Native South American Art

 

  1. Cloth & Clay This is a special web exhibit, an exploration of art, culture and history through the ceramic and textile objects of the ancient and contemporary peoples of North and South America. There are four major sections: a. the artwork itself with information about the image and the culture; b. learn how the art was made; c. explore the landscapes and resources that shaped the artworks, and d. travel back in time to an ancient marketplace where many of the artworks would have been sold. Brought to you by the Textile Museum of Canada and the Gardiner Museum of Ceramic Art

  2. Infinity of Nations Presents highlights from their permanent collections which include artworks from North, Central and South America. Eleven sections on regions or cultures - such as Amazon or Woodland Indians - show excellent digital images with brief explanations for each image. The introduction to each section is very informative.

  4. Machu Picchu: Lost City of the Incas The beautiful city of Machu Picchu was the heart of the Incan Empire in the area that is now Peru, South America. This was the home of the Children of the Sun, cradled on a narrow high mountain ridge of the Andes. Learn how this city shows the legacy of thousands of years of Andean cultures which fostered sophisticated architects, engineers, astronomers and artists.

  5. The Temple of PalenqueThe author of this web site describes this ancient site as: "Vast, mysterious and enchanting, the ruined city of Palenque is considered to be the most beautifully conceived of the Mayan city-states and one of the loveliest archaeological sites in the world." See for your self and learn about the history of the palaces and spiritual sites of this jungle city.

  6. Cave Paintings of Cueva Pintada are in an isolated area of Western Mexico. This article from Archeology Magazine follows the discovery and mystery of the hundreds of human and animal figures that cover many cave walls. There are great photos - click to enlarge for great details.

  7. The Metropolitan Museum of Art has a wonderful feature, the Timeline of Art History. There are hundreds of beautifully illustrated articles on special topics organized chronologically, or from the oldest to the newest, as art developed around the world. Here are topics and artworks of interest for this period of art history.

    • Textiles of the Andes Mountains Even after the European conquest, weavers continued to make bold, colorful fabrics.
    • Pyramids of the Sun and the Moon In 600 AD the great ancient city of Teotihuacan controlled central Mexico. This site links you to three others about the architecture and mural paintings and their religious connections.
    • Aztec Stone Scuplture The Aztec artists sculptured monumental images of their gods and goddesses for temples and public spaces. They portray the Aztec ideals of female beauty and male strength.
    • La Venta: Stone Sculpture The Olmecs turned massive boulders into thrones, altars, stelae and colossal heads, each with distinctinve personalities.
    • Jade in Mesoamerica Here are three articles and beautiful examples of precious blue-green jade sculpture, jewelry and ritual objects
    • Valdivia Figurines The ancient people living along the coast of Ecuador created the earliest sculptures of human figures in the Americas around 4,000-3,500 BC.
    • Gold of the Indies This article shows you four stunning examples of gold jewelry that survived the European explorers greed.
    • Monte Alban Monte Alban was a small but powerful city in southern Mexico from 500 - 200 BC. This links you to three articles about its art and architecture.

 
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