ARTISTIC CULTURE 2nd course imma.docx

8/11/2019 ARTISTIC CULTURE 2nd course imma.docx

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PREHISTORIC ART

(Preliterate)OLD STONE OR PALEOLITHIC: use stones likeobsidiana

Scarving: artwork made by scratching on clay (acuar)

Lower Middle Upper

MESOLITIC: Cave paintings, figurines(venus),bends

NEOLITHIC: New Stone Age: Sculpture, pottery,megaliths

(Bronze - Iron Ages) -> Metal tools appear

VOCABULARY

Megaliths: are monuments created from huge stone slabs. The most famous is thestone - Henge

First writing form: Cuneiform

Art Traditions from Around the World

Objectives

Briefly discuss art traditions from many

cultures around the world.

H IS T ORY

OF

AR

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Understand how cultural traditions influence

artists works.

Begin reviewing your handout to follow

along in the text and presentation.

The Hall of Bulls.C. 15,000 B.C.AltimiraCaves,Spain.

Lascaux Caves, France

Prehistoric Builders


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Megaliths are large monuments created from huge stone

slabs.

Stonehenge is the most famous Megalith.

Builders used an ancient building system called post and

lintel construction. Upright slabs called posts, support

horizontal slabs, called lintels.

Stonehenge, England. http:/www.aboutstonehenge.info/index.php?pg=Stonehenge-wallpaper.

The Development of Civilization

As small tribes began to fight over grazing landand soil suitable for growing crops, theywereforced to band together for protection and alsoto be able to produce more food.

By 3000 B.C. four major civilizations haddeveloped at different points on the globe.Theancient civilizations of Mesopotamia, Egypt,India, and China emerged at this time.

Ancient River Valleys

The ancient civilizations of Mesopotamia ,Egypt, India, and China, are referred to asancientriver valleys. Each of thesecivilizations was ruled by a monarchy; practiced religion based onnature, andachieved great skill in art and architecture.

Mesopotamia

Mesopotamia was a fertile crescent of landbetween the Tigris and Euphrates rivers intheMiddle East. Today this land is known as Syriaand Iraq.

The Sumerians were the first dominate group inthe area. They were the first people tohave asystem of writing by using symbols.


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Cuneiform was the Sumerian writing systemmade up of wedge-shaped characters.Thesecharacters stood for concepts and ideas andwere written on clay tablets.

Clay tablet.

Sumerian artists were naturalistic in their depiction ofpeople.

Sumerian Gudea Statue, c. 4000 B. C.

Item category: Plaques and Figurines.Size: Height: 10 1/2" Base diameter: 3 1/2".Solidrounded gold wire flaring to form wide pointed terminals.Material: Alabaster.Culture:Sumerian, c. 4000 B. C.


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Sumerians also created structures known asziggurats, or stepped mountains made ofbrickcoveredearth.

These temples had exterior staircases

http://www.irania n.com/History/2005/March/Gutians/Images/gutians_sumer_ziggurat2a.jp

Babylonia (750 B.C.) emerged from the Sumerian culture. Babylonia artists weremuch like the Sumerian artists inthat they were very life-like.

Assyria emergedafter the decline ofBabylonia. Assyrian artistsdeveloped theirownstyle of art andcreated precise,detailed reliefs usingmany colors. Humanfigures

were givenless emphasis.

http://www.talariaenterprises.com/images/4915 a.jpg

Egypt

The culture of ancient Egypt developed alongthe banks of the Nile River more than3,000years before the birth of Christ.

Religion influenced every part of Egyptian life.
http://www.irania/http://www.irania/


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The pharaohs, or Egyptian rulers, wereworshipped as Gods and heldcompleteauthority over the kingdom.

The famous pyramids were built as tombs for thepharaohs and were designed toguide the spiritinto the afterlife.

Egyptian artists decoratedtemples and tombsaccording to very strict rulesset forthby the priests.

The rules required that eachpart of the body be shownfrom the most visible angle.

The head, arms, and feetare shown in profile. Theshoulders and eye s areshownfrom a frontal view.

The paintings reveal a greatdeal about life in Egypt andwere meant to remindthedeceased spirit of life onearth.

India

In 1865 railroad workers discovered a hill ofcrumbling, fired -clay bricks near the present-daycity of Pakistan. When tested, the bricks were

discovered to date back to 2500 B.C.

In 1922, a second city was uncovered in the samearea. It was called Mhenjo -Daro,meaning Hill ofthe Dead. The city was once home to about35,000 people.

Since then over 70 cities, town, and villages havebeen discovered in the Indusvalley, as well asevidence of an organized kingdom with a centralgovernment thatexisted about 4,500 years ago.


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Mohenjo-Daro, India. C. 2500 B.C.

Experts believe the city of Mohenjo -Daro was abandoned because the climatechanged. The ancient Indians built with firebakedbricks, which meant they had ready

access to timber. Thearea is a desert today.

At the archeological sites, workers uncovered anumber of small relief soap stonecarvings. Thesecarvings are the earliest known examples if IndianArt.

http://www.takeourword.com/images/mohenjo.jpg

China

The Yellow River valley became the site of the ancientChinese civilization.

Beginning 4,000 years ago, it is the oldest continuousculture in the history of theworld.

The Chinese invented paper, porcelain, and woodblockprinting as well as thecompass and gunpowder.

Historically, China was ruled by emperors and dividedinto dyna sties, which werenamed after the rulingfamilies.
http://www.takeourword.com/images/mohenjo.jpghttp://www.takeourword.com/images/mohenjo.jpghttp://www.takeourword.com/images/mohenjo.jpg


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A dynasty is a period of time during which a singlefamily provided a succession ofrulers.

Bronze vessels shownin ancient Chinesegraves showextraordinary technicalmastery evidence ofcenturies ofdevelopment requiredbefore such artworkscould be created.

Ritual Wine Jar, Zun. China,

Shang, early Anyang, 13th c.BCEBronze inlaid with black pigment,Clan Sign on thefloor of the vessel.

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ARTISTIC CULTURE 2nd course imma.docx