World Art

Dr. Suman Pandey

 Prehistoric Art

Stonehenge, Lascaux, The venus of Willendorf,

Wiltshire,England Astria
Timeline of world art
 Prehistoric art of the stone age

Archaeologist have identified four basic types of stone age art

1. Petroglyphs (Couples rock carving and engraving)

2. Pictographs (Pictorial imagery, Idiomorphs, ideograms, or symbols)

3. Prehistoric sculpture (small totemic statuettes, know as venus figurines, various

from of zoomorphic and therianthropic ivory carving and relief sculptures)

4. Megalithic art (petroforms or any other works that are applied to an immovable
rock surface are classified as parietal art works that are portable are classified as
mobility art.)
What Are the Oldest Petroglyphs? No archeologist has provided a coherent explanation for the creation of
cupules, while other types of rock engraving may serve as territorial
maps or markers (geocontourglyph), or ritualistic, religious, totemic or
linguistic markings.
The oldest art in this particular category of
A recent study of the rock carvings produced by the San Bushmen of
prehistoric rock carving are the Bhimbetka the Kalahari desert, was conducted by the Rock Art Research Institute
Petroglyphs in the Auditorium cave situated at (RARI) of the University of the Witwatersrand. It discovered a number
Bhimbetka in India. Excavations at a sister site of connections between this tribal art on the one hand, and San culture
and religion (including healing and rain-making) on the other.
(Daraki-Chattan) have confirmed that the
petroglyphs were created between 290,000 and For more about the cultural background to Stone Age carvings, and
700,000 BCE, during the Acheulean period of the other parietal rock art, see: Paleolithic Art and Culture. Other
Lower Paleolithic. important petroglyphs were the carvings and engravings found on
megaliths at Gobekli Tepe, Newgrange and Stonehenge.
1. Pictographs (Pictorial imagery, Idiomorphs, ideograms, or symbols)

In prehistoric art, the term "petroglyphs"

(derived from the Greek word "petra" meaning
stone, and "glyphein" meaning to carve) is
used to describe any image created on a rock
surface by scouring, scratching, engraving,
chiseling, carving or any similar method.

Note, however, that painted or drawn images

on rocks are not classified as petroglyphs:
instead, they are defined as pictographs.
1. Prehistoric sculpture (small totemic statuettes, know as venus figurines, various from of zoomorphic and
therianthropic ivory carving and relief sculptures)

Relief Sculpture of a Horse (12,000

BC)
Venus of Berekhat Ram Venus of Brassempouy (23,000 BCE). Roc-aux-Sorciers
230,000 to 500,000 BCE. Oldest Known Stone Age Portrait. Angles-sur-l'Anglin.
Musee d'Archeologie Nationale,
France.
CAVE ART
Ancient Art And Civilizations
 EGYPTIAN ART

The characteristics of Egyptian art followed certain

specific rules which gave little or no room for creativity. For
instance, painters were to use a falcon’s head to represent
the god Horus; the purpose of the red color was to indicate
power.

Today, ancient Egyptian sculpture characteristics are

among the top attractions at Egyptian tourist sites due
to their complexity and uniqueness.
Ancient Egyptian Art Characteristics

Egyptian art was the best in the Mediterranean due to its

preference for order and form. These characteristics
did not suffer external influences due to the geography of
Egypt. The deserts and hills surrounding Egypt and the
Nile prevented any invasion, so the Egyptians were free
to develop the various branches of their art form.
The Functions and Characteristics of Egyptian Painting

Most ancient Egyptian paintings included gods and goddesses in

their depictions. This is because Egyptian society was a deeply
religious one, so one of the functions of Egyptian art was to honor them.

They believed their livelihoods depended on their gods so the gods

were central to Egyptian painting style. They also thought of their
pharaohs as gods, therefore, they depicted them in their paintings to
honor them.
Characteristics of Egyptian Painting

When it came to the characteristics, the Egyptians valued order and rules, which all artists needed to follow.
For instance, the social status of an individual influenced how they were represented in painting.

In a scene depicting high-ranking Egyptian official and their slaves, the size of the official’s figure would be
bigger than that of the slaves. The purpose was to reflect the status of the official relative to the slaves.

Anyone who saw the painting described above could easily deduce that the bigger figure ranked higher than
the smaller ones. Also, when drawing humans and animals, the painters had to depict the hands and legs in
profile. The purpose of this was to show both the side and front view simultaneously. If the artist desired to
depict a fishing scene, they were mandated to do it on a background of reeds and water.

The rules also made provision for the kind of colors to be used in painting. The Egyptian artists were to stick to
red, black, yellow, green, gold and blue. The gods were to be drawn in order of their hierarchy and they had
specific symbols that represented them. For example, the god Anubis was always to be represented by the
head of a jackal.
EGYPTIAN PAINTINGS
 Egyptian Tomb Paintings
In the 6th Dynasty, Egyptian sculptors used paints rather than carvings to decorate
tombs. This was due to the cheaper price of painting compared to sculpting. The
Middle Kingdom saw coffins being painted to depict a house because they believed
coffins were the houses in which the corpses would stay.

Artists painted the exterior of the coffins with hieroglyphs indicating the title and
names of the dead. They then painted mats, windows and doors to give a semblance
of a real house. The false door through which the soul would pass was at the head of
the coffin, and they also included the eyes of Horus to help the dead see the living.

They painted the interior of the coffins with gifts that were given to the dead. These
gifts included vegetables, bread and meat, along with the properties of the deceased.
They drew head clothes at the head of the coffin and sandals at the feet so that the
dead would not be naked in the underworld.
 The Function and Meaning of Colors in Ancient Egyptian Art

As already mentioned, the Egyptians used only six colors in their artwork, and each color symbolizes
something.

The artists used red to show power, anger, fire, victory or life; important names were also written in red. On the
other hand, the Egyptians depicted growth, fertility and new life with the color green.

Blue in ancient Egyptian art represented rebirth and creation. The rules allowed the artists to use yellow to
represent the sun and gold. Yellow also indicated the Pharaohs, the sun god Ra and eternity, which is why the
Egyptians painted the head of the caskets and funeral masks yellow, as it also meant eternal life for the deceased.

The artists represented purity and all things sacred with white. This is why they used white in designing all objects
associated with their religion, and priests would also use white while performing religious rites.

Black was the color that symbolizes death, which the Egyptians also used to represent the underworld, night, and
the black fertile soil of the Nile region. Thus, black could also be used to symbolize regeneration.
The Purpose and Characteristics of Egyptian Sculpting
Sculpting in ancient Egypt was straightforward.
The Egyptians used materials such as bones,
wood and ivory to carve simple figures. These
figures included antelopes, birds and fish, which
they placed inside coffins to bury the dead.

Prehistoric carvings were done in relief with the

scene slightly projecting out of its background.

The carvings depicted Egyptians worshipping

their gods in shrines made of reed. The chiefs of
the locals were also depicted living in similar
structures. To commemorate their victories, the
Egyptians carved mace heads and palettes in
relief, as was the order of the day.
The sculptors were careful to follow the agreed
principles of carving human images, which was
that human images were to be depicted both in
the frontal and side view. In sculpting, the
artists were to depict kings as lions or bulls.

These sculpting skills were unique to the

Egyptians and made them stand out among other
kingdoms in the ancient world.
Egyptians Decorated Their Tombs With Relief Sculptures

Early tombs contained reliefs that showed stilted figures carved in either stone or
wooden panels. The characteristics of tomb reliefs featured the head, bust and legs in
profile while the eyes and shoulders were in frontal view. The craftsmen depicted the
waist and the hips in a three-quarter view.

The craftsmen then carved the titles and inscriptions identifying the deceased. This they
did in hieroglyphs which were symbols of animals and objects. The carvings also
depicted a scene indicating the deceased seated in front of a table. Under the deceased,
the sculptors carved a false floor where the soul of the dead would enter and leave the
tomb.
Purpose and Characteristics
The purpose of the art was to enable the deceased to gain access
to eternal life, so funeral incantations are chanted to activate the
table of offerings and the soul of the dead. Lively scenes were then
painted on the sides of the image of the deceased, which depicted
laborers of the deceased going about their normal duties. These
laborers were to be frozen in mid-step to indicate their daily work for
their deceased master.

The sculptors arranged all these scenes horizontally. Their

depictions did not feature distance and perspective to indicate depth.
They made up for this by making use of registers, with lower registers
indicating closeness to the viewer and higher ones indicating long
distances.

The Egyptian artist sometimes filled the walls of the tomb with
each figure standing in its proper place. The care and diligence of the
sculptors ensured that there was no overlap.
Summary:

● Ancient Egyptian art followed order and form rather than expression.
● Depiction of gods and humans had to follow a specific pattern.
● Gods were depicted with animal heads, their chest and waist facing the
front while their legs were to the side.
● The Egyptians also depicted humans both in the frontal and side view but
without animal heads.
● Painters designed tombs to help the deceased prepare for the afterlife.
● Various colors had specific meanings and purposes.
● One Egyptian art structure that has confounded modern architects and
scientists is the building of the pyramids.
● Prominent Egyptian buildings had columns that were carved out of stone
and decorated with pictures and relief sculptures.
Egyptian art continues to intrigue people to this day, and many who visit the Great Pyramids and other
ancient Egyptian sites testify of the complexity and beauty of Egyptian ingenuity. It has also boosted the
economy of Egypt as more people tour these sites, because Egyptian art is so unique that an untrained eye
can easily spot it among other ancient art forms.
The classical world
Medieval art
Renaissance Art (1400–1600)

San GiovenaleTriptych, Masaccio Sistine chapel Michelangelo

 Mannerism (1527–1580)
El Greco - The Opening of the Fifth Seal
(The Vision of Saint John) (1608-14s) -

Parmigianino “madonna with the long

neck”
Baroque (1600–1750)

The night watch painting Raphael Judith Beheading Holofernes Caravaggio

 Rococo (1699–1780) The Swing (Fragonard)

Chariot of Apollo, Giovanni Battista and designed by Giorgio massari

Neoclassicism (1750–1850)
Napoleon on his imperial throne painted by Auguste Dominique ingres

Napoleon crossing the alps Jacque’s Louis David

Romanticism (1780–1850)

The ghost of a flea William black.

Liberty leading the people Eugene Delacroix

Realism (1848–1900)

The Gleaners Jean Francois Millet. The painters studio Gustav Courbet
Art Nouveau (1890–1910)

La Sagarda Familia.
the kiss Gustav klimt
Impressionism (1865–1885)

Impression,Sunrise Claude Monet The water lily pond

New impressionism
George’s Seurat A Sunday afternoon. Place des Lices, St. Tropez By Paul Signac
Post-Impressionism (1885–1910)

Starry Night Vincent Van Gogh. Still life Paul Cezanne

Fauvism (1900–1935)
Henri Matisse, woman with a hat Raould duty’s Window opening on nice
Expressionism (1905–1920)

Edvard Munch, The Dance of life. The blue rider, Wassily Kandinsky
 Cubism (1907–1914)
Guernica Picasso Violin and Palette, George Braque
 Surrealism (1916–1950)

Persistence of Memory by Salvador Dali,

Max Ernst, a retrospective,
the son of man, Rene Magritte
Abstract Expressionism (1940s–1950s)

Autumn rythem Jackson pollock

Mark Rothko , yellow and orange
Op Art (1950s–1960s)
Blaze, Bridget Riley
Vega, Victor Vasarely
Pop Art (1950s–1960s)
Brushstrokes, Lichtenstein.
Camp bell’s soup cans by Andy Warhol
Arte Povera (1960s)
Minimalism (1960s–1970s)
Conceptual Art (1960s–1970s)
Contemporary Art (1970–present)
Thank you for your attention
Most popular artist in art history
Self-portrait of Sandro Botticelli from his painting
“Adoration of the Magi,” c. 1476

Florentine artist Sandro Botticelli was one of

the most prolific painters of the 15th century.
While the artist’s oeuvre features secular
portraits and Biblical depictions, he is most
well-known for his larger-than-life, mythological
scenes. In fact, he was one of the first artists of
this time period to revive Classical subject
matter and adopt its iconography.

Famous works of art: Birth of Venus (c. 1486),

Primavera (c. 1477–82)
Sandro Botticelli

Birth of Venus (c. 1486), Primavera (c. 1477–82)

Leonardo da Vinci

Leonardo da Vinci was the quintessential Renaissance

man. Not only did he leave behind a collection of
notebooks filled with scientific observations and
illustrations, but he also left an important legacy of artwork
spanning different mediums. His mastery of oil painting
techniques such as sfumato and chiaroscuro can be seen
in his portraits, Mona Lisa and Lady with an Ermine. The
former remains as one of the most visited works of art in
the world.

Famous works of art: Lady With an Ermine (1489–91),

Vitruvian Man (c. 1492), The Last Supper (1498), Mona
Lisa (1503–1516)
Lady With an Ermine (1489–91),

The Last Supper (1498),

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