ART Appreaciation: Assignment
ART Appreaciation: Assignment
ART Appreaciation: Assignment
ART
APPREACIATION
Pre-history-Baroque Art
Pre-History
The origins of Art
Paleolithic Era
Human first made stone tools over 2 million years ago in
Africa. The paleolithic of pre-history includes all phases of
human activity prior to the development of writing and
founding of the first city. The final phase is called upper
paleolithic period (Ice age 40,000-10,000)BCE.
Upper Paleolithic
Further depictional art from the Upper Paleolithic period (broadly
40,000 to 10,000 years ago) includes cave painting (e.g., those
at Chauvet, Altamira, Pech Merle, Arcy-sur-Cure and Lascaux)
and portable art: Venus figurines like the Venus of Willendorf, as
well as animal carvings like the Swimming Reindeer, Wolverine
pendant of Les Eyzies, and several of the objects known as batons.
The oldest petroglyphs are dated to approximately the
Mesolithic and late Upper Paleolithic boundary, about 10,000
to 12,000 years ago. The earliest undisputed African rock
art dates back about 10,000 years. The first naturalistic
paintings of humans found in Africa date back about 8,000
years apparently originating in the Nile River valley, spread as
far west as Mali about 10,000 years ago.
At a glance
ca, (28,000-20000 BCE) : Gravettian period, Art includes, The venus
of Williendrof, Chauvet cave, Pech merle France.
ca, (20,000-14,000 BCE) : Solutrean period. The first rock
engravings.
ca, (16,000-10,000 BCE) : Magdalenian period. Bison form, La
Madeline, Lascaux and Altamira cave.
ca, (8,000-5,500BCE) : The Mesolithic period.The first complex
cultures begin to form.
ca, (5,500-2,300BCE) : Neolithic age (Stone Age).complex
civilizations develop in Mesopotamia and Egypt. Writing develops
in the fourth millennium. Marked by monumental arrangements of
monolithic stone blocks.
Pre-History gallery
Byzantine Period art
Introduction
Byzantine art refers to the body of Christian Greek 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 the decline of Rome and lasted until the Fall of
Constantinople in 1453, the start date of the Byzantine period is rather
clearer in art history than in political history, if still imprecise.
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.
Period
Style of Byzantine Art
Byzantine mosaics
The Byzantine empire had inherited a strong tradition of making
mosaics. Byzantine mosaics had stylistic, culture and most importantly,
religious aspects in them. These played significant roles in Western arts.
,
Medieval Period Art (13th-14th Century)
Introduction
The medieval art of the Western world covers a vast scope of time
and place, over 1000 years of art in Europe, and at times the Middle
East and North Africa. It includes major art movements and periods,
national and regional art, genres, revivals, the artists' crafts, and the
artists themselves. In the early Christian church opinions were divided
about whether the human form should be portrayed in art.
Paintings, however were different. This arts were a most useful way
of telling bible stories, particularly to people who could neither read
or nor write. Medieval art in Europe grew out of the artistic heritage
of the Roman Empire and the iconographic traditions of the early
Christian church.
A major art from Byzantine was the mosaic, and this strongly
influenced medieval painters in Italy.
Medieval art focus on religion and Christianity. It included
architectural details like stained glass art, large murals on walls and
domed ceilings, and carvings on buildings and columns. It also
included illuminated manuscript art and sculpture.
Some of the byzantine mosaics which have survived clearly are
masterpieces and indicate the very high level of artistic achievement
of period.
The subjects were either religious or scenes from byzantine court life.
The treatment was formal.
Figures were two dimensional and the background was usually rich
gold. The people portrayed nearly always looked straight ahead< and
there was a little of expression. They had large rounded eyes, strong
bows and small chins. Garments were heavily draped, and the shape
of the body was not revealed. The 13th Century Italian painting
opposite shows strong Byzantine influence.
Yet there is some different from Byzantine Art. There is real emotion
in the softly smiling faces of the Madonna and the angels.
There is also symmetry both in composition and color, which is
characteristic of the art of the period. All the angels on the left side
have their counterpart on the right side of the Madonna. There is
similar symmetry in juxtaposition of the colors.
Each of the famous sculptors, painters and artists of the Middle Ages
detailed above were founders of the movement towards greater
realism which culminated in the Renaissance art style. The
contributions of these famous Medieval artists are described below:
The Renaissance (15th Century)
Introduction
For Example, from a story told by the roman historian Pliny the Younger they
learnt about an artist who painted a bowl of fruit so realistically that a bird flew
down to the painting and tried to eat the fruit.
The Renaissance in Italy
Artist could therefore draw up a grid which enabled them to place
figures and objects in their correct relationship in space to each other
and to the viewer. Figueres and objects in the foreground appeared
larger, and those in the background appeared larger, and those the
background smaller. The picture frame became a window through
which the viewer was invited to explore the space beyond.
Carefully balanced composition painting
For example, figures are often placed symmetrically around a central
personage or some other focal point.
Women are painted in slightly elongated manner, with blonde hair
and dreamy expressions.
The principle subject continued to be religious ones.
Mythology
Florentine painters used mainly egg tempera for their panel paintings. The end
of the century oil became more common.
Characteristic of The Renaissance
-The Renaissance, particularly in its origins in Italy, was characterized
first by a new commitment to the spirit of humanism.
- Artists showed religious and non-religious scenes.
- Art reflected great interest in nature.
- Figures were life-like and three-dimensional,
reflecting an increasing knowledge of anatomy.
- Bodies looked active and were shown moving.
- Nude or clothed
- Faces expressed what people were thinking.
- Colors were shown responding to light
(shadows, shading, etc.)
- Paintings were balanced and symmetrical.
- Full backgrounds show perspective.
-Florentine artist were the first master to master
The technique of perspective. But its use soon
Spread throughout Italy and by the second
Half of the 15th century it reached northern
Europe.
Finally, the Italian Renaissance was characterized by great artworks
that emphasized balance, proportion, and harmony. All of these
principles had been important in the classical world, but were largely
neglected during the Middle Ages. The achievement of these ends
demanded a high degree of technical skill on the part of the artist.
The High Renaissance
Famous Art and Artist of The High Renaissance
The Age of Baroque
Artist and architects benefited greatly from the renewed strength and
confidence felt within the roman Catholic Church in the 17th century.
Painters came from Spain, France, England in search of commissions.
A Bohemian artist’s colony which still survive. The two most
important styles and ideas were Early Baroque and High Baroque.
• Annibale Carracci
• Peter Paul Rubens
• Carravaggio
• Rembrandt
Famous Art and Artist of The Baroque