Large image painted with bold blues, reds, greens and yellows. Illustrates seven figures; three on the left half and four on the right. Several of the figures are pinching some sort of food subtance. The figures that are closest to the right and left edges of the image also are holding weapons.
The Pleading (Die Flehende), from O Eternity—thou thundering word (O Ewigkeit—du Donnerwort), Bach Cantata (Bachkantate) series
Artist
Oskar Kokoschka
Physical Description
In the foreground, illuminated white, a woman, her long hair hanging down her back, kneels and gazes upward, her arms extended in front of her, her hands pointing skyward. The sky is nearly all dark, with a full moon appearing in the center top of the image.
Artist Life Dates
1886 - 1980
Century
20th century
Object Creation Date
1914
Accession Number
2007/2.121
Medium and Support
lithograph on laid cream paper mounted on cardboard
Three main figures (two men and the camel they are riding) are brought to the foreground because of the contrast between their light colors against the stark green hill. The hill dominates the background leaving only a little bit of blue sky visible in the top corners. Underneath the main figures a secondary white dog and rabbit are also prominent.
Bilvamangala series: Krishna Venerated by People and Animals (fol. no. 8)
Artist
India, Rajasthan, Mewar School
Physical Description
Ink, watercolor and gold on paper. Central figure, Vishnu with devotees on his right and left. Male figures are located on the left side of Vishnu and the female figures on the right. The animals are depicted on the lower half of the portrait which goes with traditional hierarchical beliefs. The tiger is on the left and the elephant on the right.
Leaf from a Bible with decorated initial and vegetal ornament
Artist
Artist Unknown, Armenia
Physical Description
This page from a manuscript features two columns of text written in Armenian. An animal-shaped initial, composed of two stylized birds pecking one another, appears in the lower right column. The lower left margin is decorated with a sidebar that elegantly combines geometric and plant motifs. The decorative elements are painted in pink and blue with touches of reddish orange.
This manuscript leaf contains a single column of text in Latin surrounded by generous margins on three sides. Pen-flourished initials elaborated with delicate penwork, colored red and blue alternating with gold and purple, mark the beginning of each verse along the left edge of the text column. Five line-fillers, long linear elements colored blue and gold, complete the closing line of each verse and preserve the regular shape of the text block.
A figure is laying down and their lower half is covered by a pink sheet. The upper portion of the body is facing the top of the painting while the lower half is turned towards the viewer.
Digambara Jain manuscript page: Jina and worshippers
Artist
Artist Unknown, India, Sirohi School
Physical Description
This image is divided in to 6 relatively equal portions, with the two most upper portions being slightly larger. Each section contains a human figure, except for the lower right section which contains 3 fish. The three figures on the left are featured profile facing towards the right. The two figures in the two lower sections on the right, mirror the left side and face profile to the left. The figure in the upper right corner faces out. This figure is yellow, without clothing, on a green background. This figure is also seated on a lotus blossom form above all the other figures. The figure to his left is also without clothing and is the only other figure to be seating not directly on the floor.
The dominate colors in this image rotate between orange, green, red and blue with yellow highlights.
This is a horizontal print with black, pink and green colors on a white background. There are pink and green rings covering the lower portion of the work. Over these are black lines that connect some of these rings and a group of five black circles filled with squiggly lines.
Digambara Jain manuscript page: Jina venerated by a monk, raja, and warriors
Artist
Artist Unknown, India, Sirohi School
Physical Description
The image is divided in to two main halves.
The top half is divided in 3, and the bottom half divided in 6. All the divided spaces, except for the lower right corner contain a human figure. In the top half the two outer figures face inward toward the central figure who is seated on a panel slightly above them. The central figure is yellow, with out clothing, on a red background outlined with an olive green border. The figure to the left is cream colored without clothing on a pinkish background. While the figure to the right is clothed in red on a green background.
The figures in the lower half carry shields and various weapons. The dominate colors in each of the 6 sections rotates between green, blue, red and yellow.
This manuscript page contains a column of Latin text surrounded by generous margins. A pair of slender flowers with small green leaves run the length of the text along the left margin. Three decorated initials appear on the left edge of the text block. Each initial is painted gold on a pink and blue ground with white scrollwork and enclosed within a frame. Two rectangular line-fillers, colored pink and blue with white scrollwork, appear in the right half of the text column.
Oriya manuscript (unidentified), folio: A Courtier Visits an Ascetic. (Images and text on both sides; pair with 1985/2.144)
Artist
India, Orissa
Physical Description
In this scene, a young prince, seen at right in his bejeweled splendor, offers reverence to an ascetic. The sage, nearly naked and with matted hair, sits on an animal skin. His right hand is in the gesture of exposition, suggesting that he is preaching to his courtly audience.
Century
19th century
Object Creation Date
19th century
Accession Number
1997/2.40
Medium and Support
charcoal dust and washes of color on incised palm leaf
Four kanji are written across the top of three lines, in a large size. The bottom two lines are roughly one-eighth the size of the top characters and stretch across the same width. Ink is black, ground is white paper. Calligraphy dedicated to the Universtiy of Michigan Museum of Art.
Painting of a standing male figure facing forward and holding a walking stick, against a blank background surrounded by an inscription, two artist’s seals, seven colophons and accompanying seals of contemporary scholars and artists.
A nude woman is seen in profile crouching and turning her head toward the viewer. She is backed up against a short pedestal or wal, on top of which a winged cupid bends towards the woman. On the right side is a slender tree, and behind the figures is an expansive landscape.
In the lower third of the hanging scroll are three figures. Tao Yuanming is the larger figure on the right with his two attendants on the left. They are divided by a table. In the background is a screen which separates the figures from the landscape.
Multi-colored ink on paper. Reds and golds make up the primary focus colors and are accented by dark blues. Features five figures, two larger figures on the top half of the page and three smaller figures on the bottom. Scene of worship.
Ink drawing on paper. Black wash ground, with two figures drawn in opaque black ink. A comic figure who is shirtless and in boxers, with his beer belly hanging out, and whose pointy rimmed hat is reminiscent of the scarecrow in the Wizard of Oz, dances at the center of an ominous scene. His right leg has been kicked through a television set that he holds with his right hand. Scissors fall from his left hand towards what looks like a two-slot toaster. A black, horned beast lurks in the background, holding a phone overhead that has two earpieces, but no cradle. The scene is possibly set in a graveyard; the edifice silhouetting behind the scarecrow figure is shaped like a headstone.
