brown University, are reviewed. At the end of the …

The Nabis, Their Exhibitions And Critics: A Study Of Their Position In The Parisian Art World Of The 1890'S, Clive Frank Getty

Art & Art History ETDs

This thesis deals with Nabi places of exhibition from 1890 to 1898. An identification of the Nabis and their style is made in Chapter I. In Chapter II, the discussion concentrates on the early places of Nabi exhibition: The Independants, Saint-Germain-en-Laye and various small galleries such as Pere Tanguy's paint shop. Chapter III examines the most important place of Nabi exhibition, the Galerie Le Bare de Boutteville. From late 1891 on, this gallery provided the Nabis with an opportunity to exhibit their works in the artistic center of Paris at multiple Expositions des Peintres impressionnistes et symbolistes. Consequently, Le Barc's …

Vincent Van Gogh And Japonisme: One Source Of His Artistic Development, Mayching M. Kao

Art & Art History ETDs

The artistic development of Vincent van Gogh displayed pronounced changes after the artist’s arrival in Paris in 1886. His colors became bright and clear; his line became bolder; and his composition tended to be two dimensional. These changes developed more prominently during his Arles period from 1888to 1889. One of the major factors in the transformation of his art may be explained by his involvement in a current vogue in Paris: Japonisme—the appreciation of Ukiyo-e prints.

The purpose of the thesis is to explore the extent of van Gogh’s involvement in Japonisme and to establish the influence of the Japanese …

A Survey Of High School Art History In School Systems Of 500,000, Thomas R. Farrar

Art & Art History ETDs

It was the purpose of this study (1) to ascertain the relative importance of art history within the art curriculum as perceived by high school art teachers in school systems with a population base of 500,000; (2) to survey proposals for art history at the secondary level since 1960 and relate them to the actual practices in the schools, (3) to explore the methods and materials presently used to teach art history in such high schools; and (4) to report any inadequacies these high school art teachers have discovered in their attempt to teach art history.

A questionnaire was sent …

The Life And Work Of Thomas Duncan Benrimo, Richard Kurman

Art & Art History ETDs

One of the most outstanding painters of the second generation of artists to live and work in Taos, New Mexico, was Thomas Duncan Benrimo (1887-1958). A remarkable feature of his career was the fact that he resigned from a long and successful career in the New York advertising world to become a successful exponent of modern trends in serious painting, chiefly developing the ideas of official Surrealism and Cubism. This was in contrast to most of the painting produced in the Taos area, in that it eschews regionalism or picturesque values in favor of experimentation.

From 1939 until his death …

Beginning In Photography, James Alinder

Art & Art History ETDs

Current estimates indicate that some eight billion images are being made each year by photographic processes. While photography has many important utilitarian functions, it also has a function as an art form through which man can express himself. In this context photography is part of the curriculum of a large and growing number of universities. This dissertation is intended to complement a beginning course in photography.

Photography was publicly introduced in 1839. Its subsequent developments provide a basis from which to examine the technical processes of modern photography: the exposure of the film in the camera, the developing of the …

Humanist - Post-Humanist Painting, Jon A. Petruchyk

Art & Art History ETDs

This essay purports to examine humanism as an historically dated basis of existence in western culture. It will discuss the beginnings, the development, and finally the capitulation of humanist modes of expression using, specifically, their manifestation in the field of art. It will take as its primary example the art of painting. As an introduction, a brief discussion of humanist philosophy may serve to set the stage for a closer analysis of art.

Mexico's Thermidorian Reaction, 1940-1960, Kenneth S. Cott

Art & Art History ETDs

One of the fundamental characteristics of the great revolutions which have occurred from time to time in Western society is the period of reaction and return to normality known as the Thermidor. No nation has been able to maintain a revolution indefinitely. This paper deals with the Thermidorian reaction as it has developed in Mexico since the late 1930’s.

Students of the nature of revolution have discerned certain uniformities in the great upheavals of Western history. The object of this paper is to compare those uniformities as they relate to the Thermidorian reaction with the course which the Mexical Revolution …

Problems Related To Selected Spanish Colonial Paintings In New Mexico, Louberta Ann Culley

Art & Art History ETDs

The Spaniards were originally attracted to New Mexico by the prospect of finding great wealth. In the early sixteenth century, it was rumored that there were seven cities in the north with riches equaling that of the Aztec and Inca civilizations. These rumors were further exaggerated by Cabeza de Vaca and the survivor of the Narvaez expedition when they returned to Mexico City in 1536 and by the reports to Fray Marcos de Niza who led an exploration into Zuni territory in western New Mexico in 1S39. Coronado, however, gave a more accurate and prosaic description of the region after …

Cady Wells: The Personal Vision, Kate Corbin Duncan

Art & Art History ETDs

Henry Cady Wells was given all the cultural and educational advantages that a child of one of America’s wealthiest families could receive. The third son of Channing McGregory Wells and Irene Kelly Wells, he was born in Southbridge, Massachusetts on November 15, 1904. His father had succeeded his grandfather as president of the American Optical Company and head of the family. The boy, always called Cady rather than Henry, began attending a series of boarding schools with entry at age eight into the Fay School in Southborough. Four years there were followed by shorter periods at other Massachusetts institutions: Fessenden …

A Philosophical And Critical Analysis Of My Work In Painting And Drawing, James Robert Bolton

Art & Art History ETDs

The primary concern in my work is woman as an idealized goddess whose perfect beauty engenders the attributes of timelessness, sterility, and death. My ideas, although first encountered in literature, found visual realization in the images of the Vogue woman and the Renaissance Madonna. Both of these goddess figures are paradoxical in that they are real persons idealized and placed in a queenly context, and they consequently form a tension between illusion and reality. The historic setting for the Renaissance Madonna has three direct parallels to my work: 1) shallow space which characterizes an illusory stage-like setting, 2) symmetry which …

John Marin: The New Mexico Period, Walter Ellsworth Stevens

Art & Art History ETDs

A substantial number of books and articles has been devoted to the work of John Marin. Each of these, expressing something of the man’s poetic involvement with his work, has dealt with one or more aspects of the artist’s development. Although many have mentioned the fact that Marin spent two summers in and around Taos, New Mexico, no special study has been made of this important period in the artist’s life. A study of this nature is the purpose of this thesis.

Seven Years Of Change In Form And Color In The Sculpture Of John Chamberlain: 1958-1965, Mary Kelly Morgan

Art & Art History ETDs

In the seven years between 1958 and 1965, John Chamberlain continually developed and changed his sculptural styles. Phases of this stylistic development require critical appraisal. Chamberlain's constant changing must be understood as the thread which connects each of his works to the whole of his effort. Chamberlain is controversial in that his work welcomes it, not controversial in that a debate, though invited, has not come.

Chamberlains evolution in form and color is not necessarily representative of the developments of his contemporaries. He is an individual, not a show-piece for the whole. By considering Chamberlain, critical research pays the present …

A Study Of The Mary Lester Field Collection Of Spanish Colonial Silver, Leona Mae Boylan

Art & Art History ETDs

The purpose of this study is to examine the body of reference and source material presently available relative to Spanish Colonial silver in New Mexico, and to apply it specifically to the problem of describing, classifying, and dating the pieces in the Mary Lester Field Collection of Spanish Colonial Silver, University Art Museum of the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque.

A second purpose is to explore the idea that an identifiable provincial style may exist within the general classification of Spanish Colonial silver, especially in relationship to the American Southwest. Critical stylistic analysis will be applied to individual pieces …

The Preservation Of Art, Architecture And Artifacts Of Trampas, New Mexico, Louise A. Harris

Art & Art History ETDs

Trampas, a small village in mountainous northern New Mexico, is extremely well-preserved, both architecturally and culturally. This excellent state of preservation results from its isolated position. Trampas has retained the character of a Spanish-Mexican town of the nineteenth century, a rarity even in New Mexico which has not yet been subjected to the massive industrialization found in other parts of the United States.

An Initial Evaluation Of A Sixth Grade Group's Attitude Toward Art Using A Semantic Differential Instrument, Nancy Carnohan

Art & Art History ETDs

The purpose of this descriptive research was twofold. The investigator wanted to test objectively the attitudes of the preadolescent child toward art. (The term ''preadolescent ', as well as other terms associated with and peculiar to the field of the present research paper, are defined in the glossary of terms on page 164-166.) One of the main problems was finding a valid objective test. Research was done in the field of the semantic differential instrument. After long and intensive study, it was decided to use this instrument on a preadolescent group. The results of the data obtained in this investigation …