Primitive Art

Early Beginnings

Primitive Art

• The history of art begins at the start of man in the caves where primitive humans lived.

• It has developed just as humans through out the centuries.

• Most primitive art was created to record an event or as a functional tool.

Cave Paintings• The earliest cave paintings date

from 15,000 B.C.• The artist made their own colors

from earth pigments. • They even used primitive

scaffolding.• Their brushes were mats of

moss or hair.• Some of the paintings were very

large. Some animals were draw 16-20 feet long.

• The caves were lit using torches or by burning animal fat on a flat of dished stone. A primitive lamp

Primitive Sculpture• Carvings not cave paintings

are the oldest form of art.• Venus of Willendorf was

found in Austria and is considered 25,000 years old.

• The small bulging figure suggests abundant fertility and a plentiful supply of food which are the two foremost needs of any society.

• Many of these figures have been found in the ground. Primitive people planted them in an effort to guarantee a good food supply.

Primitive Tools• This lamp was found

in the same caves as the paintings. It is an example of a dished lamp.

• They were used to light the caves and to help the artist see as they painted.

• Notice the uses of lines to decorate the handle.