Art Beyond the West Arts of Africa, India & Southeast Asia, China, Japan & Korea, the Pacific, & the Americas - Softcover

In this first major survey of the arts of Africa, India and Southeast Asia, China, Japan, Korea, the Pacific, and the Americas, Michael Kampen O'Riley presents the vast and fascinating range of arts that lie outside the Western tradition. Within a predominantly geographic and chronological framework, he explores the arts of these areas from the beginnings of civilization to the present day.

As early as the Renaissance, European collectors were enjoying "exotic" pieces from Asia, Africa, and the Americas. But it was not until the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries that Europeans began to pay serious attention to the spectacular art and architecture they found abroad. With the accumulation of knowledge, each of these arts began to be recognized and appreciated in its own terms. Using maps, time charts, and a wide selection of famous and lesser known images, the author charts this growing awareness region by region, analyzing individual art works within their cultural contexts. The book's final chapter focuses on the increasing interrelation between all these cultures during the twentieth century and into the twenty-first. The effects of postcolonialism, postmodernism, and internationalism are acknowledged as instrumental in the creation of new hybrid art forms that draw their inspiration both from specific cultural traditions and the contemporary world at large.