Art as culture : an introduction to the anthropology of art / Evelyn Payne Hatcher.

Includes bibliographical references (pages 303-330) and index.

1. Contexts and Comparisons: The Anthropological Approach 1 -- 2. Where? The Geographical Dimension 21 -- 3. How? The Technological Means 55 -- 4. Who? The Psychological Perspective 85 -- 5. Why? Social Contexts and Social Functions 113 -- 6. "What ...?" Art as Communication 135 -- 7. When and Whence? The Time Dimension 167 -- 8. The Esthetic Mystery 197 -- 9. The Global Context: The 15th Century 209 -- 10. Globalization: The 20th Century 229.

The concept of art as being purely for aesthetic contemplation, one that is typical of industrial civilization, is not a very useful one for cross-cultural studies. The majority of the art forms that we see in museums and art books that have come from Native America, Africa, or Oceania are objects that were once part of a larger artistic whole from which they have been extracted. We need to try to piece together and imagine the artistic context as well as the cultural one if we are to attain a deeper sense of the import than a particular piece alone provides. Even then, it is almost impossible to define the artistic whole. Perhaps we would do better to regard these pieces as fragments from the lifestyle of a people. This book applies anthropological theory and information to the study of art, bringing a sharper perspective to the discipline.