HISTORY OF ART

HISTORY OF ART

The history of art is the history of any activity or product made by humans in a visual form for aesthetical or communicative purposes, expressing ideas, emotions or, in general, a worldview. Over time visual art has been classified in diverse ways, from the medieval distinction between liberal arts and mechanical arts, to the modern distinction between fine arts and applied arts, or to the many contemporary definitions, which define art as a manifestation of human creativity. The subsequent expansion of the list of principal arts in the 20th century reached to nine: architecture, dance, sculpture, music, painting, poetry (described broadly as a form of literature with aesthetic purpose or function, which also includes the distinct genres of theatre and narrative), film, photography and graphic arts. In addition to the old forms of artistic expression such as fashion and gastronomy, new modes of expression are being considered as arts such as video, computer art, performance, advertising, animation, television and videogames.

Historical development

The history of art is often told as a chronology of masterpieces created in each civilization. It can thus be framed as a story of high culture, epitomized by the Wonders of the World. On the other hand, vernacular art expressions can also be integrated into art historical narratives, in which case they are usually referred to as folk arts or craft. The more closely that an art historian engages with these latter forms of low culture, the more likely it is that they will identify their work as examining visual culture or material culture, or as contributing to fields related to art history, such as anthropology or archeology. In the latter cases art objects may be referred to as archeological artifacts.

The Sakyamuni Buddha, by Zhang Shengwen, c. 1173 – 1176 CE, Chinese Song Dynasty period

Main article: Art history § Historical development

Prehistory and ancient history

One way to examine how art history is organized is by examining the major survey textbooks, which reflect an encyclopedic view of what experts view as art. Frequently consulted textbooks published in English are Ernst Gombrich’s Story of Art, Marilyn Stokstad’s Art History, Anthony Janson’s History of Art, David Wilkins, Bernard Schultz, and Katheryn M. Linduff’s Art Past, Art Present, Helen Gardner’s Art Through the Ages, Hugh Honour and John Flemming’s A World History of Art, and Laurie Schneider Adams’s Art Across Time. Information on canonical art history is also found in the Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History, which is sponsored by the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City.

Global prehistory

Venus of Willendorf, Naturhistorisches Museum

Main article: Prehistoric art

The first tangible artifacts of human art that have been found are from the Stone Age (Upper Paleolithic, Mesolithic and Neolithic), periods when the first demonstrations that can be considered to be art by humans appeared. During the Paleolithic (25,000-8,000 BCE), humans practiced hunting and gathering and lived in caves, where cave painting was developed.  After a transitional period (Mesolithic, 8,000–6,000 BCE), in the Neolithic period (6000–3000 BCE), when humans engaged in agriculture and built increasingly complex societies, religion became more important and the production of handicrafts commenced. In the Bronze Age (c. 3,000 – 1,000 BCE), the first protohistoric civilizations arose.

Neolithic

This period—from c. 8,000 BCE in the Near East—was a profound change for the ancient humans, who became more sedentary and settled as they began to engage in agriculture and animal husbandry. Along with these changes, new forms of social coexistence and religion developed. The rock art of the Iberian Mediterranean Basin—dated between the Mesolithic and Neolithic eras—contained small, schematic paintings of human figures, with notable examples in El Cogul, Valltorta, Alpera and Minateda.

This kind of painting was also similar to paintings found in northern Africa (Atlas, Sahara) and in the area of modern Zimbabwe. Neolithic painting was schematic, reduced to basic strokes (men in the form of a cross and women in a triangular shape). There are also cave paintings in Pinturas River in Argentina, especially the Cueva de las Manos.In portable art, a style called Cardium Pottery was produced, decorated with imprints of seashells. New materials were used in art, such as amber, crystals found in rock, quartz and jasper. In this period, the first traces of urbanistic planimetry appeared, such as the remains in Tell as-Sultan (Jericho), Jarmo (Iraq) and Çatalhöyük (Anatolia).

Cave painting at Roca dels Moros, in El Cogul

Metal Age

The last prehistoric phase is the Metal Age, as the use of elements such as copper, bronze and iron proved to be a great material transformation for these ancient societies. When humans could smelt metal and forge metal implements, this enabled them to make new tools and weapons. In the Chalcolithic (also called Copper Age) the Megalith emerged, massive monuments of stone were built. Examples include the dolmen and menhir or the English cromlech, as can be seen in the complexes at Newgrange and Stonehenge. In Spain the Los Millares culture was formed, characterized by the Beaker culture, which pictured human figures with big eyes. In Malta, the temple complexes of Ħaġar Qim, Mnajdra, Tarxien and Ġgantija were built. In the Balearic Islands notable megalithic cultures developed, with different types of monuments: the naveta, a tomb shaped like a truncated pyramid, with an elongated burial chamber; the taula, two large stones, one put vertically and the other horizontally above each other; and the talaiot, a tower with a covered chamber and a false dome.

In the Iron Age the cultures of Hallstatt (Austria) and La Tene (Switzerland) mark the significant phases in Europe. The first was developed between the 7th and 5th century BCE by the

Megalithic complex of Stonehenge

Mesopotamia

Sculpture was developed through wood carving and relief. Sculpture was used in religious, military and hunting scenes, depicting both human and animal figures, including depictions of real and mythological figures. In the Sumerian period, small statues of people were produced. These statutes had an angular form and they were produced with colored stone. The figures typically had bald head with hands folded on the chest. In the Akkadian period, statues depicted figures with long hair and beards, the stele of Naram-Sin. In the Amorite period (or Neosumerian), statues represented king Gudea of Lagash, with his mantle and a turban on his head and his hands on his chest. During Babylonian rule, the stele of Hammurabi was important. Assyrian sculpture is notable for its anthropomorphism of cattle and the winged genie, which is depicted flying in many reliefs depicting war and hunting scenes, such as in the Black Obelisk of Shalmaneser III.

Storytelling using the oral tradition probably existed since prehistory. However, with the advent of writing, written stories (literature) arose as a means of expressing human creativity. The Sumerian literature is represented by the Epic of Gilgamesh, written in the 17th century BCE. It contains thirty myths about the most important Sumerian and Akkadian deities, which are: Innana's descent to hell and the gods Enki and Tammuz. Another example is the poem Lugal ud melambi Nirpal (The hardship of Ninurta), which has moral and didactic (instructional) messages. During Akkadian period, Atrahasis was written, which includes the flood myth. In Babylonian literature, the poem Enûma Eliš describes the creation of the world.

Diorite Statue I, patesi of Lagash (2120 BCE), Louvre Museum, Paris

Egypt

In Egypt, one of the first great civilizations arose, which had elaborate and complex works of art which were produced by professional artists and craftspeople, who developed specialized skills. Egypt's art was religious and symbolic. Given that the culture had a highly centralized power structure and hierarchy, a great deal of art was created to honour the pharaoh, including great monuments. The Egyptian culture emphasized the religious concept of immortality. The Egyptian art era spans from 3,000 BCE until the conquest of Egypt by Alexander the Great. However its influence persisted in the Coptic art and Byzantine art.

The pyramids of Giza

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Aurochs on a cave painting in Lascaux