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Basic concepts of art

Art history

Art history is the study of objects of art in their historical development and stylistic contexts, i.e. genre, design, format, and style. This includes the "major" arts of painting, sculpture, and architecture as well as the "minor" arts of ceramics, furniture, and other decorative objects. As a term, art history (also history of art) encompasses several methods of studying the visual arts; in common usage referring to works of art and architecture. Aspects of the discipline overlap. As the art historian Ernst Gombrich once observed, "the field of art history [is] much like Caesar's Gaul, divided in three parts inhabited by three different, though not necessarily hostile tribes: the connoisseurs, the critics, and the academic art historians".

As a discipline, art history is distinguished from art criticism, which is concerned with establishing a relative artistic value upon individual works with respect to others of comparable style, or sanctioning an entire style or movement; and art theory or "philosophy of art", which is concerned with the fundamental nature of art. One branch of this area of study is aesthetics, which includes investigating the enigma of the sublime and determining the essence of beauty. Technically, art history is not these things, because the art historian uses historical method to answer the questions: How did the artist come to create the work?, Who were the patrons?, Who were his or her teachers?, Who was the audience?, Who were his or her disciples?, What historical forces shaped the artist's oeuvre, and How did he or she and the creation, in turn, affect the course of artistic, political, and social events? It is, however, questionable whether many questions of this kind can be answered satisfactorily without also considering basic questions about the nature of art. Unfortunately the current disciplinary gap between art history and the philosophy of art (aesthetics) often hinders this.

Art history is not only a biographical endeavor. Art historians often root their studies in the scrutiny of individual objects. They thus attempt to answer in historically specific ways, questions such as: What are key features of this style? What meaning did this object convey?, How does it function visually?, Did the artist meet their goals well?, What symbols are involved?, and Does it function discursively?

The historical backbone of the discipline is a celebratory chronology of beautiful creations commissioned by public or religious bodies or wealthy individuals in western Europe. Such a "canon" remains prominent, as indicated by the selection of objects present in art history textbooks. Nonetheless, since the 20th century there has been an effort to re-define the discipline to be more inclusive of nonWestern art, art made by women, and vernacular creativity.

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Art periods

An art period is a phase in the development of the work of an artist, groups of artists or art movement.

1Renaissance

2Renaissance to Neoclassicism

3Romanticism

4Romanticism to Modern Art

5Modern art

6Contemporary art

Renaissance

Renaissance c. 1300 - c. 1602

Italian Renaissance - late 13th century - c. 1600 - late 15th century - late 16th century

Renaissance Classicism

Early Netherlandish painting - 1400 – 1500

Renaissance to Neoclassicism

Mannerism and Late Renaissance - 1520 - 1600

Baroque - 1600 - 1730

Dutch Golden Age painting - 1585 – 1702

Flemish Baroque painting - 1585 – 1700

Rococo - 1720 - 1780

Neoclassicism - 1750 – 1830

Romanticism

Romanticism -1790 - 1880

Nazarene movement - c. 1820 - late 1840s

The Ancients - 1820s - 1840s

Purismo - c. 1820 - 1860s

Düsseldorf school - mid-1820s - 1860s

Hudson River school - 1850s - c. 1880

Luminism (American art style) - 1850s – 1870s

Romanticism to Modern Art

Norwich school - 1803 - 1833, England

Biedermeier - 1815 - 1848, Germany

Photography - Since 1826

Realism - 1830 - 1870, began in France

Barbizon school - c. 1830 - 1870, France

Peredvizhniki - 1870, Russia

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Hague School - 1870 - 1900, Netherlands American Barbizon school - United States Spanish Eclecticism - 1845 - 1890, Spain Macchiaioli - 1850s, Tuscany, Italy

Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood - 1848 - 1854, England

Modern art

Modern art - 1860 - 1945

Impressionism - 1860 - 1890, France American Impressionism 1880, United States Cos Cob Art Colony 1890s, United States Heidelberg School late 1880s, Australia Luminism (Impressionism)

Arts and Crafts movement - 1880 - 1910, United Kingdom Tonalism - 1880 - 1920, United States

Symbolism (arts) - 1880 - 1910, France/Belgium Russian Symbolism 1884 - c. 1910, Russia Aesthetic movement 1868 - 1901, United Kingdom Post-impressionism - 1886 - 1905, France

Les Nabis 1888 - 1900, France Cloisonnism c. 1885, France

Synthetism late 1880s - early 1890s, France Neo-impressionism 1886 - 1906, France Pointillism 1879, France

Divisionism 1880s, France

Art Nouveau - 1890 - 1914, France

Vienna Secession (or Secessionstil) 1897, Austria Jugendstil Germany, Scandinavia

Modernisme - 1890 to 1910, Spain

Russian avant-garde - 1890 - 1930, Russia/Ukraine/Soviet Union Art à la Rue 1890s - 1905, Belgium/France

Young Poland 1890 - 1918, Poland Mir iskusstva 1899, Russia Hagenbund 1900 - 1930, Austria Fauvism - 1904 - 1909, France Expressionism - 1905 - 1930, Germany Die Brücke 1905 - 1913, Germany Der Blaue Reiter 1911, Germany

Bloomsbury Group - 1905 - c. 1945, England Cubism - 1907 - 1914, France

Orphism - 1912, France Purism - 1918 - 1926

Cubo-Expressionism 1909 - 1921

Ashcan School 1907, United States

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Jack of Diamonds (artists) 1909, Russia Futurism (art) - 1910 - 1930, Italy Cubo-Futurism 1912 - 1915, Russia Rayonism 1911, Russia

Synchromism 1912, United States

Universal Flowering 1913, Russia Vorticism 1914 - 1920, United Kingdom Biomorphism 1915 - 1940s

Suprematism 1915 - 1925, Russia/Ukraine/Soviet Union Dada - 1916 - 1930, Switzerland

Proletkult 1917 - 1925, Soviet Union Productijism after 1917, Russia

De Stijl (Neoplasticism) 1917 - 1931, Holland Pittura Metafisica 1917, Italy

Arbeitsrat für Kunst 1918 - 1921 Bauhaus - 1919 - 1933, Germany UNOVIS 1919 - 1922, Russia

Others group of artists 1919, United States American Expressionism c. 1920 - Precisionism c. 1920, United States Surrealism Since 1920s, France

Acéphale France

Lettrism 1942 -

Les Automatistes 1946 - 1951, Quebec, Canada Devetsil 1920 - 1931

Group of Seven 1920 - 1933, Canada

Harlem renaissance 1920 - 1930s, United States American scene painting c. 1920 - 1945, United States New Objectivity (Neue Sachlichkeit) 1920s, Germany Constructivism (art) 1920s, Russia/Ukraine/Soviet Union Art Deco - 1920s - 1930s, France

Grupo Montparnasse 1922, France Soviet art 1922 - 1986, Soviet Union

Northwest School (art) Hi's - 1940s, United States Social realism, 1929, international

Socialist realism - c. 1930 - 1950, Soviet Union/Germany Abstraction-Création 1931 - 1936, France

Allianz (arts) 1937 - 1950s, Switzerland

Abstract Expressionism - 1940s, Post WWII, United States Action painting United States

Color field painting Lyrical Abstraction

COBRA (avant-garde movement) 1946 - 1952, Denmark/Belgium/Holland Tachisme late-1940s - mid-1950s, France

Abstract Imagists United States

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Art informel mid-1940s - 1950s

Outsider art (Art brut) mid-1940s, United Kingdom/United States

К разделу II

Искусство Древнего Египта

The Art of Ancient Egypt

Art of Ancient Egypt

The immutability and pervasiveness of the ancient times forced the Egyptians to address issues of their daily life in different ways. The Egyptian artists developed great architectural works, relief, painting and statuaries. These works are mainly found in burial sites and tombs and they form a good representation of the actual characteristics of the Egyptians and their ways of life. The Egyptian work tells a story and fully represents the everyday life and religious beliefs held by the ancient Egyptians. This paper will examine the symbols, architecture, paintings, relief, and statues of the ancient Egyptians.

Egypt nation of today is a land with wide desert on the western and the other on the eastern side that is divided by a well watered, rich and fertile land of the Delta and the Nile Valley. Egypt in the past was however a land that was very fertile that can be traced from the Paleolithic era, through the pre-dynastic times and to the Pahraonic periods. This was a land that was a home to many animal and plant species that thrived well along the River Nile region and beyond to the savannah expanses.

The Ancient Egyptian artists collaborated in their work and came up with large projects under the commission of the noble wealthy men and Pharaoh. The craftsmen utilized standard techniques and methods that changed during the course of history. Their artistic work conformed to the culture aesthetic specifications and cold not be traced to an individual artist. This uniformity in the ancient Egypt Art and Architecture was important for the artist to meet the demands of the rich Egyptians for their tombs to be according to the grand scale.

The ancient Egypt symbols

The Egyptian art is highly rich in symbolism. This can be seen in the depiction of Pharaoh as one who wore two crowns. The crowns represented his authority over the Lower Egypt seen in the Red Crown and the other was for the Upper Egypt represented by the White Crown. The swearing in ceremony of Pharaoh in the two crowns meant that he had full control of both the Upper and the Lower Egypt to form one united nation (Stockstad, 2007, p 54).

The symbol of Kingship is another common feature in the Egyptian art represented by flail and crook. The early cattle keepers of the Pre-Dynastic period (c. 60003100 BC) used these tools that came to act as a symbol of the two ways ruled by the king through his shear strength and gentle persuasion. The two symbols have

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mainly been found in the mummified pharaohs coffins. There is also the ankh that is a common symbol of the Egyptian art. The ankh has the shape of the cross and the top having a loop. The ankh was a symbol representing life and was mainly used during the reign of King Akhenaten in his 18th Dynasty. The artists of King Akhenaten curved the sub discs that had lines to show the rays of the sun and at the outer end of the lines had the shape of a hand toughing the ankh to signify the hand of Ate, the god of the sun who gave life.

Another symbol of the ancient Egyptian art was the scab beetle. Based on the Egyptian people observations, they learned much about the life of the beetle where by it could lay and hatch its eggs on the dead carcasses and it would seem as though there was a renewal of life from the dead These observations made the ancient Egyptians to use the scarab beetles as a rebirth sign. This sign of the beetle has commonly been found in jewelry with the scarab as the amulet and also used in decorating linen for the mummies wrapping and to decorate coffins (Stockstad, 2007, p 54).

The ancient Egyptian statues

The statues of the ancient Egyptians were carved from wood but most of them were stone made. The statues represented gods, nobility, and leaders shaped in figures to show their strength and youthfulness. The figures of these statutes depicted an expressionless emotion and stood in a stiff pose. The Sphinx is a common and famous statute of the Ancient Egyptians that is located in a region near Giza’s pyramids. The sphinx is a statue that is impressive and immense showing the head of pharaoh that perches on the upper part of the lion’s body. The lion represents the kingship of Pharaoh and the large size of this statue mainly acts a statement of the shear might and power that the king had. The Sphinx face though worn out depicts no expression.

There is the statue of King Khafre located inside the pyramids of Giza. This is a statue of the King seated on the kinship throne and it is made of dark, hard, heavy and diorite stone. The reign of King Khafre was in the Old Kingdom of the 4th Dynasty. The statue is carved in a way to show the kingly attire worn by the king and with false beard and special head attire. Behind his head, a falcon was added that represents god Horus that gave the testament of the divine linage of the pharaohs and the kingship of Khafre’s (Stockstad, 2007, p 54). The artist gave this statue of King Khafre an ideal muscular and youthful body image with a face that lacked expression and individuality. The aspect of expressionless face is a representation of the divine being and free from human frailties such as emotions and aging (Kantor, 1957).

There is the statute of Ka-aper who was considered to be a lesser nobleman. This statue is made of wood small scale ideals. The statue is located at Saqqara tomb and was created around 4th or 5th Dynasty in the Old kingdom. The statue depicts Ka-aper standing with a foot in front of the other which was a common feature of most statues of pharaohs made during this time. This appearance of Ka-aper was not mainly categorized to those of the pharaohs in that it had no disguised weight, the face showed more features and individuality and the eyes were more life like

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made of crystal rock. The face of Ka-per’s statue just like the pharaoh’s do remain expressionless

The statuary of the middle kingdom shows more different aspects such as personality were added different from those of the earlier Old Kingdom. For example the Seosotris III statue belonging to the 12th Dynasty depicts added personality to show that artists were becoming freer to use their personal depictions. The pharaohs face despite revealing strength the eyes seem to look down with no smile. The statue tries to pass the message that the pharaoh is affected by the huge burden of responsibility. Generally, these statues of the new kingdom look similar to those of the old kingdom but more cuboidal types of statues were added. This aspect can be seen in vizier statue who was the right man of King Pharaoh called Senmut with Queen Hatshepsut daughter prices Nefrua seated on his lab. This work was created in Thebes in the 28th Dynasty during the reign of Queen Hatshepsut. This statue does not have a realistic style of the subjects but have been curved in square blocks with the heads placed on the top of these blocks to show the bodies of Senmut and Nefrua when seated. The sides and front sides of these blocks are very much been decorated in hieroglyphic writing. Generally the composition of this cubicle statue hints a sense of stability and solidness in a way which Senmut was protecting the princess (Stockstad, 2007, p 54).

The Amarna Period

During the 18th Dynasty a new artistic style came up. This was a time when Akhenaten, a unique pharaoh ruled. He brought in a new revolution in the religious life by encouraging the followers to worship Atem, his god. . This new artistic technique and style is well depicted in a pillar located at Amon-Ra at Karnak, his temple. The artists of the Amarna period Akhenaten a unique symbol of his pharaonic power with the flail and crook and also the headdress of the pharaohs as well as a false beard. The other traditional features of a strong, youthful, and perfect body was abandoned. They pharaoh was depicted as having narrow shoulders, narrow head and small arms with no strength. The hips and belly was made disproportionably large which to historians is a change of Akhenaten's perception towards kingship in that he saw himself as prophet and not as one similar to god as the way the earlier pharaohs did (Raver, 2001, p 340).

Reliefs and paintings

The Narmer palette is an important feature of the ancient Egyptian Art. These palettes of the Egyptians were generally used as being a decoration as well as being used in mixing eye make up ingredients. These pallets had a theme on both sides to represent the unification of the Lower and Upper Egypt under the rule of King Narmer. The palette therefore acted as a symbol of the power of this new king. Some palette depicts Narmer’s strength in the battle field as he beheads his enemies and his arms rose in readiness to strike an enemy. The palette could also have the corns of the king either in the Red Crown or White Crown to depict his control over the Upper and the Lower Egypt. Animals such as the painting of two

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men in effort of restraining two beast acts an s symbol of the unification of the two regions of Egypt (Kessler & Simpson, 1985, p 121).

The portrayal of subjects found in the palette was in the pose of mixed side and front pose. The legs and head were also depicted in the profile and the eye and shoulder shown on the front side. This new style became the dominant style of representing animals and humans in most part of the Ancient civilization era (Meyers, 2001).

Other forms of relief work have been found in tombs and temples in various placed in Egypt. The scribe found in the tomb of mastaba of the 3rd dynasty has a wooden relief of the portrait of Hesire with a combination of both the profile and frontal pose. His portrait appear strong and youthful just that of the pharaohs with broad shoulder and muscular legs. Paintings found inside the tombs do still exist to the present day though most of them have faded from corrosion. One good example of these ancient Egyptian paintings is at the tomb of Nebam in the land of Thebes that traces back to the 18th Dynasty. This painting depicts women playing music and clapping and painted in a unique way with both women facing in front. The painting also depicts the theme of movement as women dance which is a different aspect compared to other art work of human portrayals that were more rigid. There is also the banquet painting of the New Kingdom to show the afterlife entertainment (Kessler & Simpson, 1985, p 121).

There are a number of traditions which are still practiced today similar to those performed more than four thousand years ago among the ancient Egyptian people. The main belief of the ancient Egyptians was on the concept of after life which they referred to as the kingdom for the dead. This concept is similar to the Christian belief of after life where the righteous people will be welcomed by God the Almighty to his Kingdom in heaven. Other religions such as Hinduisms do also believe in the continuation of personality, the mind of a person, their souls and memories that will exist even after one is dead. The art of mummification was a common practice of the ancient Egyptians that aimed at preserving the human body. This practice was based on the belief that it was important to preserve the body of a person because they would need to inhibit in their afterlife. The actual corpse or the carved likeliness of the dead was preserved through mummification (Stockstad, p 60). These mummified copse would then be placed in tombs with a wide range of valuable belongs and even servants of the deceased.

Architecture

The ancient Egyptians mainly used bricks made of baked mud in the contraction of tombs and homes but most of them have damaged over time with erosion effects. During the Old Kingdom period, only the important buildings were made of stone such as the Step Pyramid for King Zosier of the 3rd Dynasty. This mastaba had a height of 204 ft and 400 feet wide. This sandstone tomb with its immense size represents pharaoh’s strength. This massive tomb amazed the modern observance especially on the needed organization of labor (Gay 1997, p 35-51).

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located about three kilometers north of Luxor, Egypt situated on 100 ha (247 acres) of land. Karnak is actually the sites modern name. Its ancient name was Ipet-isut, meaning "The Most Select (or Sacred) of Places".

This vast complex was built and enlarged over a thirteen hundred year period. The three main temples of Mut, Montu and Amun are enclosed by enormous brick walls. The Open Air Museum is located to the north of the first courtyard, across from the Sacred Lake. The main complex, The Temple of Amun, is situated in the center of the entire complex. The Temple of Monthu is to the north of the Temple of Amun, and next to it, on the inside of the enclosure wall is the Temple of Ptah, while the Temple of Mut is to the south. There is also the small Temple dedicated to Khonsu, and next to it, an even smaller Temple of Opet. Actually, there are a number of smaller temples and chapels spread about Karnak, such as the Temple of Osiris Hek-Djet (Heqadjet), which is actually inside the enclosure wall of the Temple of Amun. In theGreat Temple of Amun, the Second Pylon of Karnak was built byRamesses II. ThePtolemies did some extensive repairing and some new building on the center section. Curiously enough, they left the columns and the facade of the First Pylon unfinished and left the mud-brick ramp where it was at. The reason for the work being left unfinished is not clear. The Hypostyle Hall is found after passing through the Second Pylon. The hall is considered to be one of the world's greatest architectural masterpieces. Construction began duringRamesses I's reign. He was the king who founded the Nineteenth Dynasty and was king for only one year. The work continued underSeti I (1306 - 1290 BC). Seti I also built theTemple of Abydos and many other temples. The hall was completed by Seti I's son, Ramesses II. The effects that are produced inside the hall are much different than they were originally. The huge architraves are not above the capitals that tower above. Toward the center of the hall several architraves and windows that have stone latticework still remain.

This small area can give one an idea of the builders' intent for the lighting effects. Some imagination is required here to appreciate what it must have looked like. The walls, ceilings and columns are painted with the natural earth tones. The light that was allowed in originally kept most of the hall in shadows. The hall ceiling was 82 feet high and was supported by 12 papyrus columns. The columns are made of sandstone and set in two rows of six. Each row is flanked on either side by 7 rows of columns that are 42 feet (12.8m) high. Each row has 9 columns, however the inner rows have 7 columns. The reliefs throughout the hall contain symbolism of Creation. The reliefs in the northern half are from the time period of Seti I and are obviously better done than those done by his son Ramesses II, which are in the southern half. Ramesses II's reliefs are cut much deeper than those of Seti's. This gives a much more dramatic light and shadow effect.

The outer walls of the Hypostyle Hall are covered with scenes of battle. Again, Seti I is to the north and Ramesses II is to the south. The scenes have long since lost their color that was painted and the outlines of the scenes have been blurred by the centuries of wind and sun. It is unsure whether the scenes of battle are based on historical fact or of ritual significance. It is thought that when the battle details are very precise, real events are most likely involved. Seti's battles take place in

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