Berea College Art Collection

Toran is the Sanskrit name of a sacred or honorific gateway. Torans are used both personally, in homes, and sacredly in Buddhist and Hindu architecture. Its typical form is not fabric, as is shown here, but a wood or stone. Especially in Temple entrance ways, torans are sculptural post and lintel systems.This fabric toran was more [...]

In Nigeria, the Yoruba peoples see twins as possessing magical qualities. Twins are believed to be descendants of Shango, the thunder god, and are therefore known as Thunder Children. In the native tongue of the Yoruba peoples twins are known as Ibejis. If a twin dies a figure is created to house the spirit and [...]

Part of Zorn’s famous nude series, this etching was created two years before the start of World War I. Zorn was a Swedish virtuoso who used different media to create images that invoke emotions in the viewer. The medium used to create this piece is etching. An etching is created when a copper plate is [...]

This drypoint was created during World War I while McBey was stationed in Boulogne, France. During this period France was second only to the United States of America in regards to being an industrialized immigrant society. Immigrant workers contributed to the war effort by supporting the industrial production. Looking at this piece you can see [...]

Created in the mid-fifteenth century, this painting epitomizes the art of the Italian Renaissance. Historic records attribute this painting to Giovanni Bellini, one of the greatest Venetian masters of his time. Modern researchers however, have argued against his claim to some later pieces. A Pagan Rite has caused intense debate about over the identity of [...]

Beginning in 1794, and continuing for some years, Gilbert Stuart traveled to Philadelphia to request sittings with George Washington. Portrait of George Washington, 1798, depicts the fruits of this labor and is one of almost one hundred portraits created of the President by Stuart. President Washington only sat for Stuart three times, forcing the artist [...]

Henry Ossawa Tanner, born in Pennsylvania, is known for being the first African-American painter to gain international fame. He spent a great deal of time teaching himself to paint as a young man, using art as a therapy when he was ill. In 1879 he was accepted into the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts as [...]

In the mid-twentieth century, Elva Nampeyo created this clay bowl. Nampeyo is from the Hopi tribe and the bowl is crafted in a traditional style that embraces pre-Hopi cultures. It is a white clay bowl with a wide shoulder, narrowing at the base and neck. The shoulder is red, with a band of white and [...]

This teapot has been first thrown on a pottery wheel and then altered to give the body its bulbous, fluted shape. It has a shino glaze, which creates the teapot’s varied, organic coloration. Shino glazes range in color from milky white to burnt orange and have been a favorite of potters for centuries. Charlie Cummings [...]

  This small nineteenth century teapot is decorated in a style that was developed in the Kyushu region following the sixteenth century Japanese invasion of Korea. With the relocation of skilled Korean potters to the Japanese isles, Satsuma ware developed as a style of Japanese pottery. Though it originally developed as utilitarian, with dark clay [...]