The hisTory of arT
MesopoTaMian / egypTian The art of Mesopotamia has survived in the archaeological record from early huntergatherer societies (10th millennium BC) on to the Bronze Age cultures of the Sumerian, Akkadian, Babylonian and Assyrian empires.
Ancient Egyptian art is the painting, sculpture, architecture and other arts produced by the civilization of Ancient Egypt in the lower Nile Valley from about 3000 BC to 100 AD.
Pictured statue to the left is one of 18 Statues of Gudea, a ruler around 2090 BC
Pictured statue to the left is Thutmose, Bust of Nefertiti, 1345 BC, Egyptian Museum of Berlin
greece / roMe Greek art began in the Cycladic and Minoan civilization, and gave birth to Western classical art in the subsequent Geometric, Archaic and Classical periods. It influenced Eastern civilizations, of Roman art and its patrons, and the new religion of Orthodox Christianity in the Byzantine era. Greek art is mainly five forms: architecture, sculpture, painting, pottery and jewelry making. Picture to the left is Woman kneeling before an altar. Attic redfigure kylix, 5th BC, Stoa of Attalos
Roman art refers to the visual arts made in Ancient Rome and in the territories of the Roman Empire. Roman art includes architecture, painting, sculpture and mosaic work. Luxury objects in metal-work, gem engraving, ivory carvings, and glass, are sometimes considered in modern terms to be minor forms of Roman art, although this would not necessarily have been the case for contemporaries. Sculpture was perhaps considered as the highest form of art by Romans, but figure painting was also very highly regarded. Pictured left is the statue of Veristic portrait bust of an old man, head covered (capite velato), either a priest or paterfamilias (marble, mid-1st century BC)
rise of chrisTianiTy / ByzanTiuM The History of Late Ancient Christianity traces Christianity during the Christian Roman Empire - the period from the rise of Christianity under Emperor Constantine (c. 313), until the fall of the Western Roman Empire (c. 476). The end of this period is variable because the transformation to the sub-Roman period was gradual and occurred at different times in different areas.
Pictured left is Virgin and Child. Wall painting from the early catacombs, Rome, 4th century.
Byzantine art is the name for the artistic products of the Eastern Roman (Byzantine) Empire, as well as the nations and states that inherited culturally from the empire. Though the empire itself emerged from Rome's decline and lasted until the Fall of Constantinople in 1453, many Eastern Orthodox states in Eastern Europe, as well as to some degree the Muslim states of the eastern Mediterranean, preserved many aspects of the empire's culture and art for centuries afterward. Pictured left is of the surviving Byzantine mosaics of the Hagia Sophia in Constantinople – the image of Christ Pantocrator on the walls of the upper southern gallery. Christ is flanked by the Virgin Mary and John the Baptist. The mosaics were made in the 12th century.
early / high Middle ages The Medieval art of the early European world covers more than 1000 years of art history in Europe, and at times extends into the Middle East and North Africa. It includes major art movements and periods, national and regional art, genres, and revivals. Art historians attempt to classify medieval art into major periods and styles, often with some difficulty, as medieval regions frequently featured distinct artistic styles, such as Anglo-Saxon art or Norse art. Pictured left is Cover of the Codex Aureus - Gold and gem-encrusted cover of the Codex Aureus of St. Emmeram, 870.Produced by the Carolingian Palace School.
The High Middle Ages or High Medieval Period was the period of European history around the 11th, 12th, and 13th centuries (c. 1001– 1300). The High Middle Ages were preceded by the Early Middle Ages and followed by the Late Middle Ages, which by convention end around 1500.
Pictured to the left is Bayeux Tapestry depicting the Battle of Hastings during the Norman invasion of England.
renaissance / The norTh / laTe in iTaly Renaissance art is the painting, sculpture and decorative arts of that period of European history known as the Renaissance, emerging as a distinct style in Italy in about 1400, in parallel with developments which occurred in philosophy, literature, music and science. Renaissance art, perceived as a royalty of ancient traditions, took as its foundation the art of Classical antiquity, but transformed that tradition by the absorption of recent developments in the art of Northern Europe and by application of contemporary scientific knowledge.
Pictured to the left is Titian, Sacred and Profane Love, c. 1513 – 1514
Baroque era The Baroque Era is often thought of as a period of artistic style that used exaggerated motion and clear, easily interpreted detail to produce drama, tension, exuberance, and grandeur in sculpture, painting, architecture, literature, dance, theater, and music. The style began around 1600 in Rome, Italy, and spread to most of Europe.
Pictured to the left is The Triumph of the Immaculate by Paolo de Matteis.
french revoluTion French art consists of the visual and plastic arts (including architecture, woodwork, textiles, and ceramics) originating from the geographical area of France. Historical surveys of French art typically begin with Pre-Romanesque art, Romanesque art, and Gothic art, but some surveys, such as AndrĂŠ Chastel's French Art, include discussions of prehistoric art, Celtic art, and Roman art within France.
Pictured to the left is The Western (Royal) Portal at Chartres Cathedral, c. 1145, these architectural statues are the earliest Gothic sculptures, a revolution in style and the models for a generation of sculptors.
neoclassicisM / roManTicisM Neoclassicism, from Greece, is the name given to Western movements in the decorative and visual arts, literature, theatre, music, and architecture that draw inspiration from the "classical" art and culture of Ancient Greece or Ancient Rome. Neoclassicism was born in Rome in the mid-1700s, but its popularity spread all over Europe, as a generation of European art students finished their Grand Tour and returned from Italy to their home countries with newly rediscovered GrecoRoman ideals. The main Neoclassical movement coincided with the 18th century Age of Enlightenment, and continued into the early 19th century, latterly competing with Romanticism. In architecture, the style continued throughout the 19th, 20th and up to the 21st century. Pictured to the left is Antonio Canova's Psyche Revived by Love's Kiss
Romanticism Era, was an artistic, literary, and intellectual movement that originated in Europe toward the end of the 18th century and in most areas was at its peak in the approximate period from 1800 to 1850. It was partly a reaction to the Industrial Revolution, the aristocratic social and political norms of the Age of Enlightenment, and the scientific rationalization of nature. It was embodied most strongly in the visual arts, music, and literature, but had a major impact on historiography, education, and the natural sciences.
Pictured left is Caspar David Friedrich, Wanderer Above the Sea of Fog, 1818
iMpressionisM Impressionism is a 19th-century art movement that originated with a group of Paris-based artists whose independent exhibitions brought them to prominence during the 1870s and 1880s. Impressionist painting characteristics include relatively small, thin, yet visible brush strokes, open composition, emphasis on accurate depiction of light in its changing qualities (often accentuating the effects of the passage of time), ordinary subject matter, inclusion of movement as a crucial element of human perception and experience, and unusual visual angles.
Pictured left is Claude Monet, Haystacks, (sunset), 1890–1891, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.
posT-iMpressionisM Post-Impressionism Era, is a predominantly French art movement that developed roughly between 1886 and 1905; from the last Impressionist exhibition to the birth of Fauvism. Post-Impressionism emerged as a reaction against Impressionists’ concern for the naturalistic depiction of light and color. Due to its broad emphasis on abstract qualities or symbolic content, Post-Impressionism encompasses NeoImpressionism, Symbolism, Cloisonnism, Pont-Aven School, and Synthetism, along with some later Impressionists work. The movement was led by Paul Cézanne, Paul Gauguin, Vincent van Gogh, and Georges Seurat.
Pictured left is Henri Rousseau’s Oil on canvas, 1892, presently in the Getty Museum in Los Angeles.
expressionisM Expressionism was a modernist movement, initially in poetry and painting, originating in Germany at the beginning of the 20th century. Its typical trait is to present the world solely from a subjective perspective, distorting it radically for emotional effect in order to evoke moods or ideas. Expressionist artists sought to express meaning or emotional experience rather than physical reality.
Pictured to the left is The Scream by Edvard Munch (1893), which inspired 20th-century Expressionists.
cuBisM Cubism is an early-20th-century avant-garde art movement that revolutionized European painting and sculpture, and inspired related movements in music, literature and architecture. Cubism has been considered the most influential art movement of the 20th century. The term is broadly used in association with a wide variety of art produced in Paris (Montmartre, Montparnasse and Puteaux) during the 1910s and extending through the 1920s.
Pictured to the left is Pablo Picasso, 1910, Girl with a Mandolin (Fanny Tellier), oil on canvas, 100.3 x 73.6 cm, Museum of Modern Art, New York.
dada / surrealisM Dada (/ˈdɑːdɑː/) or Dadaism was an art movement of the European avant-garde in the early 20th century. Dada in Zurich, Switzerland, began in 1916, spreading to Berlin shortly thereafter, but the height of New York Dada was the year before, in 1915. The term anti-art, a precursor to Dada, was coined by Marcel Duchamp around 1913 when he created his first ready mades. Dada, in addition to being anti-war, had political affinities with the radical left and was also anti-bourgeois.
Pictured to the left is Francis Picabia, Dame! Illustration for the cover of the periodical Dadaphone, n. 7, Paris, March 1920.
Surrealism is a cultural movement that began in the early 1920s, and is best known for its visual artworks and writings. The aim was to "resolve the previously contradictory conditions of dream and reality." Artists painted unnerving, illogical scenes with photographic precision, created strange creatures from everyday objects and developed painting techniques that allowed the unconscious to express itself. Surrealist works feature the element of surprise, unexpected juxtapositions and non sequitur; however, many Surrealist artists and writers regard their work as an expression of the philosophical movement first and foremost, with the works being an artifact. Leader André Breton was explicit in his assertion that Surrealism was, above all, a revolutionary movement. Pictured to the left is Max Ernst, The Elephant Celebes (1921), Tate, London.
asseMBlage Assemblage is an artistic form or medium usually created on a defined substrate that consists of threedimensional elements projecting out of or from the substrate. It is similar to collage, a two-dimensional medium. It is part of the visual arts, it typically uses found objects, but is not limited to these materials. The origin of the art form dates to the cubist constructions of Pablo Picasso c. 1912-1914. The origin of the word (in its artistic sense) can be traced back to the early 1950s, when Jean Dubuffet created a series of collages of butterfly wings, which he titled assemblages d'empreintes. However, both Marcel Duchamp, Pablo Picasso and others had been working with found objects for many years prior to Dubuffet. Russian artist Vladimir Tatlin created his "counter-reliefs" in the mid-1910s. Alongside Tatlin, the earliest woman artist to try her hand at assemblage was Elsa von Freytag-Loringhoven, the Dada Baroness. In addition, one of the earliest and most prolific was Louise Nevelson, who began creating her sculptures from found pieces of wood in the late 1930s.
Pictured to the left is Johann Dieter Wassmann (Jeff Wassmann), Vorwarts! (Go Forward!), 1897 (2003)
pop arT Pop art is an art movement that emerged in the mid-1950s in Britain and in the late 1950s in the United States. Pop art presented a challenge to traditions of fine art by including imagery from popular culture such as advertising and news. In pop art, material is sometimes visually removed from its known context, isolated, and/or combined with unrelated material. The concept of pop art refers not as much to the art itself as to the attitudes that led to it. Pop art employs aspects of mass culture, such as advertising, comic books and mundane cultural objects. It is widely interpreted as a reaction to the then-dominant ideas of abstract expressionism, as well as an expansion upon them. And due to its utilization of found objects and images it is similar to Dada. Pop art is aimed to employ images of popular as opposed to elitist culture in art, emphasizing the banal or kitschy elements of any given culture, most often through the use of irony. It is also associated with the artists' use of mechanical means of reproduction or rendering techniques. Pop art and minimalism are considered to be art movements that precede postmodern art, or are some of the earliest examples of Post-modern art themselves. Pictured to the left is Richard Hamilton's collage Just what is it that makes today's homes so different, so appealing? (1956) is one of the earliest works to be considered "pop art".
aBsTracTion Abstract art uses a visual language of shape, form, color and line to create a composition which may exist with a degree of independence from visual references in the world. Western art had been, from the Renaissance up to the middle of the 19th century, underpinned by the logic of perspective and an attempt to reproduce an illusion of visible reality. The arts of cultures other than the European had become accessible and showed alternative ways of describing visual experience to the artist. By the end of the 19th century many artists felt a need to create a new kind of art which would encompass the fundamental changes taking place in technology, science and philosophy. The sources from which individual artists drew their theoretical arguments were diverse, and reflected the social and intellectual preoccupations in all areas of Western culture at that time. Abstract art, nonfigurative art, nonobjective art, and nonrepresentational art are loosely related terms. They are similar, but perhaps not of identical meaning.
Pictured to the left is Wassily Kandinsky, Kandinsky's first abstract watercolor, 1910.
MiniMalisM Minimalism describes movements in various forms of art and design, especially visual art and music, where the work is set out to expose the essence, essentials or identity of a subject through eliminating all non-essential forms, features or concepts. As a specific movement in the arts it is identified with developments in post–World War II Western Art, most strongly with American visual arts in the 1960s and early 1970s. Prominent artists associated with this movement include Ad Reinhardt, Tony Smith, Donald Judd, John McCracken, Agnes Martin, Dan Flavin, Robert Morris, Larry Bell, Anne Truitt, and Frank Stella. Artists themselves have sometimes reacted against the label due to the negative implication of the work being simplistic. Minimalism is often interpreted as a reaction against Abstract expressionism and a bridge to Post minimal art practices.
Pictured to the left is Larry Bell, Untitled (1964), bismuth, chromium, gold, and rhodium on goldplated brass; Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden.
posT ModernisM Postmodern art is a body of art movements that sought to contradict some aspects of modernism or some aspects that emerged or developed in its aftermath. In general, movements such as Intermedia, Installation art, Conceptual Art and Multimedia, particularly involving video are described as postmodern. There are several characteristics which lend art to being postmodern; these include bricolage, the use of words prominently as the central artistic element, collage, simplification, appropriation, performance art, the recycling of past styles and themes in a modern-day context, as well as the break-up of the barrier between fine and high arts and low art and popular culture.
Pictured to the left is Bansky, 2008, Graffiti by Banksy (May-Aug 2008) on the nature of reality, or the issue of art imitating reality. The work shows a cleaning worker erasing a mural. Note also the pictures of animals painted to resemble those in prehistoric cave paintings.
~ The end ~ Thank you professor! deanna saBaoTh arT 1301 augusT 13, 2015