Topic: Oceanic art

Oceanic art works produced by the island peoples of the S and NW Pacific, including Melanesia (New Guinea and the islands to its north and east), Micronesia (Mariana, Caroline, Marshall, and Gilbert islands), and Polynesia (which includes the Hawaiian Islands, the Samoas, Tonga, New Zealand, and Easter Island). Melanesia Wood carvings and ritual masks, the best studied of Melanesian artifacts, are brilliantly colored. Each object was designed to serve a ritual purpose and thus was not meant to endure for posterity. Particular aspects of Melanesian art had an enormous impact on European... Read more