Treasures of pre-Columbian ceramics in the Barbier-Mueller collections.
Somogy| N° d'inventaire | 22984 |
| Format | 22.5 x 30 |
| Détails | 344 p., paperback with flaps. |
| Publication | Paris, 2003 |
| Etat | Nine |
| ISBN | 9782850566585 |
One of the greatest originalities of pre-Columbian art lies in the extraordinary development of its ceramics. There is no pre-Hispanic culture, from the United States to Argentina, that did not create clay objects, most often of an astonishing formal variety, the fruit of remarkable technical mastery. The pieces from the Barbier-Mueller collection presented here reveal this fabulous aesthetic richness. In some of them, modeling clearly predominates at the expense of chromaticism; in others, the forms are very simple, but constitute the support for a complex and very rich play of lines and colors. The splendid textures of the pieces, sometimes satiny, sometimes incised or even rough, testify to the virtuosity of the artists. As much as their aesthetic quality, pre-Columbian ceramics reflect their significant universe. For, in the absence of written tradition, it is their works of art that these fascinating civilizations deliver to us today. Cosmogony and social order appear in painted or sculpted images represented by representations of gods, mythological beings or socially important figures, as well as by abstract symbols with profound religious content. This work offers a geographical journey that embraces the entire American continent, from north to south, and accounts for the large number of cultures that flourished 1,500 years before our era and until the arrival of the Spanish. Contemplating, thanks to a hundred full-page, four-color illustrations, the shapes and decorations of these ceramics constitutes a privileged access to the meaning of life in pre-Columbian cultures.
One of the greatest originalities of pre-Columbian art lies in the extraordinary development of its ceramics. There is no pre-Hispanic culture, from the United States to Argentina, that did not create clay objects, most often of an astonishing formal variety, the fruit of remarkable technical mastery. The pieces from the Barbier-Mueller collection presented here reveal this fabulous aesthetic richness. In some of them, modeling clearly predominates at the expense of chromaticism; in others, the forms are very simple, but constitute the support for a complex and very rich play of lines and colors. The splendid textures of the pieces, sometimes satiny, sometimes incised or even rough, testify to the virtuosity of the artists. As much as their aesthetic quality, pre-Columbian ceramics reflect their significant universe. For, in the absence of written tradition, it is their works of art that these fascinating civilizations deliver to us today. Cosmogony and social order appear in painted or sculpted images represented by representations of gods, mythological beings or socially important figures, as well as by abstract symbols with profound religious content. This work offers a geographical journey that embraces the entire American continent, from north to south, and accounts for the large number of cultures that flourished 1,500 years before our era and until the arrival of the Spanish. Contemplating, thanks to a hundred full-page, four-color illustrations, the shapes and decorations of these ceramics constitutes a privileged access to the meaning of life in pre-Columbian cultures.