Non-Western Art

Non-Western Art

Introduction

In 1990, Museum of Fine Art Houston (MFAH) was founded in the heart of Houston, the largest city of Texas. The museum provides a dynamic cultural complex to visitors, which is composed of two decorative art centers, two museum buildings, a sculpture garden and two schools of art. MFAH's collections are over 56, 000 art works, encompassing considerably varied media ranging from the age of stone to the present date (Edward & Marcus, 2013). The museum offers a wide range of art collection from across the globe including Asia and African arts, American paintings and sculpture, antiquities, decorative arts, African gold's Glassell Collection leading to an endless representation of extensive civilizations (Houston Convention & Visitors Bureau, 2013).

At present, MFAH is the fifth largest exhibition space in the US, with 300, 000 square feet space dedicated to art display (Edward & Marcus, 2013). Well developed infrastructure and well maintained collection galleries make MFAH the center of attention of all those individuals, who adore and respect the discipline of art across the globe. Hence, MFAH's encyclopedic collection makes it the priority venue of our project (Edward & Marcus, 2013).

The paper discusses three exclusively selected non-western art pieces from the vast collection of MFAH. The paper provides a quick overview and factual information of each selected piece and its relevance to contemporary art. Moreover, the paper draws a conclusion based on the analysis and detailed study of art pieces in order to explore the new learning and experience of non-western arts. Non-Western art works enrich the contemporary world of art and paintings by embracing it with unique and exploratory techniques of art.

Discussion and Analysis

First selection of the paper is Scholar's Table Screen (16th - 17th Century) by an anonymous Chinese (figure 1). It is a unique piece of art, which is based on the medium of hardwood and steatite. The art piece was gifted to MFAH by Mr. and Mrs. Meredith Long. The art piece is from the category of furniture with dimensions of w50 x h58 x d18 cm (Museum of Fine Arts, 2013). The form and surface of this art work adds craftsman skills of wooden work to contemporary art work techniques.

Figure 1: Scholar's Table Screen 16th - 17th Century (Source: Art Project)

The piece is an antique in its very own nature as it highlights the period of Ming Dynasty by featuring decorative carvings on both surfaces (Museum of Fine Arts, 2013). Scrutiny of the piece shows that one side of the table screen is showing qilin (a fabulous beast analogous to unicorn) set in a position against rocky scenery, and the counter side of this view is portraying dignitaries of the court, who are occupied with various academic quests (figure 2) (Museum of Fine Arts, 2013). Analysis indicates that piece of art is presenting a mirror image of two counter elements of human life in the form of good vs. evil. The piece has set up a crafty comparison of two assorted entities in order to explore divergent notions ...