1. HISTORY OF THE FIGURE IN ART

2. Throughout history people have shown the figure in art many different ways. These changes happen due to human needs, styles and artistic expression Early figure images served only communication and religious purposes. Later, portraits captured images of the living. After the invention of the camera, figure art became highly creative and expressive.

3. Throughout history, figures are represented as drawings, paintings, and sculpture. Sculpture achieved a realistic appearance before drawings and paintings of figures did. However, drawing and painting was used before sculpture to illustrate the figure.

4. PREHISTORIC FIGURES Line drawings of figures in cave paintings look similar to “stick figures.” They were used to tell stories and communicate before people had developed a written language.

6. PRE-COLUMBIAN FIGURES Sculptures at this time represented gods for worship and ceremonies. Because man did not know what gods looked like, these figures were mostly stylized sculptures.

9. ANCIENT EGYPTIAN FIGURES Figure drawings were flat looking, with heads and feet in profile, while the body faced forward. Most important figures were shown larger than others.

10. Profile head Forward facing torso Profile legs & feet

11. ANCIENT GREEK FIGURES Figures were often used in storytelling, especially mythology. Drawings on pots are still very flat looking. Sculptures were becoming more realistic, but they we still very stiff.

12. Storytelling on Ceramic Vases & Urns

13. Figures from Mythology

14. Stiff neck Straight Rigid Arms Straight legs & feet

15. ANCIENT ROMAN FIGURES Figures were still used for storytelling. Sculptures of the body now look more 3D. They show the classical “contraposto” pose. This means their body is showing more movement. They also have more realistic looking cloth/fabric.

16. Very realistic figure sculpture

17. Eyes were blank or hollow “Windows to the Soul”

18. “Contrapposto” Pose Realistic looking cloth/fabric

19. MIDDLE AGES FIGURES Figure drawings were beginning to develop a little more. They are mostly made to show religious and medieval scenes because their were many working people who did not know how to read.

20. There is still a lack of Perspective. Everything in the picture is the same size.

21. Since they did not know how to paint babies, you will often see old looking children.

22. RENAISSANCE FIGURES With the discovery of perspective, figures had more realistic form. Figures continued to show religious scenes, but also became popular as portraits of wealthy patrons (people who paid for pictures to be made). In time, portraiture was cheap enough to even the middle class.

25. With more practice, the children became younger looking

26. 18 TH CENTURY FIGURES Portraiture continued to be popular, sometimes including land, house, pet, or other prized possession. Figure painting also provided entertainment or delivered a message.

27. “Robert Andrews and His Wife” by Thomas Gainsborough

28. Children now looked like their appropriate young age

30. 19 TH CENTURY FIGURES The invention of the camera had a profound effect on figures in art, especially portraiture. Artists began painting “genre” (figures in everyday life situations). Figure painting and sculpture changed from realistic to more impressionistic styles.

34. 20 TH CENTURY FIGURES Monuments were made to immortalize prominent figures in history. With artists now able to afford their own materials, there are a wide variety of art styles developed. They show figures as abstract, expressionistic, or realistic.

35. “Statue of Liberty” by Frederic Bartholdi

36. “Lincoln Memorial” by Daniel Chester French

37. “Iwo Jima” Memorial by Felix de Weldon