Monday, January 28, 2019

A Brief Look At Native American Oil Paintings NM And Their Meaning

By Michael Butler


There are few cultures as vibrant and interesting as the Native tribes. Archeologists and art history enthusiasts have been able to find pieces of their art that date back to centuries ago. The research indicates that the most popular art form was Native American oil paintings NM.

It has been said that the most prevalent form of American sculptures goes by the name of Fetishes. These are usually small carvings of animals like bears, wild horses, eagles, and badgers. The ancient people who created these carvings believed that they were sacred and would take painstaking care to carve and decorate the little animals. They were highly revered because these tribes believed that they held the spirit of an animal they looked like.

The people who created these small carvings believed that form was as crucial as a function in their art. Great time and attention would be given to the decoration of their carvings. Some of the common decorations used on these carved figures were usually a variety of objects that could be found in their environments like small stones, shells, and feathers. Fetishes that were more valuable would be decorated with gemstones and precious metals.

The lands in which the Native Americans lived was rich in mineral deposits. Thus it is common to find these kinds of carvings that have been sculpted from stones like soapstone and turquoise. The rarer and difficult to find Fetishes are usually carved from marble. These small sculptures are incredible as marble was incredibly difficult to locate at that time and would have been rather expensive.

It is believed that among all of the Native tribes the Zuni tribe were responsible for some of the most significant Fetish carvings. This was a tribe who believed that each sculpture was an animal who had been transformed into stone by the god of the sun. This indicates that this tribe found real value in their art. For them, each Fetish sculpture was a link between the physical and spirit world.

The Zuni people believed that four animals represented the four compass directions. North was represented by the mountain lion, east by the wolf, the south was represented by the badger, and finally the west by the bear. These four animals each had their own special characteristics. These beneficial aspects would provide the carrier of the fetish with these same characteristics. Some would help with healing while others offered protection on a long journey.

However, these fetishes were not the only sculptures created by this ancient civilization. The American race also chose to express their religion by creating busts from clay or carving them from wood. These busts would represent important figures in their history. Another popular form of creative expression took the form of large totem poles that were carved from the trunks of trees. These totems were a welcoming sign for the visitor as well as the ties and status of a home or village.

The history of the Native tribes is varied and their sculptures add to the diversity. Their sculptures are key to their identity as they are the link between man and the spirit world while being aesthetically pleasing.




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