Visited the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford, and its current exhibition on The Lost World of Old Europe.
Classical and pre-classical civilization artifacts have always seemed potent objects to me, and this collection really had me fascinated, especially so as it was representative of a culture that was previously unknown to me: the un-named (as pre-text) peoples around the Danube valley from 5000-3500 BC. That predates even Ancient Egypt by a good millennium and a bit, and Stonehenge by maybe over 2000 years.
The 'Old Europe' tag by the way is correctly counter to Donald Rumsfeld's definition - he would have referred to Bulgaria, Romania, Moldova as New Europe, but hey, turn of the millennium geo-politics and prehistoric archeology probably shouldn't mix.
What impressed me most about this exhibition and this culture, was the really staggering sophistication and variety of imagery and techniques represented in the collected objects. Figurines of big-bummed women (a council of sunbathing goddesses), animals, great ceremonial drinking vessels beautifully designed for decoration or worship (what's the difference?); fired clay, jewellery in gold, copper and shells provide the Old European bling.
The 'Old Europe' tag by the way is correctly counter to Donald Rumsfeld's definition - he would have referred to Bulgaria, Romania, Moldova as New Europe, but hey, turn of the millennium geo-politics and prehistoric archeology probably shouldn't mix.
What impressed me most about this exhibition and this culture, was the really staggering sophistication and variety of imagery and techniques represented in the collected objects. Figurines of big-bummed women (a council of sunbathing goddesses), animals, great ceremonial drinking vessels beautifully designed for decoration or worship (what's the difference?); fired clay, jewellery in gold, copper and shells provide the Old European bling.
I can't help but be drawn to the abstractions and ritualistic imagery that occur in the design of artifacts from different cultures, and these Old Europeans had some great visual motifs up their sleeves: pre-paisley spermatozoic shapes recur, zig-zags, concentric rings, odd maze-like partitions and corridors of lines.
A new word to me: pintadera. This is a baked clay object with a pattern in relief, like a seal, used to print designs onto other pottery and fabrics. A lovely intact example had the handle sculpted to the shape of a tiny foot. 7,000 years ago these pre-Bulgarians were pretty nifty little designer-makers.
The other highlight of a trip to the Ashmolean right now is a selection of drawings and paintings donated from Howard Hodgkin's private collection of Indian art. These works from Mughal Empire (pre-British Raj) India all depict elephants: tamed, howdah-topped elephants in procession, on hunting expeditions, elephants that are comical, horny, dignified, majestic. The draughtsmanship is exquisite, the colours rich; these are lovely images. Old boy Hodgkin not only has great sensibility and ability as a painter, but he's got bloody good taste as a collector too.
The other highlight of a trip to the Ashmolean right now is a selection of drawings and paintings donated from Howard Hodgkin's private collection of Indian art. These works from Mughal Empire (pre-British Raj) India all depict elephants: tamed, howdah-topped elephants in procession, on hunting expeditions, elephants that are comical, horny, dignified, majestic. The draughtsmanship is exquisite, the colours rich; these are lovely images. Old boy Hodgkin not only has great sensibility and ability as a painter, but he's got bloody good taste as a collector too.
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