Islamic Art
Islamic art is perhaps the most accessible manifestation of a complex civilization that often seems enigmatic to outsiders. Through its brilliant use of color and its superb balance between design and form, Islamic art creates an immediate visual impact. Its strong aesthetic appeal transcends distances in time and space, as well as differences in language, culture, and creed. Islamic art not only invites a closer look but also beckons the viewer to learn more.
“The term Islamic art may be confusing to some. It not only describes the art created specifically in the service of , but it also characterizes secular art produced in lands under Islamic rule or influence, whatever the artist’s or the patron’s religious affiliation. The term suggests an art unified in style and purpose, and indeed there are certain common features that distinguish the arts of all Islamic lands.”1 Although this is a highly dynamic art, which is often marked by strong regional characteristics as well as by significant influences from other cultures, it retains an overall coherence that is remarkable given its vast geographic and temporal boundaries. Of paramount concern to the development of this singular art is Islam itself, which fostered the creation of a distinctive visual culture with its own unique artistic language. Calligraphy is the most important and pervasive element in Islamic art. It has always been considered the noblest form of art because of its association with the , the Muslim holy book, which is written in Arabic. This preoccupation with beautiful writing extended to all arts including secular manuscripts; inscriptions on palaces; and those applied to metalwork, pottery, stone, glass, wood, and textiles and to non-Arabic-speaking peoples within the Islamic commonwealth whose languages such as Persian,
Turkish, and Urdu were written in the Arabic script. Another characteristic of
Islamic art is a preference for covering surfaces with patterns composed of geometric or vegetal elements. Complex geometric designs, as well as intricate patterns of vegetal ornament (such as the arabesque), create the impression of unending repetition, which is believed by some to be an inducement to contemplate the infinite nature of God. This type of nonrepresentational decoration may have been developed to such a high degree in Islamic art because of the absence of figural imagery, at least within a religious context.
Contrary to a popular misconception, however, figural imagery is an important aspect of Islamic art. Such images occur primarily in secular and especially courtly arts and appear in a wide variety of media and in most periods and places in which Islam flourished. It is important to note, nevertheless, that
In many ways, writers Harper Lee and Truman Capote made an odd couple. She was shy and reclusive and only wrote two novels in her lifetime. He was a prolific writer who embraced his celebrity status and lived a life of jet-setting glamour. Yet the two were good friends for years, having met at age 5 as neighbors in Monroeville, Alabama. Lee would prove indispensable to Capote in the research of his most famous book, In Cold Blood. Despite her help, however, Capote gave her no credit
Truman Capote showcases his very distinct style of writing in his true crime novel, In Cold Blood. Capote intentionally frames ruthless murderer Perry Smith as a relatable, well-intentioned human throughout the whole novel, and employs various rhetorical devices to show us that Perry is not just a stone cold killer. Specifically, Capote uses diction comprised of complex words, interviews conducted by Capote personally in which he interacted with the suspects and their loved ones, and sentence structure that came off as very to the point, in order to illustrate Perry’s dynamic and unique personality, opposed to the one dimensional heartless murderer many made him out to be.
The Los Angeles County Museum of Art, or LACMA as it is commonly known, is among the world’s largest art collections in North America, and to be specific enough the most prevalent artwork in the western United States (Compton 165). This massive art museum has a collection of over 100,000 artworks, which extends from the ancient times to present days (Gilbert and Mills 174). These collections, which are mainly from Asia, Africa, Europe, Latin-America and America itself, are grouped into several departments within the museums buildings, depending on the region, culture, media, and time period. This paper analyzes the different genres of art and explains the main features that make the Islamic artworks distinguish themselves as historic masterpieces, by using stylistic and interpretive analysis methods.
Capote strays back and forth from present day Holcomb in 1959, to the day-to-day life on the road in Perry and Dicks point of view. The way Capote goes back and forth in his novel give an insight into the lives of not only the Clutter family but the true behind the scenes of the murders Perry and Dick, who in themselves have issues of abandonment and mental illness in their pasts. The novel is nonfictional, but “In Cold Blood 's” credibility is not what it is said to be. The famed author “didn’t tell the truth,” KBI detective Harold Nye told George Plimpton (Plimpton). Thus his truthful non-fiction story doesn’t hold a hundred percent truth. With Capote 's manipulation, he helps himself create a tantalizing story out of a tragedy that people who were affected must watch him profit from. Capote himself admits to George Plimpton who is writing “A Story About a nonfiction Novel,” when he asks “if he is particularly interested in this crime?” Capote replies “No, not really;” therefore, Capote never really cared for Perry and Dick and whether they lived or died, he was more interested in finding out the story so he could make his compelling
In 1959, Capote set out to create a new literary genre - the non-fiction novel. He came across the Clutter murders while flipping through The New York Times. The article briefly outlined the quadruple murder of Herb Clutter, a wealthy Kansas farmer, as well as his wife and two kids. Capote pictured the case as the perfect subject for his upcoming project, which he specified as a long-form work of nonfiction. Capote was accompanied by his childhood friend and author of To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee. Lee, familiar with small-town life, gained the trust of Holcomb’s citizens faster than Capote ever could have, whose bombastic and flowery demeanor set him apart at the time of murders.
One can learn a great deal about fourteenth century art by observing and analyzing the subjects ,the central and main focus of the art works at this period.The main subject religion ,in particular Christianity was flourishing in Europe at this time . Christianity was the central and dominate power politically and religiously.Political leaders ruled under a theocratic government.Every aspect of life revolved around religion;Education domestic,and social.Any work of art paintings or architectural,communicates these historical significance in fourteenth century Europe.Before man learned to write they learned how To draw and make art so it's only natural they recorded their history through means of art.The altarpiece triptych series by one of Giotto's pupil .which illustrates significant stages in the life of Christ,shows how centered Christianity was in fourteenth century Europe.
Thesis: Islam and The Islamic Empire started suddenly and spread rapidly over a 500+ year period because of political, cultural, and religious reasons.
...ion...” (“Truman” 84). Capote creates a story that was based on true events while being able to evoke emotions out of the readers. The use of an objective writing style was a fundamental part in adding to the garnering of emotions to the story as well. Through In Cold Blood, Capote alerts the audience to “...Ambiguities of the American legal system and capital punishment” (“Truman” 84), stating that in the court of law in America there are some flaws and laws that are obscure in their purpose that one should be weary about. Capote wrote In Cold Blood in order to convey the idea that whenever a person or a group of people is murdered, vengeance is always sought upon the murderers. In a place where everyone knows everyone, it is hard for the community to adjust to the losses without proper compensation, and sometimes the only way is through punishing those by death.
The only way to have this knowledge is to experience the life of someone who is oppressed. A person lives within the structures of oppression when other groups have power over his actions and conditions of his life. Mill’s is saying that individuals have epistemic access to knowledge based on common characteristics such as class, race and gender. The people who own businesses, factories and all of the equipment needed to operate the business need skilled laborers, usually from the working class, to produce goods. If you are an owner your profit is then derived from the results of their labor. You want to keep the surplus that results from the difference between the worker’s productivity and their wages. If you are a worker, you want to increase what you get paid for your labor to what you think is a fair wage. The worker has a different sense of what is considered a fair wage than that of his boss. The bosses increase their wealth, power and status while the workers remain powerless when it comes to decisions that affect the conditions of their lives. As a worker you not only see yourself doing all the hard work, but you see the owner as someone who does not understand how hard it is for you in your world. The owner, because he is not part of the working class, is not living the kind of life where he can experience things that allow
To fully understand the purpose of In Cold Blood, one must explore Capote's strategy in writing such a tale. In his "In Cold Blood," Capote raises the possibility of rational order without ever fully endorsing it, often revealing that random and accidental events shape the history of the crime. Because of this, we as readers cannot pinpoint one exact reason for the incidents that occurred at the Clutter house that fateful night, and are forced to sympathize with two opposing characters within the story, Perry Smith and Alvin Dewey.
The juncture of Islamic and American cultural movements has found a home in the various Sufi traditions that prevalent in the Western world. These subsequent artistic cultural traditions and rituals make Sufism the most culturally dominant and pervasive form of Islam in modern day Western culture – beating out the two largest internationally prevailing sects of orthodox Islam (Sunnism) and Shia’ism. In the following paper, I will assert that there are two primary spheres of Sufi tradition that transcend American society. The first being the sphere of culture, which includes but is not limited to, dance, music, poetry, arts, education, psychology and philosophical paradigms. The second sphere encompasses the influence of religious sites: mosques and tomb shrines.
When walking around a city, you may notice that the architecture and art look similar to other works. Many of these designs have changed along the course of history and time whilst others have not. The designs that many people still see in society and day to day living is from two of the many cultures of the old civilizations, Roman and Islamic. The art and architecture forms from the Islamic and Roman cultures have many comparisons and contrasts between them. They, the Islamic and Roman nations, have both adopted from other cultures and have made their own discoveries in the art and architecture worlds. The Roman and Islamic architecture and art vary drastically from each other and yet have varying comparisons between the two.
In the art world, the medieval periods were traditionally though to be the unproductive phase of Europe between the decline of Rome and the Renaissance. Our modern feelings toward medieval art are far more appreciative. The main intent of Medieval art was to express Christianity which was also a common bond between a wide spread and diverse Europe. For this reason most of the art found from medieval times originated in monasteries and churches. European art during the Middle Ages can be divided into four periods. These four periods include Celto-Germanic art which ranged from 400 to 800 A.D. and was important in metal work. Carolingian art ranged from 750 to 987 A.D. overlapping 50 years of the Celto-Germanic period. The period of Romanesque art spanned mainly the eleventh and twelfth centuries, and was an important period for medieval architecture. Gothic art, the final period of the Middle Age art began in the Romanesque period around the twelfth century and went on until the sixteenth century. Artwork form these four periods all consist of distinct styles setting them apart from one another.
Religious art helps people that are looking for security and hope. Today society is looking for peace and an anchor to hold onto. This religious art lifts the spirit and brings peace within through a beautiful way. It helps reassure people that there is a life after this one. One needs not fear the power of God but to understand his actions and the way one should live his or her life.
In this book , Esposito provides a succinct, up-to-date survey of the Islamic experience, an introduction to the faith, belief, and practice of Islam from its origins to its contemporary resurgence. He traces the emergence and development of this dynamic faith and its impact on world history and politics. He discusses the formation of Islamic belief and practice (law, theology, philosophy, and mysticism), chronicling the struggle of Muslims to define and adhere to their Islamic way of life. Equally important is the essential information Esposito provides on the contemporary world of Islam, from Muslim responses to the challenges of colonialism and modernization to the reassertion of Islam in politics and society.