Known for the elegance and complexity of their decorative
art, Marquesan artists were described by Paul Gauguin as possessing "an
unheard of sense of decoration" in all they created. The extraordinary
ways in which Marquesans adorned their world are reflected in virtually
every type of object they made and used—from sacred figures of gods and
ancestors to items that were purely functional. Long admired by artists,
writers, and scholars, the art and culture of the Marquesas Islands
have until recently been unfamiliar to larger audiences. However, the
artists of the Marquesas archipelago were among the most accomplished in
the Pacific. Their work was fashioned from a diversity of materials in
forms ranging from delicate ivory ornaments and luxuriant featherwork to
imposing figural sculpture in wood and stone. The human body was also
an important focus for artistic expression. Adorned with finely crafted
ornaments, elaborate coiffures, and intricate tattoos that sometimes
covered the entire body, Marquesans themselves became living art forms. The
vivid 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. In
their catalogue essays, Eric Kjellgren, the Metropolitan's Evelyn A. J.
Hall and John A. Friede Associate Curator of Oceanic Art, and Carol S.
Ivory, Professor and Chair of the Department of Fine Arts at Washington
State University, place the artistic traditions of the Marquesas within
their cultural and historical context, giving insights into their
distinctive visual imagery and their enduring influence on Western art
and literature.
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