Art history

World art history

Learning diary

“Art enables us to find ourselves and lose ourselves at the same time.�

-Thomas Merton

Art

The expression of human creative skill and imagination, typically in a any form.

What is Art? Art teaches us how people have seen themselves and their world, and how they want to show this to others. Art history provides a means by which we can understand our human past.

Traditional categories within the arts include literature (including poetry, drama, story, and so on), the visual arts (painting, drawing, sculpture, etc.), the graphic arts (painting, drawing, design, and other forms expressed on flat surfaces), the plastic arts (sculpture, modeling), the decorative arts (enamel work, furniture design, mosaic, etc.), the performing arts (theatre, dance, music), music (as composition), and architecture (often including interior design).

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IN THE DARK Deep inside the cave Paintings of animals bulls, bison, etc 30,000 years old

What were they try to express ?

Why they used paintings?

Do these paintings represent more than an artistic view of the animals seen during the Upper Paleolithic time period or it can be deeper that that?

Some archaeologists theorize that the paintings served a ceremonial purpose. The paintings in both Chauvet and Lascaux were not painted near the entrances of the caves for easy access. The paintings were located deep into the cave systems, suggesting a more sacred purpose. Maybe the paintings were part of a ceremony to bring good luck on a hunt. We do not really know, but what we do know is that humans living 35,000 years ago had the resources and the knowledge necessary to create these works of art.

Pottery The first use of functional pottery vessels for storing water and food is thought to be around 9000 or 10,000 BC. Clay bricks were also made around the same time.

Glass was believed to be discovered in Egypt around 8000 BC, when overheating of kilns produced a colored glaze on the pottery.

Pottery was important to ancient Iowans and is an important type of artifact for the archaeologist. ... Pots were tools for cooking, serving, and storing food, and pottery was also an avenue of artistic expression. Prehistoric potters formed and decorated their vessels in a variety of ways.

Painting has been used since early prehistoric times, and can be very elaborate. The painting is often applied to pottery that has been fired once, and may then be overlaid with a glaze afterwards. Many pigments change colour when fired, and the painter must allow for this.

Glaze Perhaps the most common form of decoration, that also serves as protection to the pottery, by being tougher and keeping liquid from penetrating the pottery. Glaze may be clear, especially over painting, or coloured and opaque. There is more detail in the section below.

Carving Pottery vessels may be decorated by shallow carving of the clay body, typically with a knife or similar instrument used on the wheel. This is common in Chinese porcelain of the classic periods.

Burnishing the surface of pottery wares may be burnished prior to firing by rubbing with a suitable instrument of wood, steel or stone to produce a polished finish that survives firing. It is possible to produce very highly polished wares when fine clays are used or when the polishing is carried out on wares that have been partially dried and contain little water, though wares in this condition are extremely fragile and the risk of breakage is high.

The architecture Architecture refers to the style, character, design, and structure of a building. Built structures or buildings are not mere constituents of brick, stone, wood, etc. A deeper examination of a building, especially its architecture is associated with various psychological aspects.

One of the most salient features of architecture is that it reflects culture and cultural identity. The architectural style represents the characteristics of a place, region, and country; it is said to be the representation of people and societies. Architecture suggestible is strongly associated with the culture, values, and behavior patterns of the society. The architectural style of a particular period is a reflection of the culture of that time.

The architecture of any place reflects its history and heritage. It reflects the identity of civilizations that thrived in the past. It is a demonstration of their socio-political and cultural forces. It is the physical expression of ancestral culture, philosophy, and lifestyle.

Further, architecture displays the relation of the past with the present. It enables an understanding of the present as a factor of the past. It traces the history of a nation and it shapes its cultural identity.

Architecture is thus, a manifestation of history, identity, culture, tradition, society and civilization, philosophy, as well as insights and knowledge of the community as a whole. Examples of specific architectural styles that reflect culture and society are the European architecture, Indo-Islamic architecture, Ancient Indian architecture, Central Asian architecture, and so on.