Beginning with a discussion of the impact of European culture on indigenous art forms—and how museums, critics, and art historians respond to this “non-Western” tradition, this course goes on to examine some of the major Native North American artists — Norval Morrisseau, Maria Martinez, Bill Reid, Preston Singletary — and movements in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. As students explore objects in VMFA’s permanent collection, they discover how these artists both carry on traditions and move in new directions.
Image: Platter, ca. 1925, Maria Montoya Martinez (American , 1887 – 1980), Julian Martinez (American , 1885 – 1943), New Mexico clay, volcanic ash, red slip; burnished, painted and fired, 14.375 in. Floyd D. and Anne C. Gottwald Fund