Art Of The Islands

The Celtic, Pictish, Anglo-Saxon and Viking peoples who inhabited the British Isles and Ireland from late prehistory to the Norman Conquest left a rich visual heritage whose influence continues to be felt. This is the first book to present an illustrated overview of the early art of the British and Irish archipelago during one of the most formative periods in its history. It explores the interaction between its inhabitants, along with the formation of national and regional identities, through the lens of visual culture.Leading expert Michelle P. Brown explains the historical context within which key artworks of the period were made and used, ranging across works as diverse as the Book of Kells, the Tara Brooch, the Aberlemno Stones, the Lindisfarne Gospels, the Alfred Jewel and the Benedictional of St Ethelwold, and examines the ways in which their complex imagery can be interpreted. She also considers the impact of the art of this period upon the history of art in general, helping to inform both the Carolingian renaissance, the Romanesque and, from the late nineteenth century, the Arts and Crafts and Art Nouveau movements. Fusing history, art history, archaeology and literary studies, and fully illustrated throughout, this is a ground-breaking guide to a fascinating and complex period in which northern Europe journeyed from late Antiquity into the Middle Ages.

"The imagery of Marquesan art is testament to the myriad beings and creatures who inhabited the Marquesan universe - gods, ancestors, humans, lizards, turtles, fish - and to the islands' complex social and political organization. These art forms are explored in the present volume, published in conjunction with the exhibition "Adorning the World: Art of the Marquesas Islands," held at The Metropolitan Museum of Art."--BOOK JACKET.

Christian missionaries introduced fabric quilt-making to the Cook Islands more than one hundred years ago. Within a short time, Cook Island women turned the tivaevae (needlework, specifically the making of patchwork quilts by hand) into an art form that has become an integral part of local life and culture. In this lavishly illustrated book, Island women talk about their tivaevae--how they are sewn, the ideas that go into each design, and the future of tivaevae.

The Conru Collection encompasses a broad range of artworks made between the eighteenth and early twentieth centuries. Most of the objects were collected in the early period of Pacific exploration. The collection is representative of the artistic output of the region and includes masks from Nissan and Bougainville, war canoe ornaments from New Georgia and Choisel, and numerous figural sculptures from throughout the island chain, as well as weaponry, jewellery and articles for daily life.

These essays from over forty leading experts on Insular art c.AD400-1500 cross all media, including stone, vellum, cloth, metal, and glass. Along with its customary focus on art of the Insular world of Britain and Ireland, the papers also consider the contemporary European and Mediterranean background and context of Insular art, under the headings of motif, theme, symbol, transmission, translation and scholarship. Offering new perspectives on familiar objects and introducing new finds, like the other volumes in the series, this lavishly illustrated book is a must for all serious students of Insular art. [Subject: Art History, Insular Art, Early Middle Ages, Irish Studies, European Studies, Mediterranean Studies]

Spanning more than a century, this collection of 77 images, together with an accessible, informative text, perfectly captures the feeling, atmosphere, beauty, and uniqueness of the Maine islands.

When the USS Maine mysteriously exploded in Havana's harbor on February 15, 1898, the United States joined local rebel forces to avenge the Maine and "liberate" Cuba from the Spanish empire. "Remember the Maine! To Hell with Spain!" So went the popular slogan. Little did the Cubans know that the United States was not going to give them freedom--in less than a year the American flag replaced the Spanish flag over the various island colonies of Cuba, Guam, Puerto Rico, and the Philippines. Spurred by military successes and dreams of an island empire, the US annexed Hawai'i that same year, even establishing island colonies throughout Micronesia and the Antilles. With the new governmental orders of creating new art, architecture, monuments, and infrastructure from the United States, the island cultures of the Caribbean and Pacific were now caught in a strategic scope of a growing imperial power. These spatial and visual objects created a visible confrontation between local indigenous, African, Asian, Spanish, and US imperial expressions. These material and visual histories often go unacknowledged, but serve as uncomplicated "proof" for the visible confrontation between the US and the new island territories. The essays in this volume contribute to an important art-historical, visual cultural, architectural, and materialist critique of a growing body of scholarship on the US Empire and the War of 1898. Imperial Islands seeks to reimagine the history and cultural politics of art, architecture, and visual experience in the US insular context. The authors of this volume propose a new direction of visual culture and spatial experience through nuanced terrains for writing, envisioning, and revising US-American, Caribbean, and Pacific histories. These original essays address the role of art and architecture in expressions of state power; racialized and gendered representations of the United States and its island colonies; and forms of resistance to US cultural presence. Featuring interdisciplinary approaches, Imperial Islands offers readers a new way of learning the ongoing significance of vision and experience in the US empire today, particularly for Caribbean, Latinx, Pilipinx, and Pacific Island communities.