1. Art History Timeline
30,000 BC- present

2. Stone Age 30,000-10,000 b.c.
England
Ireland
40,000 years ago
Humans were hunter-gatherers– day revolved around food
Portable art- could take with them
Stationary art- cave walls, stayed forever
Art was about FOOD or FERTILITY
Artists unknown

3. Egyptian 5,000 b.c.- 300 a.d. Painting and sculpture
Symbolic: animals, colors, size
Emphasis on life after death

4. CLASSICAL ART Greek & Roman 1700-1400 b.c.
Classical Art’s main medium was sculpture
Greek: Athletics, Mythology, Daily life, Doric/Ionic columns
Athens
Most famous temple: Parthenon (dedicated to Athena)
Perfection, balance, idealism
Roman: Mythology, Real people, Historical events, Corinthian columns
Rome
Most famous temple: Pantheon (dedicated to 7 gods)
Practical, realism
CLASSICAL ART Greek & Roman b.c.

5. Roman Art The Senate Ancient Ruins Sarcófago Ludovisi–
The Battle of Rome
Pantheon
Vatican City- St. Peter’s Basillica
Colosseum

6. Asian 653 b.c-1900 a.d Chinese, Japanese, Indian
Oldest and continuous kind of art– traditional
Painting, sculpture, pottery, decorative arts
Ceramic factories showed wealth and power of emperors (still have today)
Serene, meditative art; Nature
Ink on silk or paper

7. Chinese Art
Hanshan Temple- bell rings at Chinese New Year- there is one in Japan too
Hanging Temple- for 3 religions: Buddhism, Confucianism, and Taoism
Terracotta Soldiers– more than 7,000 total
Buddha- Yungang Grottoes- over 51,000 Buddha statues in this cave

8. Byzantine a.d. 476-1853 Eastern Rome
More abstract & symbolic than Roman art
Flat or One-dimensional
Why the change? Debate over whether there was a decline in artistic talent or if there was an oriental influence.
Artists were members of the religious house
Long, Narrow, Solemn faces– Bodies faced front
Religion- icon image of Jesus Christ
Dedication of Constantinople- capitol city, ruled by Constantine
Illumination of biblical texts
Ivory reliefs, no sculptures-- idolatry

9. Byzantine Art San Vitale Basillica in Ravenna, Italy Mosaics
Giunta Pisano, Crucifix in Bologna, Italy

10. Islamic a.d
Architecture, calligraphy, painting, glass, ceramics, textiles (rugs)
Maze-like designs, repeating elements- arabesques
Only God is perfect
Infinite and indivisible nature of God
People were not portrayed in art- idolizing
Secret miniatures
Architecture: Mosque, Tomb, Palace, Fort

11. Middle Ages
Also known as the Dark Ages: decrease in prosperity, stability, and population
Art was associated with churches because it was costly, so almost all art was religious
Over 1,000 years of art in Europe; includes many major art movements:
Romanesque: Piestic paintings- religious, large churches, no portraits, muted colors
Gothic art: brighter colors, sculptures, realism, naturalism, stained glass, symmetry

12. Middle Ages Art
fresco
Vaulted ceilings & Flying buttresses

13. Renaissance
Rebirth of Classical traditions– but apply scientific advancements & religious changes
Naturalism, 3D, lifelike
“rescuing and restoring art” from the “crude Byzantine style”
Anatomy & human emotion
Themes: religious altar pieces, fresco cycles, and small works for private collections
Techniques: perspective, foreshortening, sfumato, chiaroscuro, balance, proportion

14. Renaissance Techniques
foreshortening
sfumato
chiaroscuro

15. Mannerism 1527-1580 Break rules Artifice over nature
Intellectual sophistication
Beautiful, “has style”
Compositional tension & instability rather than balance & clarity of the Renaissance
Elongated proportions, stylized poses, no clear perspective, theatrical lighting, strange settings

16. Baroque
Started by Catholic church- the arts should communicate religious themes
Art as a weapon in the religious wars- church wanted to speak to the illiterate, not just the well informed
To impress visitors– express triumph, power, & control
The name was at first given as an insult– too many unnecessary details, noisy--translates to “elaborate”
Exaggerated motion, clear details

17. Wanderer above the Sea of Fog
Romanticism
The Nightmare
Sea of Ice, Wreck of Hope
Liberty Leading the People
Not love romance, but GLORIFICATION– glorified concepts such as liberty, survival, ideals, hope, awe, heroism, despair, and the various feelings that nature evokes in humans (views & sunsets)
First start seeing feelings of the artist, not everyone feels the same
Creation from nothingness– originality
Characteristics:
Emotional emphasis
Nature can kill you (shipwrecks, lots of shipwrecks)
Current events
No exact style, technique, or subject matter
The Raft of the Medusa

18. Realism 1848-1900 Focus on every day life
The End of the Working Day
Realism
Focus on every day life
Represent art truthfully– portray exactly what they saw
Rejected Romanticism– avoided over exaggerated emotionalism and drama, instead portrayed things as they really were with no emotions involved
Included all classes of people in all aspects of life (even if it was ugly)
Ordinary people in ordinary life
Photography was introduced and became popular
Bonjour, Monsiuer Corbet
The Arnolfini Portrait

19. Impressionism 1865-1885 Began in Paris by a group of artists
Name comes from Monet’s painting, “Impression Sunrise”
Characteristics
Small, thin, visible brushstrokes
Ordinary subject matter
Capturing effects of natural light & how it changes
Unusual visual angles
Movement
Colors often aren’t mixed, instead laid side by side
Avoids using black paint, grays (complimentary colors to shade)
Didn’t wait for paint to dry
Painted in evenings to create shadows & studied natural colors of light
Haystacks
Lydia Leaning on Her Arms

20. Post-Impressionism
Continued impressionist style, but emphasized geometric forms
Exaggerated an aspect of impressionism
Impasto- thick application of paint– shows off texture and paint marks
Used unnatural color
Pointillism

21. Fauvism 1900-1910 Led by Matisse and Derain
Only had 3 exhibitions, lasted a short time
Wild brushstrokes
Strong color
Not realistic; abstract; simple
Color theory study

22. Cubism 1905-1920 Considered most influential movement of 20th century
Objects are analyzed, broken up, and rearranged
Many viewpoints instead of just one
Abstract
Inspired movements in other art forms (music, literature, theatre)

23. Surrealism 1917-1950 Painting dreams
Exploring the unconscious– automatic writing
Illogical scenes that looked realistic
Made creatures out of every day objects
Element of surprise

24. Abstract Expressionism 1940-1960
First American-only influenced movement-- NYC
Spontaneous, automatic, subconscious
“It’s better to catch the spirit of the sea, rather than all it’s tiny ripples.”

25. Modernism 1960-present Freedom of expression Experimentation Pop-Art
Consumerism
Radicalism
Startled audiences
Collage, installations
“ready-mades”
Performance art