Product Description

For Non-Western Art, Humanities, or Culture and Religion courses.

This one-volume survey provides students with detailed and systematic coverage of Non-Western art via coverage of the cultural and ideological contexts in which art was created.

Michael Kampen-O’Riley created this text to serve as the market’s first dedicated survey of Non-Western art. Rather than mere descriptions of the various styles, Kampen-O’Riley provides detailed analysis of each major style within its cultural context, through which students can derive the meaning of works of art in each style. The text also provides students with an efficient educational tool with which to study art from nearly two thirds of the world.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #845490 in Books
• Published on: 2001-10-04
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 344 pages

From Library Journal
Pulling from art history, anthropology, and religious studies, dedicated educator O'Riley has attempted to encapsulate the entirety of non-Western art in one volume, which is no small task. Chapters jam-packed with information range over Africa, India, Southeast Asia, China, Japan and Korea, the Americas, and the Pacific and consider such issues as post- and intercolonialism and postmodernism. An extensive glossary, a basic bibliography, and a useful index help organize the material. Throughout, supplementary material is presented in block form to give background information or present alternate ideas or ways of thinking. The book is as complete as a single volume on this topic can be and would serve as a sturdy jumping-off point for further study in a specific non-Western field. But while the publisher claims that this is "the only one-volume overview of the subject available today," Lynn MacKenzie attempted the same thing in Non-Western Art: A Brief Guide (Prentice-Hall, 1995). Still, O'Riley's book offers more coverage and is a bit more detailed. Recommended for public libraries and art history, cultural studies, or anthropology collections. Nadine Dalton Speidel, Cuyahoga Cty. P.L., Parma, OH
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist
Kampen O'Riley covers a colossal amount of time and territory and a dizzying array of cultures in this unprecedented survey of the art of, for lack of a better term, non-Western traditions. Each of the continents, regions, and countries listed in the subtitle has been home to myriad languages, belief systems, customs, and aesthetics over the centuries, and each has influenced the art of the other and the West. Undaunted, Kampen O'Riley, formerly of Yale, focuses on the fundamentals, the "all-important ideals, beliefs, and principles that shaped" the art and thought of each culture. Drawing on a deep well of knowledge, a fluent sense of organization (time charts and sidebars abound), and attunement to the synergy within and among cultures (the chapter on African art, for instance, embraces the African diaspora and African American folk art), he succeeds in defining the essence of each distinct artistic tradition. Add to that impressive feat a clear, relaxed, and engaging prose style and superb illustrations, and the sum is a prime introductory guide to much of the world's art. Donna Seaman
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

From the Back Cover

In this first major survey of the arts of Africa, India and Southeast Asia, China, Japan, Korea, the Pacific, and the Americas, Michael Kampen O'Riley presents the vast and fascinating range of arts that lie outside the Western tradition. Within a predominantly geographic and chronological framework, he explores the arts of these areas from the beginnings of civilization to the present day.

As early as the Renaissance, European collectors were enjoying "exotic" pieces from Asia, Africa, and the Americas. But it was not until the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries that Europeans began to pay serious attention to the spectacular art and architecture they found abroad. With the accumulation of knowledge, each of these arts began to be recognized and appreciated in its own terms. Using maps, time charts, and a wide selection of famous and lesser known images, the author charts this growing awareness region by region, analyzing individual art works within their cultural contexts. The book's final chapter focuses on the increasing interrelation between all these cultures during the twentieth century and into the twenty-first. The effects of postcolonialism, postmodernism, and internationalism are acknowledged as instrumental in the creation of new hybrid art forms that draw their inspiration both from specific cultural traditions and the contemporary world at large.

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