Art tells us stories about the beliefs, lifestyles and environment of the people and cultures that created them.

Adena Culture (Ohio)
Waverly Tablet, 800 B.C.E.-C.E. 200
Shale
Cincinnati Art Museum
Gift of Mrs. William N. Galt

Art records and comments upon political history and social history and helps to educate future generations.

Charles T. Webber
The Underground Railroad, 1893
Oil on canvas
Cincinnati Art Museum
Subscription Fund Purchase

Art may be an embellishment of everyday objects for aesthetic enjoyment or for ceremonial purposes.

Within a culture, artists often use materials they find in their immediate environment. However, new materials are sometimes acquired when different cultures come in contact with each other through trade. Throughout history, trade has been a valuable tool for artists. Individuals as well as cultures collect ideas and art from other peoples. As art is traded, ideas and art forms become part of other cultures.

Pueblo, New Mexico
Vessel in Form of a Man, ca. 1880-1915
Ceramic
Cincinnati Art Museum
Gift of Mary Hannah

For example, in the late 1800s, migration and trade increased between Europe, Africa and many other regions around the world. As a result, art forms were exchanged among cultures.

Japan
Kimono
Cincinnati Art Museum
Gift of Mr. and Mrs. John J. Emery

Frank Duveneck
The Guard of the Harem, ca. 1880
Oil on canvas
Cincinnati Art Museum
Gift of the Artist

By the turn of the 20th century, European artists, such as Pablo Picasso and Amedeo Modigliani, were first being exposed to, and influenced by, African art. This influence continues today as we see in The Portrait of Phyllis Wheatley by Elizabeth Catlett.

Elizabeth Catlett
Phillis Wheatley, 1973
Bronze
Cincinnati Art Museum
Museum Purchase: Dr. Sandy Courter Memorial Fund, Lawrence Archer Wachs Trust, A. J. Howe Endowment, Henry Meis Endowment, Phyllis H. Thayer Purchase Fund, Israel and Caroline Wilson Fund, On to the Second Century Endowment
©Elizabeth Catlett/VAGA, NY, NY

Photographs provided courtesy of the Cincinnati Art Museum and CET.

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