PERU

The numerous tales and legends of the South American continent have given it a sort of adventurous and romantic name. Through many of these stories, the Indians were made out to be a barbaric people, but this may have been very untrue. These Indians have a rich culture that has forever been closely knit with the arts.

As early as 2500 BC, early fabrics have been found. They were made of threads and twisted reeds and cactus fiber. They were made of decorated by tying off parts of the fabric and in irregular patterns applying color. Despite their limited technological means the early Indians were experimenting with mixing ornamentation with functional items.

Between 1800 and 1500 BC pottery began to make an appearance in Peru. In 800 BC a rapid spread of style in both art and technology, known as Chavin, began. This is known as the first great style of Peru, where a jaguar symbol began appearing on fabrics, ceramics, metalwork's and stone relief's. The form of this Feline god started out as highly stylized, later becoming more realistic, but never totally realistic. The early pottery was found to have been made in a single piece, rather than later pottery, which was assembled in pieces. Metalwork also flourished during the formative period, mostly gold. In the Andes gold was easy to get with simple tools and methods. The gold was usually hammered into thin sheets and made into plaques or ceremonial objects.

Similar to Egyptian beliefs, many natives of Peru buried objects with the dead, to appease them so they would not come back to haunt them. Some areas have been found with dead buried in elaborately decorated clothes of many colors and designs. The weavers were masters of almost every technique known today.

During the classic Period, the Moche people created wonderful pottery which has led to the Mochica being called the Greeks of South America. They created an impressive picture of their daily lives on their pottery. A large part of the specialized artist output was devoted to depicting the inhabitants of the Moche Pantheon. It can be seen through the scenes on their pottery, that the Moche people were not very peaceful people. Many scenes were of battle and warriors armed with clubs and shields.

Chronologically next in Peru's history is that of sun worshiping. This phase brought almost all of Peru under one religion. The Tiahuanaco religion brought with it art showing a worshiping of the sun. These "sun" figures are represented in stone monuments and also in brilliantly colored woven tapestries. The art of this era was purely religious.

As time went on and Peru became more political than ever, the variations in art declined. Art was purely ornamental and religious references disappeared. Now, there is written record from here on of Peru's history. Although pottery of this time had its shortcomings, the tapestries exhibited brilliant color schemes and compositions. Twentieth century art in Peru has seen many changes. What defines modern Peruvian art is its separateness from the traditions which have inspired it. Rather than being religious, art became more secular in the middle of the nineteenth century. An interest in Andean peoples and landscapes gave artist such as Sabagal the name of Indigionists. They did, however, become involved in Political affairs. Some Indigionists formed a group to try to forge a national form of expression. Later artists wanted to separate themselves from Indigionism and began to eliminate Andean references in their work. During the 1940's and 1950's Peruvian artists became more receptive towards foreign influences. This eventually led to artistic styles like, abstraction, until the dictatorship of Juan Velasco Alvardo in 1968 put an end to this move toward modernization. In the early 1980's the art market in Peru crashed, forcing many Peruvian artist to emigrate. Recently there have been more individual efforts rather than collective, leading to a period of eclectic art with relatively few movements.