Let's Talk About Art That's Outside of the European Tradition!

Representations of the natural world or motifs from nature are found in the art of all times and places. Choose and fully identify two appropriate works of art from two different cultures. One of your choices must be from beyond the European tradition. Explain why and how each work uses representations of the natural world or motifs from nature.

Chinese artist Daosheng’s Bamboo Groves in Mist and Rain consists of a landscape on a handscroll from 1308. The ink lines that make up the bamboo are blurred in the back of the scroll to show that they are in the distance and to give depth. Bamboo was a popular subject in Chinese art and the symbol of a Chinese gentleman and demonstrated the popular art of calligraphy. Bamboo is flexible and does not break in half easily; the Chinese gentlemen were expected to have the same qualities as bamboo. In the 19^th century, Hudson River artist Bierstadt painted a landscape entitled Among the Sierra Nevada Mountains, California. He paints a lake with high cliffs and waterfalls, tall pine trees, green grass and wildlife. The sun breaks through the clouds above the view and gives the piece a heavenly feel. The open, untouched land points to the idea of Manifest Destiny and all of the land that has yet to be discovered in America. Bierstadt’s painting shows the beauty of the land in the west. Both Daosheng and Bierstadt depict the natural world but for different reasons; Daosheng draws a scroll to uphold the traditional value of calligraphy by using ink and scroll paper and drawing bamboo. Bierstadt’s is a piece encouraging Americans to move west and show the viewer how beautiful the unexplored country can be by painting a mystical landscape.