Bach to Brancusi

1. Bach to Brancusi The History of Art and Music http://witcombe.sbc.edu/ARTHprehistoric.html

2. The Birth of Art:Prehistoric to Medieval • The roots of painting, sculpture and architecture are established

3. Prehistoric Art: The Beginning • Art begins circa 25,000 B.C. with the first surviving sculpture, cave paintings and huge stone monuments for rituals. • Prehistoric art had supernatural significance & magic powers.

4. Venus of Willendorf • 25,000-20,000 B.C. • This tinyfemale statuette is one of the earliest known human figures. • It was probably a fertility fetish, symbolizing abundance.

5. Cave Paintings at Lascaux, Francec. 15,000-13000 B.C.Archeologists speculate artists created the animal images to guarantee a successful hunt. • http://www.culture.gouv.fr/culture/arcnat/lascaux/en/index3.html

6. Stonehenge • http://www.amherst.edu/~ermace/sth/sth.html

7. - an example of early colossal “architecture” or monumental “sculpture” made from massive, upright stones in a circular arrangement. - seems to be an accurate astronomical calendar

8. isolated from the circular stones is a heel-stone, marking where the sun rises in the East at the summer solstice.

9. At Carnac, in the French province of Brittany, rows of thousands of megaliths (large boulders) stretch for several miles in parallel lines. They were associated with worship of the sun or moon.

10. Easter Island MonolithsAt one time more than 600 of these 30 foot tall statues stood sentry on this tiny Pacific island.

11. Mesopotamia: The first architects and urban planners • First cities built with mammoth temples called ziggurats and palaces lined with bas-relief sculpture • http://www.crystalinks.com/ziggurat.html

12. Babylon, the first “city” was the cradle of ancient art & architecture, as well as the site of the Tower of Babel… • “Tower of Babel” 1563, by Bruegel the Elder

13. …and the Hanging Gardens, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, which rose above the Euphrates River. Some believe Mesopotamia was the site of the garden of Eden. As far back as 3500 B.C., the Sumerians mastered irrigation and flood control to create a fertile oasis amid the sandy plains of what is now Iraq.

14. Egypt: “The Art of Immortality” • http://images.google.com/images?q=Egyptian+Art&hl=en&lr=&sa=N&tab=ii&oi=imagest Mask of Tutankhamen, 1352 B.C.

15. Egyptian Art • Tomb art developed with wall paintings • Statues conforming to rigid conventions for 3,000 years • Colossal architecture (pyramids) constructed

16. Ancient Greece • “They invented a lot more than the Olympics” • “Striving for ideal beauty results in sculpture, architecture, vase painting with balance, proportion, harmony” • Style called “Classical” because it set standard for technical perfection • http://www.ancientgreece.com/art/art.htm

17. Rome: The Organizers • The Roman Empire produced realistic portrait sculpture, idealized busts of emperors • Engineering wonders like aqueducts and arenas based on arch, vault and dome. • http://harpy.uccs.edu/roman/html/roman.html The Pantheon, A.D. 118-125, Rome.

18. Pre-Columbian Art of the Americas • “Pre-Columbian” refers to the period before Columbus landed in the “New World” in 1492. • Native American artisans of North, Central and South America created stylized human and animal forms in ceremonial objects. • Arrowheads from 10,000 BC & pottery from 2,000 BC have been found, evidence of how ancient the culture was. • Art was vitally important to tribal society. • http://www.artsbma.org/showglry.asp?I=D&G=Art-of-the-Americas:-Pre-Columbian&A=0

19. Navaho sand paintings • Southwest US tribe • Shamans (priest-healers) create temporary paintings to heal disease, promote fertility, or assure a successful hunt. • Use natural pigments: powdered rock in various colors, corn pollen & charcoal.

20. Hopi kachina doll • Carved & painted kachina dolls out of cottonwood roots to represent gods and teach religion.

21. Kwakiutl totem poles

22. Eskimo shaman mask • Alaskan tribe that carved masks with moving parts used by shamans; often combined odd materials in surprising ways.

23. Mayanstepped pyramid • In Guatemala & Mexico

24. Aztec • Gold figurine

25. Incan • Gold funeral mask

26. African Art: “The First Cubists” • Religion shapes art of wooden masks, elongated sculpture • Semiabstract forms influence modern art later (see Picasso, Matisse, Giacometti, etc…) • See p. 22 of text (“A.M.L.”) • http://www.africanart.org/

27. The Middle Ages: “ The Reign of Religion” • Spiritual art made to inspire religious devotion replaces lifelike portrayal • See p. 24 of “AML” • http://images.google.com/images?q=medieval+art&hl=en&lr=&sa=N&tab=ii&oi=imagest

28. “Golden Age” of Byzantine Art • Icons • Mosaics • Hagia Sophia • http://images.google.com/images?svnum=10&hl=en&lr=&q=Byzantine+art&btnG=Search • See p. 24 “AML”

29. Romanesque Art: “stories in stone” • Architecture • Giotto • Illuminated Manuscripts • See p. 26 in “AML” • Romanesque architecture and art, the artistic style that prevailed throughout Europe from the 10th to the mid-12th cent., although it persisted until considerably later in certain areas. The term Romanesque points to the principal source of the style, the buildings of the Roman Empire. In addition to classical elements, however, Romanesque architecture incorporates components of Byzantine and Eastern origin. • http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/rmsq/hd_rmsq.htm

30. Gothic Art: “Height and Light” • Architecture • Sculpture • Stained glass • Tapestry • See p. 28 of “AML” • http://www.beloit.edu/~arthist/historyofart/gothic/gothic.htm