Incan,+Nazca+Art

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Above are pictures from a Peruvian (Incan, Nazca) artifact show in 2002. Primarily composed of pottery and sculptures, the majority of these pieces are ancient artifacts recovered from burial chambers of deceased Incan kings[1]. Mixed in with modern peruvian art pieces this art exhibit has visited famous museums worldwide such as The New York Art Museum, and The Louvre. Pieces in this show range in value from $25-$50,000[2].

The Nazca of Peru's southern coastal region were roughly contemporary with the Moche. Like their Paracas predecessors, the Nazca produced little architecture and excelled at making textiles and pottery with colorful stylized designs that contrast sharply to the realism and restrained color of northern Peruvian ceramics[1]. Nazca pottery is as exuberantly polychromed as it is boldly designed and drawn[3]. The Nazca are also recognized for the creation of the amazing Nazca lines. Though some may not consider the lines a form of art, many do due to the artistic structure of the lines and the technique to creating them[3].

The Inca, who called themselves Tawantinsuyu, ruled from Cusco an empire extending between Ecuador and Chile. A highland warrior people, the Inca preferred an aesthetic that was formally simple, decoratively sparse, and functional[3]. Because the Inca were the Native Americans that the Spanish conquered, their culture is the Central Andean Area civilization of which most is known; however, as happened with the treasures of their Mesoamerican contemporaries, the Aztecs, many Inca artifacts were destroyed by the Spanish, out of greed for gold and silver or out of Christian militancy[3]. Highland Inca cities such as Machu Picchu were carefully planned to harmonize with the landscape, both through the use of indigenous materials and through the architectural repetition of surrounding natural forms[3]. Structurally among the most accomplished in the pre-Columbian period, Inca buildings were constructed with carefully shaped, precisely fitted stone masonry that was left undecorated[3]. Due to the Incans indigenous nature they had created there own, original form of art that included weaving, pottery, and metal sculpture[3].