Art- The Beginning

POST A RESPONES BY 5 P.M. JANUARY 20

Gardner's Art Through The Ages 10 edition 

This post is adapted from the above text.  If you would like more in depth information or to read more about this topic please check out a copy from Mrs. Lubinski.

FYI:  lithos- (Greek) Stone
         paleo- old (early)
         meso- middle

         neo- new (late)

PALEOLITHIC ART

During the Paleolithic time period ice is still advancing creating a tundra and forest-tundra climate.  People are food gatherers (hunter/gatherers).  Of negligible concern to Stone Age cave people would be the creation of a sophisticated art form; survival was all consuming.  About 30,000 B.C. Cro-Magnon peoples replaced Neanderthals.  These, more highly evolved people began creating more than survival tools; they began creating art.  Venus of Willendorf was created circa (about) 28,000-23,000 B.C.it is Limestone and only about 4 1/4" tall.  Any ideas why it might have been so small? Google images of the Venus of Willendorf  There are other known works of Paleolithic sculpture in stone, bone and clay.  Many of these are depictions of women or animals.  Some of these works are low-relief inside caves.

1879, northern Spain:  Altamira Caves:  The owner of the estate on which the caves are located explores the cave with his young daughter.  Over time the cave has collected debris and this has cause the ceiling to be only inches from the owner's head his daughter actually discerns the pictures on the ceiling.  Her lower vantage point allowed her to have a better viewing perspective. These paintings were dismissed at the 1880  Lisbon Congress on Prehistoric Archeology, as forgeries.  However, in 1896 the paintings were proven to be authentic.  Other caves with prehistoric art were also discovered in the western region of Europe; for example Lascaux, Chauvet and Pech-Merle.

Prehistoric artist's names are unknown.  These works of art significantly predate writing.  The era before writing is referred to as pre history.  Art historians are not sure of the purpose of cave paintings but these paintings have a few things in common that give us clues with which we can speculate.  Interestingly, all of the animals represented in cave paintings are identifiable (even those which are extinct).  These stone age artists took much care in their representations.  Cave paintings were created on walls and ceilings of parts of the caves away from the mouthes.  There are also works incised into cave walls.

Please use the link below to look up the Chapter 1 Web Links  check out the links to Lascaux, Chauvet and Pech-Merle  view the cave paintings.Why do you think prehistoric people created these works of art?

Use this link to view the works cited in the above post.

http://websites.swlearning.com/cgi-wadsworth/course_products_wp.pl?fid=M20b&product_isbn_issn=0155050907&discipline_number=436

MESOLITHIC ART

Around 9,000 B.C. the climate is warming.  which changed the  migration and habitation patterns of animals which changed the life patterns of humans as well.  Since 1903 lesser but very "lively" works of animals and humans in the hunt, battle, ritual dance, and harvest have been discovered in shallow rock shelters and on stone walls.  Art historians continue to believe that these paintings, like the cave paintings, are "...of magical-religious significance, although some observers believe them to be no more than pictorial records of memorable events."  During the Mesolithic period people are still hunter/gatherers but this period is also marked by the domestication of the dog.

PLEASE NOTE:  THERE IS SO MUCH MORE INFORMATION ABOUT MESOLITHIC ART BUT SINCE THIS IS A BLOG AND NOT A BOOK THE ABOVE PARAGRAPH IS A VERY CONDENSED VERSION.

NEOLITHIC ART

Neolithic peoples are identified by certain changes they were able to enact in their day to day lives.  The became herders, rather than hunters (animal husbandry), they built permanent settlements and cultivated crops.  Life became more predictable and permanent. 

7000 B.C. agriculture is well established in Isreal/Jordan, Iran and Turkey.  Jericho was a town located near the Jordan river.  It had an unfailing spring which allowed a village to be supported.  Because the areas wealth neighboring villages developed and the first stone fortification was built.  By 7500 B.C. Jericho had approximately two thousand people.  The wall surrounding the town was 5 feet thick, almost 13 feet tall. As part of he wall the builders built a circular tower alomst 33 feet in diameter and 28 feet tall.  We are unsure if this was a solitary tower or one of several.  this tower was built with only primitive tools which increases the technical achievement. This is the first example of monumental architecture.

In some buildings, believed to be shrines, statuettes of women or goddesses and of animals have been discovered.  These are believed to be associated with a fertility cult.  A group of human skulls with modeled plaster features, seashell eyes, and painted hair have also been found. These skulls are important to art history becasue they mark the beginning of sizable sculpture in the Near East

Possibly the most advanced Neolithic culture between 7,000 B.C. and 5,000 B.C. was in Anatolia.  The areas wealth cam from trade in obsidian.  Obsidian is a volcanic rock valued for it's usefulness, when chipped, to make cutting edges for tools.  Interestingly the settlement did not have streets.  The houses adjoined one anotherand also have no doors.  People would have accessed their homes through an opening in the roof which also served as ventilation for the hearth.   This seems like and absurd arrangement today but when considered with the time period in mind it actually has some advantages.  What do you think some advantages could have been?  These houses were constructed of mud brick and sturdy timber frame.  Surfaces were plastered and painted.  Furniture was built into the walls like shelves.  Dead were buried beneath the floors. These people also built shrines.  Shrines are identifiable by the richness of the interior space.  The housed wall paintings, relief sculptures, animal heads and cow sculls.  They also held symbols of masculine potency like bull horns.  Small statuettes of terracotta clay have also been found.  These Paleolithic people also put effort into preparing the surface on which they were going to paint by plastering over previous paintings.  Preparing the surface before painting is moving these Paleolithic artists closer to our more modern method of preparing to paint.a surface.

In Western Europe during this time there are no settlements as advanced as the settlement in Anatolia.  But perhaps as early as 4000 B.C. the Neolithic people of the area developed a monumental architecture of graves and megaliths (great stones).  In Carnac there is a large alignment of menhirs (single verticle megaliths).  They are arranged in parallel rows some rows run for miles.  We do not know the exact purpose for this arrangement of stones but it is believed it is for religious worship possibly pertaining to the sun.  The rows align with the sun during the solstices.

STONEHENGE
Read this article from Smithsonian magazine.  Click the link

http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history-archaeology/light-on-stonehenge.html?c=y&page=

RESPOND:
To the highlighted questions above and the questions below.

What is one new thing you learned about Stone Age art?

What did you find to be particularly interesting?