After covering the initial basics of what we were going to cover in this lecture this year, we progressed to discussing 'cave art' and how art has always used technology to produce creativity. I found this interesting as it made me realize that an object, no matter if it is a rock or a highly advanced camera, is only an object until we begin to use it. Only when we do pick it up and apply effort to produce something does it become technology.
These are some of the images we discussed:
One example of cave art, this involves a lot of solid dark colour.
Another example, proving that even in these times different kinds of art were produced. This image is very different to the above image, in terms of colour and shade. This image clearly accentuates the elk's most prominent features, it's antlers.
This image raised a lot of theories as to it's purpose. Some of these theories included:
- Superiority - to prove that man is more superior than beast.
- Educational - to teach young children how to hunt.
We also discussed the ideas that stone age men had about ideal women, and how this has changed in modern times. The ideal woman nowadays is regarded as a sex symbol. For example:
Cheryl Cole
However in those times, the ideal woman looked something like this:
- Large breasts - ideal for feeding a child
- Large hips/belly - meant as a symbol of being well-fed
- Large genital area/thighs - makes child birth easier.
This week we began to talk about the evolution of art with culture, starting with Persian Art.
This is a Persian Art Sculpture, carved from stone. It includes a winged horse with the head of a man, with very stylized features such as his beard and hair.
From Persian Art comes Egyptian Art, where painting and sculpture were the most popular forms of art. We discussed how the infrastructure for the pyramids was basic but necessary, and the materials used would be very different to the kinds of materials now to construct buildings. Most materials used now are electronic, as opposed to the basic bricks and mortar.
There are approximately 110 pyramids left in Egypt, most constructed during the Old and Middle Kingdom Periods. Made out of limestone, Step pyramid is one of the first structures fully constructed from stone anywhere in the world. The pyramids were tombs built with the objective of safeguarding the dead Pharaoh's spirit, which was buried along with his greatest treasures. These included gold, furniture, food and sometimes even pets. The Egyptians thought it important to take care of the Pharaoh's spirit, otherwise a disaster would strike Egypt.
Many Egyptians thought their Pharaoh was some sort of a God, and hieroglyphics clearly show this. Many myths surround the famous Pharaph Tutankhamen, the most famous being the Curse of Tutankhamen:
"It is I who hinder the sand from choking the secret chamber, and who repel that one who would repel
him with the desert-flame. I have set aflame the desert. I have caused the path to be mistaken.
I am for the protection of the Osiris. This is to repel the enemy of Osiris, in whatever form he may come."
him with the desert-flame. I have set aflame the desert. I have caused the path to be mistaken.
I am for the protection of the Osiris. This is to repel the enemy of Osiris, in whatever form he may come."
This was later sensitized and basically reads as:
"Anyone who disturbs the tomb of Tutankhamen will die a terrible death"
This raised the question: Do we think of our Royalty as genetically better people than ourselves?
The answer was no, so ideas about Royalty and the respect we have for our Monarch has changed over the years.
The power the Pharaoh held over his people could have been a result of being feared by them.
From Egyptian art came Greek art, including the time of the Spartans, who looked on the idea of death while fighting as a heroic thing.
One matter that was discussed was the idea of young men being groomed in the army, to the point of where they cannot perform marital duties. In modern times the idea of grooming young men and women is looked on as horrific, and we cannot imagine life as it is described in these times. We fear for our children's safety from pedophiles, yet at the same time we are sexualizing our children and making them prime targets for this kind of behaviour.
Trajans Column
This monument is a Roman Tribumphal Sculpture in Rome, Italy, is a symbolization of the Roman emperor Trajan's Victory in the Dacian Wars. A continuous frieze winds up the column, describing in carvings the actions of Trajan leading up to his victory.The relief portrays Trajan's two victorious military campaigns against the Dacians; the lower half illustrating the first, and the top half illustrating the second.
Today we continued discussion on the progression of art forms, following on from the last lecture with Roman Art, which can be considered largely religious. Roman religion, both by native instinct and deliberate policy, was widely inclusive, comprised of different gods, rituals, liturgies, traditions, and cults. Romans, considered the most religious people, not only worshipped their own traditional Latin gods and associated divinities imported from the culturally respectable world of their Greek neighbours, but often acknowledged the gods of peoples they otherwise considered to be quite alien.
Art forms prior to this period (such as ancient Egyptian art) was created for a statement of power. They thought of their Pharaoh as a God, and most of the art created in this period reflected this, mostly in the form of sculpture or hyrogliphics.
Roman art flourished in the Early Byzantine period, when Christianity replaced the gods of antiquity as the main religion to follow and developed in the fourth century, where it continued to be a main part of the Byzantine faih, spreading through Egypt to all parts of the empire. Over the course of the Early Byzantine period, production of sculpture in the round declined, marking a change from the ancient traditions of sculpting portrait busts and full-length statues to commemorate civic and religious figures.
We then continued to discuss art forms in other parts of the world, such as the Renaissance which began with Giotto, who was sometimes called the "father of western pictoral art". His painting turned from the flatter, more iconic Byzantine style to a more naturalistic approach. A firm proponent of using observation of nature to learn about art, his painting emphasized some major characteristics of modern representational art; sculptural solidity, weight/mass of figures, and dimension.
However Giotto's paintings, much like those of other painters in the early Renaissance period, lacked in the correct perspectives, such as his attempts to convert a 3D landscape into a 2D painting. This can clearly be shown in the painting above, where the 'Madonna in Glory' is being portrayed as the centre piece of the painting. However in comparison to the 'angels' and other persons in the painting, she appears abnormally large in proportion, almost as tall as the building the scene is painted in front of.
There were plenty of Renaissance painters who lacked the skill to convert the scene in front of them into a 2-dimensional painting, until the iconic painter Raphael made an appearance with his wonderful painting of the Sposalizio. The painting features a traditional theme of Christianity, with Mary taking the ring from Joseph which is showing the artists faith. However the focus in detail is the building in the background, which features the new found architectural stylings of this period. This is portraying a sense of evolution, showing that society is getting smarter. David Hockney suspects that the masters created their paintings with the aid of a camera obscura, as he explains in this article http://www.koopfilms.com/hockney/articles.html
There are two types of painting in the Renaissance period:
Idolitary - where the object of a painting is worshipped, most often a painting of the Virgin Mary and / or Jesus, or Cupid.
Iconic - where the idea of a painting is worshipped, often the idea of love, motherhood or heaven.
The Baroque is a period and the style that used exaggerated motion and clear, easily interpreted detail to produce drama, tension, exuberance, and grandeur in sculpture, painting, literature, dance, and music. It's formative influences came from the Italian painter Carravagio, who was commisioned to paint for the Roman Catholic Church. His paintings were a combination of realistic observation of the human state, both physical and emotional, with a dramatic use of lighting. His paintings contained a naturalism which combined close observation of the physical form with a dramatic sense of Chiaroscuro (the italian term which refers to clear tonal contrasts, often used to suggest the volume and modelling of the subjects. The word Chiaroscuro literally means 'light to dark', of which his paintings shifted with little intermediate value.
Johannes Vermeer was a Dutch artist in the Renaissance period. He was not known as a wealthy man, his family background would today be described as lower-middle class. He specialized in exquisite domestic interiors in middle class life, using very bright colours. He is particularly renowned for his treatment and use of light.
Some examples of his most famous works are 'Girl With A Pearl Earring'
'Girl Reading A Letter By The Window'
Which has been largely reproduced in Tom Hunter's Photograph 'Girl Reading A Repossession Order'
It is largely suggested that Vermeer used the Camera Obscura to create his accurate paintings. This BBC article explains the importance of the Camera Obscura in the history of painting and the ancestry of photography.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/british/empire_seapower/vermeer_camera_01.shtml
We also listened to an audio clip of Tom Hunter discussing his photograph and the influence Vermeer has had on his work.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00zt7ky/The_Essay_Under_the_Influence_Under_the_Influence_Tom_Hunter/
We also discussed some words that may be relevant to our works in the future. These were:
PASTICHE - a literary, musical, or artistic piece consisting chiefly of motifs or techniques borrowed from one or more sources.
HOMAGE - a show or demonstration of respect or dedication to someone or something, be it in the form of poetry, art or by simple declaration.
George Stubbs was a painter who was best known for his anatomically correct paintings of horses and conversation pieces. His work is lyrical and transcends naturalism. He was commissioned to paint work for the rich, most often the noblemen from the Jockey club.
'Whistlejacket' - George Stubbs 1762.
It was during this time that art began to become elevated in status - art institutions were introduced and 'academy painting' was discovered, along with classical architecture which still exists today.
The idea of academy painting opened up the debate about the idea of beauty, started by Nicholas Poussin, a french painter who's work reflected that of Titian and Raphael. He read ancient articles and attempted to recreate myth and history in his works. This began the era of Romanticism.
Theodore Gericault - 'Raft of the Medusa'
Jaques-Louis David - 'Death of Marat'
Chiaroscuro - Rembrandt vs Caravaggio
Rembrandt was hugely influenced by Caravaggio - they were both great painters in this time, they both developed a powerful style which made them both masters of the Chiaroscuro technique (the use of dramatic contrasts of light and shadow to describe form)
Thomas Cole - The Voyage of Life
Childhood
Youth
Manhood
Old Age
Thomas Cole's 'The Voyage of Life' is Romanticism in it's highest form. The series of paintings depicts the life of man, from the naivety of childhood to youth, the hardships that being a man brings and finally the last phase of departing life.
Goya - Disasters of War
Francisco De Goya was a Spanish printmaker and painter. He produced a series of etchings which depict the horrors of the Napoleonic invasion of Spain in which the French soldiers brutally tortured the Spanish peasants and the Spanish reacted with similar violence.
An example of an etching done by Goya. It portrays several corpses, tortured and dismembered and tied to a tree. This depicts some of the horrific scenes that Goya may well have seen with his own eyes.
Edward Manet - Dejeuner sur l'Herbe
Manet received quite a lot of critisism for this painting, mainly because the subject in the painting does not conform to the style of painting in this era. Nudes have been painted prior to this piece of work, however they have not been painted in this content. The nude woman to the left has been painted in a position which is uncompromising to nude woman painted before this. She has also been painted looking directly towards the painter. This can be described as 'breaking the fourth wall' which is a term used in media to describe when an actor or actress looks towards the camera, inviting the viewer into the scene.
We then discussed the story of St Agnes, who is the Roman saint of chastity.
St. Agnes was a Roman girl who was only thirteen years old when she suffered martyrdom for her Faith. Agnes had made a promise, a promise to God never to stain her purity. Her love for the Lord was very great and she hated sin even more than death! Since she was very beautiful, many young men wished to marry Agnes, but she would always say, "Jesus Christ is my only Spouse."
Procop, the Governor's son, became very angry when she refused him. He had tried to win her for his wife with rich gifts and promises, but the beautiful young girl kept saying, "I am already promised to the Lord of the Universe. He is more splendid than the sun and the stars, and He has said He will never leave me!" In great anger, Procop accused her of being a Christian and brought her to his father, the Governor. The Governor promised Agnes wonderful gifts if she would only deny God, but Agnes refused. He tried to change her mind by putting her in chains, but her lovely face shone with joy. Next he sent her to a place of sin, but an Angel protected her. At last, she was condemned to death. Even the pagans cried to see such a young and beautiful girl going to death. Yet, Agnes was as happy as a bride on her wedding day. She did not pay attention to those who begged her to save herself. "I would offend my Spouse," she said, "if I were to try to please you. He chose me first and He shall have me!" Then she prayed and bowed her head for the death-stroke of the sword.
We ended a discussion on impressionsim by discussing Monet's capture of light, before moving on to discuss Van Gogh and the post impressionist/expressionism era. The post impressionists were a group of artists heavily influenced by the impressionists, but rejected its constraints and so embarked on their own artistic styles. They wanted to portray more emotion and intellect than the impressionists as well as the visual imagery. Van Gogh is one of the leading artists in this movement, as well as Paul Cezanne, Gaugin and Degas.
Van Gogh's self portrait with a bandaged ear. Many stories surround this event, but we cannot be sure which is true.
Edvard Munch is said to be the pioneer of the expressionist movement. His most famous painting is 'the scream' which portrays a man standing on a bridge. The man appears to be screaming, and many theories surround this painting. However it has recently been revealed that the painting involves a man reacting to a scream, rather than actually screaming. There are figures painted in the back of the painting, and a building to the right. Recent discoveries reveal that the building is a mental institution where Munch's sister was kept when she was declared mentally insane. If this is true, it could mean that the figures are meant to be orderlies from the insititution.
