4th-week READING VISUAL ARTS (Module 3) …...CONTINUATION….

UNIT 3: Subjects and Uses of Arts throughout History

Essential Questions
> What is the first known facts about human art?
> How does art reflect the people’s way of life in each period?
> How does art reflect the people’s way of life in each period?
> Why are the cave paintings important in the history of art?
> How were the arts from the different periods differ in their use/role?

Intended Learning Outcomes

> Discuss how art was used by prehistoric people to depict everyday lives
> Explain how art is linked with religion in early Egyptian civilizations
> Identify the underlying history, philosophy of the era or movement.
> Classify the various art movements by citing their important characteristics such as historical background,
factors, influential people, socio-political issues and prevalent artists, arts, forms and media

Lesson 3. 2 HISTORY OF ART

The history of art began with that of humanity. Art appeared as one of the earliest activities of man.
Even before an artist is born, art has already existed and will continue even after the artist has passed
away, thus his work becomes part of history. As a separate discipline, art history emerged in the west in
the 19th century.
But this does not mean that before that period, no stories about art were passed on from
generation to generation. Art history is more than storytelling and is interested in proven facts, and these
proofs are in the documents and remains of the past. Documents are not just written texts but more so
correspond to the seven forms of art, so whether they are tangible or intangible, they are permanent and
counted as documents.
The study of art always includes its development from prehistoric time to the contemporary. This is
so because different artistic styles developed on some certain.
 1. Ancient Art
Ancient art had gone a long way from prehistoric times to the early Roman period. The arts during
the different periods were mostly focused on divination.
Different images were carved and sculpted into human figures and used as symbols of their beliefs.
They used these for worship and performing rituals.
Aside from sculpture, the early Egyptians, Greeks, and Romans also centered their arts on
architecture which became common to the primitive people only during the Neolithic age.
Structures were built for religious and spiritual activities since the inhabitants of this period were
known to be polytheistic.

2. Medieval Art
The term medieval refers to the Middle Ages and it started sometime in the 11th to the
15thcentury in Europe.
Art in this period still centers on religion but focused only on the making of Christian scriptures
despite that these were controlled during the early Roman’s time. A dominant characteristic of this time
was that the church became the central and authoritative figure, so religious ideas became the principal
subject in the arts –painting, sculpture, and architecture.
There were four styles in the art that flourished during this era: Early Christian art, Byzantine art,
Romanesque art, and Gothic art. Each style has distinctive characteristics and features highlighting the
different trends and changes in their artistic works.
3. Renaissance Art
In the history of art, Renaissance is applied to the 15th century which is one of the highest
moments of civilization.
The term Renaissance means rebirth for it ushered a new outlook in man and the world; and revival
since there was a revival of classical learning in the study of the ancient Greek and Roman texts.
The ideals of classicism which used to be the ideal standards of the ancient Greeks in the classical
period became the artistic standards of the artists in the Renaissance.
The spirit of scientific inquiry and investigation was the important characteristic of this person
which was creating a more naturalistic portrayal of a human figure.
Freedom of artistic expression became evident this time unlike in the middle age wherein the
medieval artists then were suppressed in their free will in the making of arts. Renaissance artists have
come to express themselves freely because of the secularization of the arts and they have tried new
mediums and techniques and even experimentation in the arts.

[Link]-Renaissance Art
Post Renaissance art began in the 17th and 18th century in Europe. This was the time of the great
religious upheaval called the Reformation. During the early part of the period, art was characterized by
movement energy, restlessness, elaborate and grotesque forms and ornamentation. It defies simplicity of
art and everything is richly decorated which can be seen in their sculpture and architecture.
In the mid part of the century, two art movements emerged, the Neoclassicism and Romanticism
and new sets of characteristics were depicted in the arts.
Basically, Neoclassicism aimed to revive and rekindle the Greek and Roman influences into art and
architecture. It was characterized by order, symmetry and simplicity of style.
On the other hand, Romanticism stressed the individual freedom of the artist and his subjective
reaction to the world around him like nature, people and events.
Interest was put in social issues, heroic elements and patriotic and nationalistic movements.
5. Digital Art
Digital art is an artistic composition that relies on the use of technology as part of the presentation
process. It comes in different forms either computer generated using various types of software, scanned,
or drawn using a tablet and a mouse or digital paintings sourced from photos.
This kind of art is often seen in cartoon shows on televisions and in movies with digital intervention.
It can be posted online through the internet and distributed electronically in a split of a second and can be
viewed by anyone who is hook to cyberspace.
Digital art is important to artist because it is easier to share their work on websites and through
social media instantly. It is also possible to download video camera. Creative freedom is being experienced,
because they can cut and paste moving images.
There are different types of digital art like art game, computer art scene, computer music, cyber
arts, digital illustration, digital imaging, digital painting and digital photography.

6. Modern Art
Modernism started in the 19th century and by the 20th century, art was reinventing itself. Various
art movements expressed as “isms” emerged, thus producing many different styles and techniques.
Modernism had antecedents that rebelled against academic art making it abandon the traditions of
Western art.
Modern art is the result of various social factors that saw the marked advancement of science and
technology. It rejects the traditional and the conventional forms and allows individual experimentation and
sensibility.
Modern artists do not aim to copy and idealize reality; instead, they change the colors and flatten
the image instead of creating the illusion of depth and distance.
This period was not a particularly innovative century for the arts. It relied on reviving older styles
rather than creating new ones.
7. Contemporary Art
Contemporary art can be defined as art produced by artists living today. It is the art of the present,
which is continuously in process and continuously changing.
Contemporary art was heavily driven by ideas and theories of what is and can be considered art
with the involvement of multimedia.
One of the most important features of this art is the medium used by artists. With the coming of
technology such as television, photography, cinema, digital technology, performance, and even objects of
every day, the artist can freely choose.
Contemporary art is never fixed, but open to many possibilities.
It was the idea that was more important rather than the visual articulation.

Figure 41 Pop Art Figure 43 Installation Art Figure 42 Land Art

8. Asian Art
When ancient civilization in Asia flourished, trading relationships became a very important activity
among Asian countries that started the sharing of their culture and belief systems.
Most of their beliefs and practices are represented through different artworks and this is very
prominent in the arts of China and Japan. Their artworks are concrete manifestations of their cultural
identity as a people.
Both of these countries welcomed Western ideas to be integrated into their works, but China still
remained conventional in some of their art principles.
Asian art focused more on cultural philosophical and religious associations that’s why artists here
crafted and designed objects with religious and political associations.
9. American Art
In this period, the European and some American artists continued with their experiments in
abstraction, while another group chose to focus on American subject and representational styles known as
American scene arts.
There were two groups who have different approaches but they both shared nationalistic
sentiments about their movement, the American scene.
One of the two groups, called Regionalists focused on rural environments and promoted American
virtues. On the other hand, the 2nd group called Social Realists were interested in promoting social justice
in their artwork.

Answer the following questions.

1. Compare Chinese and Japanese art in terms of adapting Western influences.
2. Would the choice of subject affect the artistic value of an art? Why?
4. Discuss the significance of arts during the following periods:
> Ancient
>Medieval
>Renaissance
> Modern
>Contemporary
> Digital

Reference Caslib, Jr., B.N., et al (2018), Art Appreciation, Rex Bookstore, Manila,
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Other Ariola, M.M., (2014), Introduction to Art Appreciation A Textbook in Humanities,
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Datuin, F.M. et al, (2016), Contemporary Philippine Arts from the Regions, Rex
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Javellana, SJ. R.B, (2018), Understanding, Valuing and Living Art, Vibal Group,
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Lamucho, V.S. et al, (2003), Introduction to Humanities: A Humane
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