login    password    artist  buyer  gallery  
Not a member? Register
absolutearts.com logo HOME REGISTER BUY ART SEARCH ART TRENDS COLLECT ART ART NEWS
 
 
Indepth Arts News:

"Gold of the Nomads: Scythian Treasures from Ancient Ukraine"
2000-07-02 until 2000-09-25
Los Angeles County Museum of Art
Los Angeles, CA, USA

This exhibition of approximately 165 works of art comprises the finest Scythian gold objects from the Treasures of Ukraine Museum and the Archaeological Institute in Kiev. Although small groups of Scythian objects from Ukraine have been seen in several European cities over the past few years, this exhibition is the largest and most complete ever assembled from the Scythian material in Ukraine.

The Scythians were a nomadic people who originated in the central Asian steppes sometime in the early first millennium, B.C. After migrating into what is present-day Ukraine, they prospered from the fifth to the third centuries, B.C, through trade with the Greek cities on the Black Sea coast.

Scythian graves and burial mounds continue to yield an astonishing wealth of gold and silver objects, many of which are in the salled animal style associated with the central Asian steppes. Other objects reflect influence from ancient Near Eastern cultures, and still other pieces are either strongly in the Greek style or exhibit an intriguing blend of Greek and animal style elements. Many of the recently excavated objects in the exhibition constitute a new chapter, even a new book, on the interrelationships of the ancient Aegean world, the ancient Near East, and the steppes that extend from north of the Black Sea as far as the Altai Republic near Mongolia. Objects in the exhibition include the celebrated gorytos (bow and arrow case), with relief scenes very close to the iconography and style of fifth century Athens that some level of Greek involvement in its creation is an inevitable conclusion.

Other famous pieces include two great gold scabbards and swords bearing scenes of animal combat, and the foot-high gold plaque worked in a cutout technique and destined for a horse’s head, which bears a hunting scene that finds its closest parallels in the art of the Asian steppes. A very large proportion of the pieces in the exhibition have been excavated since 1975 and thus will be seen in the United States for the first time. These virtually unknown masterpieces include a gold helmet bearing scenes in relief of Scythian combat; the style is clearly influenced by Attic red-figure vase painting.


Related Links:


YOUR FIRST STOP FOR ART ONLINE!
HELP MEDIA KIT SERVICES CONTACT


Discover over 150,000 works of contemporary art. Search by medium, subject matter, price and theme... research over 200,000 works by over 22,000 masters in the indepth art history section. Browse through new Art Blogs. Use our advanced artwork search interface.

Call for Artists, Premiere Portfolio sign-up for your Free Portfolio or create an Artist Portfolio today and sell your art at the marketplace for contemporary Art! Start a Gallery Site to exclusively showcase your gallery. Keep track of contemporary art with your free MYabsolutearts account.

 


Copyright 1995-2013. World Wide Arts Resources Corporation. All rights reserved