Exchange: How We Express Ourselves

How We Express Ourselves

I.B. Unit of Analysis

An inquiry into the ways in which we discover and express ideas, feelings, nature, culture, beliefs, and values; the ways in which we reflect on, extend and enjoy our creativity; our appreciation of the aesthetic.

This column fragment consists of a base with a seated jina in the center with a tiered umbrella above him under an elaborate arch flanked by two figures to either side—two male and dancing females at the outside. Three virtually identical bands above it represent smaller seated jinas in less elaborate pavilions. A pair of male cauri bearers with a devotional male on the outside flanks each of the two central figures. The top figure is flanked by the pair of cauri bearers, but with an elephant surmounted by a lion figure on either side. There is no cognizance present to identify any of the four jinas, all are depicted in lotus position and their hands in dhyana mudra, a meditation gesture. <br />

Artist Unknown, India, Rajasthan or Gujarat, Jain
Column with Four Jinas and Attendants (Jain Marble Column)
marble
31 5/16 in x 9 5/8 in x 5 15/16 in (79.5 cm x 24.5 cm x 15 cm);31 5/16 in x 9 5/8 in x 5 15/16 in (79.5 cm x 24.5 cm x 15 cm)
Museum purchase made possible by the Margaret Watson Parker Art Collection Fund

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A panel portrait of two men and two women. One man plays a mandolin while the other watches one of the women. The woman he is watching is standing by the table and holding a dog. The second woman is sitting next to the mandolin player and reading.

Caspar Netscher
The Music Lesson (Musikalishe Unterhaltung)
oil on panel
31 1/4 in. x 27 1/4 in. ( 79.38 cm x 69.22 cm )
Gift from the Collection of Mr. & Mrs. Heydon

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This anthropomorphic <em>nkisi</em>, or power figure, stands upright with its head turned 90 degrees to the side. Like many <em>minkisi</em>, this one features a wide range of materials. A long metal chain hangs around its neck and a fiber packet containing medicinal substances is tied across its forehead with its loose ends dangling far below. More fiber is wrapped around its lower torso. The face features a slightly parted mouth and large eyes with attentive, black pupils. Protruding from the figure is a large, prominent belly, upon which is affixed a small horn.

Vili (Kongo)
Power Figure
wood, tukula powder, fiber, metal chain, mirror, animal horn, glass, resin and split cane
5 15/16 in x 2 9/16 in x 2 3/8 in (15 cm x 6.5 cm x 6 cm);5 15/16 in x 2 9/16 in x 2 3/8 in (15 cm x 6.5 cm x 6 cm)
Gift of Candis and Helmut Stern

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A drawing of a woman seeming to lurch to the right, with one knee bent as if beginning to run. Her left arm is draped across front of her body, and her right arm is extended to the left, parallel to the top of the frame.

Abraham Walkowitz
Isadora Duncan
pen, watercolor, and graphite on paper
13 13/16 in x 9 3/16 in (35.08 cm x 23.34 cm);22 in x 18 in (55.88 cm x 45.72 cm);19 in x 14 1/8 in (48.26 cm x 35.88 cm)
Gift of Abraham Walkowitz

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A man with dark hair and dark clothes holds the hands of a smiling woman as they both look down at her feet. A man to the woman's right wears a straw hat and a shirt printed with a pattern of liquor bottles.

Flip Schulke
Inuit couple learning to dance
gelatin silver print on paper
5 ¾ in x 7 ¾ in (14.61 cm x 19.68 cm)
Gift of Mr. and Mrs. James Agah, Class of 1989 (BBA)

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Metal figural sculpture made of decommissioned AK-47s welded together

Ouk Chim Vichet
Apsara Warrior
metal
89 in x 44 ⅞ in x 47 ¼ in (226.06 cm x 113.98 cm x 120.02 cm);89 in x 44 ⅞ in x 47 ¼ in (226.06 cm x 113.98 cm x 120.02 cm)
Museum purchase made possible by Guy and Nora Barron

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This print shows two figures dancing in front of three musicians by the water with a moon in the sky and reflected in the water. A far away seaside fort is visible in the upper left corner.

Miguel Covarrubias
Afro-Cuban Dancers and Percussionists
lithograph on paper
9 1/4 in x 13 1/2 in (23.5 cm x 34.29 cm);11 15/16 in x 16 1/16 in (30.32 cm x 40.8 cm);22 1/16 in x 28 1/8 in (56.04 cm x 71.44 cm)
Museum Purchase

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Prentiss Taylor
Macedonia A.M.E.
lithograph on paper
9 9/16 in x 13 ⅜ in (24.29 cm x 33.97 cm)
Courtesy of the Fine Arts Collection, U.S. General Services Administration, New Deal art project

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This leaf from a manuscript contains seven lines of Latin text with musical notation. The initial letter, "C," of the opening word "Confessio" is made from a curved vegetal form. The text is preceded by a painted miniature in a circular frame that is, in turn, enclosed by a golden square. The miniature depicts a man with a tonsure and a golden halo standing in a verdant landscape. He holds a palm leaf in his left hand and rests his right hand on a grill. The left and upper margins of the page are decorated with green and pink leaves and flowers and small gold circles.

Ludovico de Gaci
Leaf from a Gradual with St. Lawrence
ink, tempera and gold on parchment
22 7/16 x 15 7/8 in. (56.9 x 40.2 cm);28 1/8 x 22 3/16 in. (71.4 x 56.2 cm)
Gift of Ann and Leonard Eaton in appreciation for the excellent teaching of Ilene Forsyth and Marvin Eisenberg

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Bruce Giffin
Music on the Streets of Detroit, from "Detroit Focus 2000"
2000
black and white photograph | paper
Gift of Detroit Focus 2000, and partial purchase with funds from the Jean Paul Slusser Memorial Fund
2003/2.69.14

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Thomas Hart Benton
I Got A Gal On Sourwood Mountain
lithograph on paper
22 1/16 in x 18 ⅛ in (56.04 cm x 46.04 cm)
Gift of Suzanne Beutler

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A woman playing a musical instrument is shown sested on a bed in an open-air terrace during nighttime. A pavilion is represented behind her, and a horizontal wall connected to the pavilion, consisting of an opening/ door, extends to the left border of the scene. Another female figure, possibly an attendant, is shown sitting on the floor beside the bed, facing her mistress. A short verse is painted above the depicted scene.

Artist Unknown, India, Rajasthan, Jaipur School
Ragamala: Gorhalar Ragini
ink and opaque watercolor on paper
13 3/16 in x 9 13/16 in (33.5 cm x 24.9 cm);13 3/16 in x 9 3/4 in (33.5 cm x 24.7 cm)
Gift of Dr. and Mrs. Leo S. Figiel and Dr. and Mrs. Steven J. Figiel

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