Art History Timeline

Art History Timeline 30,000 BC- present

England

Ireland

Stone Age 30,000-10,000 b.c.

• 40,000 years ago • Humans were hunter-gatherers– day revolved around food • Portable art- could take with them • Stationary art- cave walls, stayed forever • Art was about FOOD or FERTILITY • Artists unknown

Egyptian 5,000 b.c.- 300 a.d. • Painting and sculpture • Symbolic: animals, colors, size • Emphasis on life after death

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Classical Art’s main medium was sculpture Greek: Athletics, Mythology, Daily life, Doric/Ionic columns

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Athens

Most famous temple: Parthenon (dedicated to Athena) Perfection, balance, idealism

Roman: Mythology, Real people, Historical events, Corinthian columns

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Rome

Most famous temple: Pantheon (dedicated to 7 gods) Practical, realism

CLASSICAL ART Greek & Roman 1700-1400 b.c.

Roman Art

The Senate

Ancient Ruins

Sarcófago Ludovisi– The Battle of Rome

Pantheon Colosseum

Vatican City- St. Peter’s Basillica

Asian 653 b.c-1900 a.d • • • • • •

Chinese, Japanese, Indian Oldest and continuous kind of art– traditional Painting, sculpture, pottery, decorative arts Ceramic factories showed wealth and power of emperors (still have today) Serene, meditative art; Nature Ink on silk or paper

Chinese Art

Hanshan Temple- bell rings at Chinese New Year- there is one in Japan too

Hanging Temple- for 3 religions: Buddhism, Confucianism, and Taoism

Terracotta Soldiers– more than 7,000 total Buddha- Yungang Grottoesover 51,000 Buddha statues in this cave

Byzantine a.d. 476-1853 • • •

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Eastern Rome More abstract & symbolic than Roman art Flat or One-dimensional

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Why the change? Debate over whether there was a decline in artistic talent or if there was an oriental influence. Artists were members of the religious house

Long, Narrow, Solemn faces– Bodies faced front Religion- icon image of Jesus Christ

Dedication of Constantinople- capitol city, ruled by Constantine Illumination of biblical texts Ivory reliefs, no sculptures-- idolatry

Byzantine Art San Vitale Basillica in Ravenna, Italy Mosaics

Giunta Pisano, Crucifix in Bologna, Italy

Islamic a.d. 476-1453

• Architecture, calligraphy, painting, glass, ceramics, textiles (rugs) • Maze-like designs, repeating elements- arabesques • •

Only God is perfect Infinite and indivisible nature of God

• People were not portrayed in art- idolizing •

Secret miniatures

• Architecture: Mosque, Tomb, Palace, Fort

Middle Ages 500-1400 • •

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Also known as the Dark Ages: decrease in prosperity, stability, and population Art was associated with churches because it was costly, so almost all art was religious Over 1,000 years of art in Europe; includes many major art movements:

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Romanesque: Piestic paintings- religious, large churches, no portraits, muted colors Gothic art: brighter colors, sculptures, realism, naturalism, stained glass, symmetry

Middle Ages Art

fresco

Vaulted ceilings & Flying buttresses

Renaissance 1400-1550 • • • • • •

Rebirth of Classical traditions– but apply scientific advancements & religious changes Naturalism, 3D, lifelike “rescuing and restoring art” from the “crude Byzantine style” Anatomy & human emotion

Themes: religious altar pieces, fresco cycles, and small works for private collections Techniques: perspective, foreshortening, sfumato, chiaroscuro, balance, proportion

Renaissance Techniques

foreshortening sfumato

chiaroscuro

Mannerism 1527-1580

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Break rules Artifice over nature Intellectual sophistication Beautiful, “has style” Compositional tension & instability rather than balance & clarity of the Renaissance Elongated proportions, stylized poses, no clear perspective, theatrical lighting, strange settings

Baroque 1600-1750 • •

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Started by Catholic church- the arts should communicate religious themes Art as a weapon in the religious wars- church wanted to speak to the illiterate, not just the well informed To impress visitors– express triumph, power, & control The name was at first given as an insult– too many unnecessary details, noisy--translates to “elaborate” Exaggerated motion, clear details

Wanderer above the Sea of Fog

Sea of Ice, Wreck of Hope

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Romanticism 1780-1850

The Nightmare Liberty Leading the People

Not love romance, but GLORIFICATION– glorified concepts such as liberty, survival, ideals, hope, awe, heroism, despair, and the various feelings that nature evokes in humans (views & sunsets) First start seeing feelings of the artist, not everyone feels the same Creation from nothingness– originality

Characteristics:

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Emotional emphasis Nature can kill you (shipwrecks, lots of shipwrecks) Current events No exact style, technique, or subject matter

The Raft of the Medusa

The End of the Working Day

Realism 1848-1900 • • • • • •

Focus on every day life Represent art truthfully– portray exactly what they saw Rejected Romanticism– avoided over exaggerated emotionalism and drama, instead portrayed things as they really were with no emotions involved Included all classes of people in all aspects of life (even if it was ugly) Ordinary people in ordinary life Photography was introduced and became popular

Bonjour, Monsiuer Corbet

The Arnolfini Portrait

Impressionism 1865-1885 • • •

Began in Paris by a group of artists

Haystacks

Name comes from Monet’s painting, “Impression Sunrise” Characteristics

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Small, thin, visible brushstrokes Ordinary subject matter Capturing effects of natural light & how it changes Unusual visual angles Movement Colors often aren’t mixed, instead laid side by side Avoids using black paint, grays (complimentary colors to shade) Didn’t wait for paint to dry Painted in evenings to create shadows & studied natural colors of light

Lydia Leaning on Her Arms

Post-Impressionism 1885-1910 • • • • •

Continued impressionist style, but emphasized geometric forms Exaggerated an aspect of impressionism Impasto- thick application of paint– shows off texture and paint marks Used unnatural color Pointillism

Fauvism 1900-1910 • Led by Matisse and Derain • Only had 3 exhibitions, lasted a short time • Wild brushstrokes • Strong color • Not realistic; abstract; simple • Color theory study

Cubism 1905-1920 • • •

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Considered most influential movement of 20th century Objects are analyzed, broken up, and rearranged Many viewpoints instead of just one Abstract Inspired movements in other art forms (music, literature, theatre)

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Painting dreams

Surrealism 1917-1950

Exploring the unconscious– automatic writing Illogical scenes that looked realistic Made creatures out of every day objects Element of surprise

Abstract Expressionism 1940-1960 • • •

First American-only influenced movement-- NYC Spontaneous, automatic, subconscious “It’s better to catch the spirit of the sea, rather than all it’s tiny ripples.”

Modernism 1960-present • • • • • • • • •

Freedom of expression Experimentation Pop-Art Consumerism Radicalism Startled audiences Collage, installations

“ready-mades” Performance art