The Development Of Human Figures In Art

Venus of Willendorf, 30,000 - 25,000 BCE, Austria

Venus statue, 11.1cm high, representing fertility. Made small so it travels easily as the people of this time period were nomadic.

Cave paintings

At uKhahlamba / Drakensberg Park, South Africa, now thought to be some 3,000 years old, the paintings by the San people who settled in the area some 8,000 years ago depict animals and humans, and are thought to represent religious beliefs. Human figures are much more common in the rock art of Africa than in Europe.

Male hunter or warrior, in Australia's Kakadu National Park

Hunters and elephants, from Cederberg, South Africa

Located in Madhya Pradesh, India, Bhimbetka rock shelters date back 9000 years.

Example of Frontalism

Characteristics:

-Frontal eye and torso

-Sideways face and legs

Egyptian characteristics:

-Left leg forward

-Social status represented through size

Funerary Scene

King Menkaure and Queen Kha-merer-nebty II, stone, Egypt, Gizeh. 2599-2571 BCE (4th Dynasty),

Sculptures are very rigid and stand in such a way that shows power... But a rather uncomfortable stance!

The Ancient Egyptian art style known as Amarna art is noticeably different from more conventional Egyptian art styles.It is characterized by a sense of movement and activity in images, with figures having raised heads, many figures overlapping and many scenes busy and crowded. Also, the human body is portrayed differently in Amarna style artwork than Egyptian art on the whole. For instance, many depictions of Akhenaten's body give him distinctly feminine qualities, such as large hips, prominent breasts, and a larger stomach and thighs. This is a divergence from the earlier Egyptian art which shows men with perfectly chiseled bodies.

Akhenaton and Family with Aton, c.1350 B.CWall Carving

Dipylon Vase Dipylon Master, from Dipylon Cemetery, c750 BCE

Geometric Greek Art

Couples dancing to the sound of the aulos. Neck of a proto-Attic loutrophoros, ca. 690 BC.

Archaic Greek Art

Warriors. Side B from an Attic black-figure amphora, ca. 570–565 BC.

name | Kouros from Anavysos, artist | unknownperiod | Archaicdate | circa 525 BC

Notice the rigid stance of these sculptures… remind you of any others you may have seen?

Kroisos- Circa 530 BCE (Greek art, Archaic period)- Statue is a grave marker to commemorate the life of man named Kroisos.- Stance is similar to the early kouros, but there is an increased naturalism in its proportions, more rounded face, torso, and limbs- Kroisos is smiling- the archaic greek indication of life- Hair is not stiff, but falls naturally on his back- Face is now proportional to its body- Kept the natural color of the stone to represent flesh, but painted the lips, hair, and drapery in encaustic (pigment mixed with hot wax that was applied to the statue)

name | Aphrodite of Melos artist | unknownperiod | Hellenistic (Ancient Greek Art)date | circa 150 BC

One of the most famous sculptures from this period. AKA… Venus de Milo

name | Laocoönartists | Hagesandros, Polydoros, & Athanadorosperiod | Hellenistic (Ancient Greek Art)date | circa 2nd century BC

(This is a Roman copy of the Greek original)

The son of a Trojan priest of Poseidon defied the rules by marrying and having sons and then warned the Greeks about the Trojan Horse. For his betrayal two serpents were sent to kill him and his sons.

In the Greek ‘Classic Period’ era sculptures start becoming realistic.

Sculpture

Roman sculpture Renaissance sculpture

influenced

•Realistic•Commissioned by Cosimo de Medici (big wealthy family with trading background)•Designed to be seen from all angles•Head was crowned with contemporary soldier headgear and laurel wreath combining ancient and contemporary traditions•Foot is on top of Goliath's severed head

David David is a masterpiece of

Renaissance sculpture sculpted by Michelangelo from 1501 to 1504. The 5.17 meter of marble statue portrays the biblical King David in the nude, at the moment that he decides to battle with Goliath. It came to symbolize the defence of civic liberties embodied in the Florentine Republic, an independent city state threatened on all sides by more powerful rival states and by the hegemony of the Medici's

themselves.

Michelangelo also created one of the most influential works in Fresco in the history of Western art in Sistine Chapel in Rome.

The entire composition eventually contained over 300 figures and had at its centre nine episodes from the Book of Genesis, divided into three groups: God's Creation of the Earth; God's Creation of Humankind and their fall from God's grace; and lastly, the state of Humanity as represented by Noah and his family; and The Last Judgment on the altar wall.

•Paul Cézanne, Bather, 1885-1887, Museum of Modern Art

Each movement/ change in the perception of art saw a change in the figure.

Move to capture essence of figure and the mood of artist/ scene… this one in the effects of light on colour

Pablo Picasso Les Demoiselles d'Avignon 1907, Museum of Modern Art

Start of cubism

Influence from African art (masks in particular)

Figures broken into hard edge pieces which gives the women and masculine and menacing quality

This Female figure by Henry Moore has tried to capture the connection between humans and nature by blending the textures and feel of nature with the shape of a woman.

Constantine Brancusi was a minimalist who took the basic form and reduced it down to its bare essentials. Here we see 2 versions of his sculpture entitled The Kiss.

Alberto Giacometti’s art characteristics:

-elongated bodies

-heavy grounded feet

-small skeleton- like-heads

-have dark feel/ embody emotions surrounding death