In my last post I tried to encourage the reader to consider computer equipment a necessity of life. Good equipment is a great economy. If you think about it, how incredible it is that a person can buy so much for so little! Practically every aspect of human life is effected by the development of computer literacy. Once a person learns operation skills the overall benefit is obviously worth far more than the equipment cost.

Last month I was researching topics that I might use in my blog post, naturally I entered a query statement “Indigenous American Art” to see what Wikipedia might yield on the subject, as I read the posted sources on the Google Search Engine page , I spied a familiar title , “The Collection of Indigenous American Art”, I was defensive, literally fearful that I might have someone Elise's title! But, then I realized that it was my title to these pages. Now the point is this, the important content here is the rare art work of the Indigenous American Craftsmen. Google and affordable personal computer equipment have made this view possible.

Several new prints follow!

You can reach me at ciaamuseum@gmail.com

Let me start this post by wishing you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year as well. I will forgo the normal writing and suggest that computer equipment is the best Gift that you can give! Rather it is for yourself or another person, so many meaningful accomplishments start with a knowledge of computer hardware and software. Money spent on computers is invested in the future of the recipient, it is the encouragement to explore and achieve. Once again, Happy Holidays!

Here are several new prints. The prints in last weeks post did not do well, they will be deleted to make room for better work.

You can reach me at lmccarty.fa@gmail.com

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Now that there are a number of the prints visible, (You can see past post in the archive), It is obvious there is considerable variation from one plate to another. Some are literal while others are more abstract. I think that it is easy to see that modern art work in Europe and the Americas was in large part a reaction to various primitive art forms.

As early as Albrecht Durer's life time, 1471-1528, European artist were viewing exhibitions of art from “ The New World”. Durer wrote in his artist diary that he viewed a group of works in Brussels Belgium. He wrote that they were a pleasure to behold. Do you think that Rembrandt Van Rijn , 1606-1669 , might have been influenced likewise? While Rembrandt is known as a painter, he like Durer was also a print maker, working in the Intaglio process. The American Indians were using the Intaglio process 3500 years ago. The point here is that European artist had been studding Indigenous American artifacts for nearly 400 years by the time that the Armory Show was held in New York City in 1913! Many authority's consider the Armory Show to be the beginning of the Modern period in America.

You may reach me at lmccarty.fa@gmail.com

Most of the artist in the history of indigenous America were probably women. It was a great honor, a revered position and a respected place in the national government. I will point out here that I was fortunate to have a professor in my college work that told me this. This individual was a member of the Cherokee Nation and also a Council member as well. She was quick to point out that life was especially hard for women in all American nations and that the competition for recognition was sever.

I think that it is easy to see that many of these art works were probably created for children. Some for the child's interest and amusement and others for a portrait record for parents and elders. The artist produced plates much as we take photographs today. Once again, I say, can you imagine drawing a portrait in a space as small as a 35mm negative or for that matter, then carving the image on a stone? I won't even go into other accepted customs that made the art work more challenging, such as multiple images superimposed one over the other, or creating secondary compositions in other plate positions. These are evolved concepts that grew as the art form was passed from one generation to another. If you are as impressed with these works as I am, we share a common eye, and a satisfaction that feeds the mind.

What kind of art do you like? We all have different ideas and separate taste,and of course there is always the proverbial “ I don't know much about art, but I know what I like!” I say “ Good” to those that say this, because at least there is art that they do like. I usually find that their ideas about art are honest and straight forward. While my ideas about art maybe contemporary and liberal, we should respect the rights of others to differ. This is the first step in the development of a proper dialog where different points of view may be expressed.

One observation that I have made is that conservative individuals are often pleased with many of the prints in the collection of indigenous art, they study over them and quiet often agree that they are very impressed, sighting particular points, like the age of the works, miniature formats, excellent draftsmanship, or beauty of expression. In short the art work is valid because it does contain Classical virtues. They feel that the artist was a skilled artisan that by all means did a days work.

I suspect that there were more fine artist in Pre-Columbian America than there are today. Just as we seldom read and write, likewise most post-modern people take little time to look at art of any kind and creating art themselves has even less place in their minds. Primitive cultures had to rely on the ability of the individual to manufacture a needed idem, as there were no other sources of supply. Many people worked with their hands, this helped to develop the craftsman's ability to work with tools

Here are several new prints. Once again, Thank You for reading and viewing!

You can contact me at

lmccarty.fa@gmail.com

Happy Thanksgiving!

The time of Thanksgiving has come once again. I have been cutting firewood and preparing for winter in general. The firewood is a pretty good job,so I am sore all over! Of course it is the exercise that I need and the cooler temperatures make it a pleasure.

I haven't prepared a regular blog post, instead I would just like to wish you a Happy Thanksgiving Season and point out that the first turkeys that the settlers ate in this land were gifts of the indigenous population. I think that we should remember that fact as we celebrate this fine holiday

You can reach me ,Larry David McCarty at the following email address...

lmccarty.fa@gmail.com

My fascination with stones and rocks extends backwards in time to my early childhood. When I was about three years old, my Father built a driveway at our family home, a large pile of gravel stone was required as a foundation. I was preoccupied with the gravel. Throughout my lifetime since, I have collected minerals and fossils.

Let me assure you that most gravel stone do not have art work as a feature. It is also very difficult to recognize one stone from another, that is a stone bearing graphic art from a more common blank piece. I like to point out, that on any gravel bar along the bank of any stream or river, very few of the stones have ever been touched by a human hand.

When I find a likely stone I do feel great excitement and suspense, knowing that there will be another time of revelation. If you are reading this I know that you probably understand seeing an art work for the first time, possibly lost for hundreds of years, even older than a millennium. I have seen masterful art works appear, visions of divine craftsmen. I have the honor of once again holding their work in my hand.

Likewise I have also seen the destruction of tons of beautiful artifacts,either through ignorance or out right disrespect. Often in the late 19^th and early 20^th centuries Indigenous American stone art deposits were used as road fill! Many times the rare art works simply washed away with heavy rains. Even today these conditions still exist, There has been no proper organized effort to locate and protect misplaced deposits. It is my hope that this blog site will help to awaken the readers and viewers to the National Treasure that are the stone art works of Indigenous America.

You may contact me at the following e-mail address...

ciaamuseum@gmail.com    

One of the mysteries of the historical past of the Americas is what routes did the first inhabitants use to get here and where did they come from? It is beyond the space available here to deal with such a topic,however I would like to point out some interesting considerations.

In 1947 Thor Heyerdahl proved that a raft could be used to cross the Pacific Ocean. Heyerdahl wrote the book , Kontiki which is the story of this voyage. Heyerdahl was of the persuasion that we as modern men tend to underestimate the stamina and intelligence of stone age men. I think that he thought and actually knew that there had been many unrecorded voyages, and furthermore that many records were just simply ignored by those with preconceived theories about the history of our planet.

China's Historical record is several thousand years old. It may be that the Chinese made many trips to the Americas; better than 3500 years ago. There does appear to be Chinese influence in the art of Eastern Mexico. The Olmec society may have contained Chinese immigrants that came by water, traveling on ships under sail.

Art historians tell us that fine art print making originated in China and Japan. The oriental people were very generous with their knowledge, they were quick to share unselfishly the art with all interested cultures. They no doubt realized that print making was the basis for creating a written language form. Written language is of course the prerequisite for proper records keeping.

Does the above reasoning seem to support the idea that the bird mound at Poverty Point in Eastern Louisiana, and the many other mound sites along the Mississippi River are the result of middle American and Chinese influence?

This is my point, I definitely feel that the print making we are viewing on this Blogspot post is the work of master artist. I believe that from somewhere the American Indians learned first hand about the sophisticated printing practices that their guilds taught. In closing please let me repeat from the above writing, We as Modern Men tend to underestimate the stamina and intelligence of Stone Age Men.

 

In the last years of his life Pablo Picasso painted many paintings. It is interesting to note that in some circles these works were not received as well as his earlier works. Some viewers were disturbed by the shapes or movements in the canvases, they said that they were grotesque. These were strong words for criticizing the works of a master artist. Let me say here that I find the paintings as beautiful as any of his other works. I am particularly interested in these works, because they occur at the end of his life, when he has obviously achieved the ability to paint. I think that it is in these works that we see most clearly his enchantment with the art of the indigenous American artist craftsmen, and even if he knew nothing of their work, the likenesses between the works speaks for its self.

First let us look briefly at “Cubism” as Henry Matisse refereed to the works of Pablo Picasso and George Braque. Barque's paintings were images that reflected a 3 dimensional world, in this way he is connected to centuries of European tradition. On the other hand, Picasso's works were flat, 2 dimensional creations much different in concept. Picasso's paintings were the beginning of a new era in art , an era where abstract designs would replace realism and its insistence on Renaissance perspective.

Now, the point that I would like to make here is that the indigenous American artist had few straight lines in their works, and by all means they cared nothing about square corners! The fact that they were carving or etching the surface of irregular stone, usually a fossil formation, made straight lines difficult or even impossible. Instead they worshiped the beautiful natural designs of nature, the natural capture of life its self, frozen in time. Their compositions were created after careful study of the particular plate.

I think that Picasso was aware of the indigenous American art works, he did tell many people that he was fond of primitive art. He collected African art for certain. I find it strange that we do not find reference to American Indian, that is Indigenous American Indian art more in historical records. Furthermore I even find it difficult to speak of this art, as primitive!

Are you having trouble trying to visualize the illustrations exhibited on this site? While some are simple and direct others are more complicated and thus more difficult. I myself have to look many times to see some of the designs. Once again we should take note that the most recent of these works would probably be 250 years old, and most are older than that. Also the harsh exposure to weathering has made many difficult to recognize. Indeed I have learned to print proofs in one session and evaluate at a later time, to give my eyes time to rest and refocus. I would also add that vigorous exercise before study, and even during study periods is a secret for success! Visual literacy is developed it is cultivated, it grows with exposure to art works.

At any rate here are several more prints to view. See what you might make of them. At sometime in the future I hope to exhibit all of the prints in public exhibitions, there are many to study and enjoy.

There are also a large number of Effigy Stones in the collection, these of course have to be photographed, and will then be displayed as photographic illustrations. Small stone effigies were a delight of America's early inhabitants, humans, birds,rabbits,rats ,monkeys, dogs, cats and so on. So we will continue for some time to come! I have noticed that you can access the earlier post that have been made, see the right side bar. So that is all for this post, Thank You for taking the time to visit me here at The Collection Of Indigenous American Art.

In my last post I related of conversations with local Artist and Folklorist that suggested that these stones bearing engravings were valued as trade objects. That each stone had a value , and to some degree that the quality of the art work was an important factor in determining its worth. Note of course that the particular stones value was not fixed as it is in modern money systems, quiet often it did depend on what hand held the stone.

Another point and the subject of this post, is that each stone bore a unique original design. While many are somewhat similar, no two are exactly alike. This is an important point, that the design was by all means a product of the surface of the particular rock. Lets say that the stones shape was a factor that the craftsman had to take advantage of or likewise overcome.

Now, doesn't the preceding paragraph seem to define problems that are more sculptural than graphic? This is true especially when we take into consideration that most of our modern art printing methods by definition require a flat surface as a starting point. So here we see that another dimension has been added, there are hills, valleys,and other imperfections to take into consideration and deal with . Finally, we see that these factors to a great extent, dictate how the final art work will appear.

In future post we will explore the possible reality that art in the 19^th and 20^th centuries was in great part defined by the graphic works of indigenous American craftsmen, that the somewhat strange and stunningly beautiful faces of a master like Pablo Picasso , may have been inspired by the works of unknown stone age craftsmen endeavoring to place an exquisite face on the irregular surface of small but very significant stones.