Exam 1 Flashcards
Vitaly Komar & Alexander Melamid
Do the first ever comprehensive scientific poll of American tastes in art
Paleolithic: Old Stone Age
Paleo = Old
30,000 - c. 10,000 B.C.E.
Mesolithic: Middle Stone Age
Meso = Middle
10,000 - c. 8,000 B.C.E.
Neolithic: New Stone Age
Neo = New
8,000 - c. 2,000 B.C.E.
Paleolithic Society
Major values expressed in art were: reproduction, nourishment, regeneration, survival
Paleolithic Art: Cave Paintings
Every animal in pre historic cave painting is presented in profile, whether dead, alive, standing, or sitting
Paleolithic Art: Cave Paintings
The artist laid a hand on the flat surface and made the outline by blowing charcoal or ocher pigment out of his mouth or through a blowpipe
Paleolithic Art: Cave Paintings
The artists can also create well defined lines by pressing his arm against the stone surface and blowing the pigment just below or above it
Paleolithic Art: The “Venus” Figure
“Venus figures have been interpreted as:
1. fertility symbols
2. expressions of ideal beauty
3. erotic images
4. ancestor figures
5. dolls to help young girls learn women roles
Figures always contain large, heavy breasts, a protruding belly, and wide hips
The Mesolithic Period
Due to the warming climate, human beings began to come out of the caves more and more
Neolithic Period
Human beings are transferring from being hunters, to herders, to farmers, to townspeople.
Writing appeared.
Pottery was invented and served to preserve the surplus production of grains
Neolithic Art: Cave Painting
Images of stylized male and female figures. Similar to the characteristic of the female “venus” figure to highlight reproductive potential, male figures have been portrayed with exaggerated calves and genetalia. Calves show physical strength as a provider, genetalia show male virility
Egyptian Art
The Egyptians had no word for “art” that corresponds with what we equate art to be today.
The ancient “art” pf Egypt. as we call it now, was first and foremost functional
Functions of Egyptian Art
To represent something or someone, is to reinforce its significance. Religion, death, and the afterlife, were of the most importance.
Principles of Egyptian Art
Figures are flat, simplified, and stylized.
Exhibited a consistent canon of proportions. A relationship established relating the scale of body parts to each other.
Incising
A technique in which a design or inscription is cut into a hard surface with a sharp instrument
Scale of Figures
In relationship to each other communicates hierarchy. Kings and deities were represented at nearly the same scale. A kings is always represented larger then his subjects.
Hierarchy
Exhibited through layering as well as scale
Frontality
Used primarily in three- dimensional representations. Whether standing, sitting, or kneeling, the figure is facing directly straight ahead, neither turning or twisitng.
Frontality is important to the functionality of the statue
Statues were created to play a significant role in worship of deities, kings, and the dead. These statuses were meant as places these beings could manifest themselves in order to receive ritual offerings. Due to this, its is important they face straight ahead to receive such an offering
Chasing
A decorative metalworking technique, using a burin to scratch the surface
Egyptian Art: Old Kingdom 3100-2100 BC
Upper and lower Egypt are unified and all power is concentrated on the pharaoh, King Narmer
Mastabas
The first Egyptian funerary architecture
Step Pyramid of King Zoser
Designed by imhothep the first known artist of recorded history
