03 art before the written word

Art Before the Written WordIn Art: A Brief History, 2nd ed. (2004) by Marilyn Stokstad

Outline• Upper Paleolithic Art• Art in the Neolithic Period

UPPER PALEOLITHIC ART

Landscape• c. 42,000 – 8000 BCE• Hunting and gathering• People lived in small nomadic

groups• Glaciers of the last ice age still

covered northern stretches of Europe, North America, and Asia

Characteristics of Art• Mostly small figures or figurines,

of people and animals• Materials used include bones,

ivory, stone and clay• Women as more frequent subjects• Sculpture shows an aesthetic

sense and the ability to pose and solve problems

Lion-HumanFrom Hohlenstein-Stadel, Germanyc. 30,000-26,000 BCEMammoth Ivoryheight 29.6cmUlmer Museum, Ulm, Germany

Woman from BrassempouyGrotte du Pape, Brassempouy Landes, France. c. 22,000 BCE. Ivory, height 3 cm. Musée des Antiquits Nationales, st.-Germain-en-Laye. (abstraction)

Woman from WillendorfAustriac. 22,000 – 21,000 BCELimestoneHeight 11 cmNaturhistorisches Museum Vienna

Characteristics of Art• Composition shows that the ritual

of making the painting is more important than the finished work

• Rock engraving: pecking designs into rock with stone tools

• Used red and brown pigments derived from manganese dioxide

Mimis and KangarooPrehistoric rock art, Oenpelli, Arnhem Land, Australia. Older painting 16,000-7000 BCE. Red and yellow ocher and white pipe clay. (x-ray style)

Wall painting with Four HorsesChauvet cave, Vallon-Pont-d’Arc Ardèche gorge, France. C. 28,000 BCE. Paint on limestone.

Hall of BullsLascaux caves. C. 15,000-13,000 BCE. Paint on limestone.

BisonOn the ceiling of a cave in Altamira, Spain. c. 12,000 BCE. Paint on limestone, length approx. 2.5m.

ART IN THE NEOLITHIC PERIOD

Landscape• Around 8000 BCE in Europe• Development of organized

agriculture• Practice of animal husbandry• Foundation of permanent, year-

round settlements• Introduction of metalworking

(Bronze Age, 2300 BCE in Europe)

Characteristic of Art• Wall paintings• “Flying gallop” – an animal (in

motion) leaps forward with fully extended legs; the conventional way to indicate speed

People and AnimalsDetail of rock-shelter painting in Cogul Lérida, Spain. c. 4000-2000 BCE. Museo Arqueológico Barcelona

Village of Skara BraeOrkney Islands, Scotland. By c. 3100 BCE

House InteriorSkara Brae. (post and lintel construction)

Characteristic of Art• Megalithic Architecture: massive

tombs and monuments built from huge stones

• Dolmen: a tomb chamber; was formed of huge upright stones supporting one or more table-like rocks (capstones)

• Passage graves: elaborate burial sites; oriented towards the rising sun in midsummer

Tomb InteriorWith engraved stones, Newrange, Ireland. c. 3000-2500 BCE

StonehengeSalisbury Plain, Wiltshire, England. c. 2750-1500 BCE (post and lintel construction)

Diagram of StonehengeHenge means a circle formed by stones or wooden posts, often surrounded by a ditch with built-up embarkments

Characteristic of Art• Cult of the Sun• Bronze Age: metal work• Megalithic sculpture offers some

of the greatest art historical conundrums

Horse and Sun ChariotFrom Trundholm, Zealand, Denmark. c. 1800-1600 BCE. Bronze, length 59.2 cm. National Museum, Copenhagen

Colossal HeadFrom La Venta, Mexico. Olmec culture, c. 900-500 BCE. Basalt, height 2.26m. La Venta Park, Villahermosa, Tabasco, Mexico

Ancestor figures (moai)Ahu Nau Nau, Easter Island, Polynesia. c. 1000-1500 CE, restored 1978. Volcanic stone (tufa), average height approx. 11 m.

Ancestor figures (closer)

Synthesis• Human beings have always strived

toward ever-more perfect expressions of artistic and cultural values.

• History and art history can be seen as a series of cumulative developments.

• Many cultural transitions occurred at the same time in geographically unrelated and unconnected places. However, some of the same changes happened on very different timetables from place to place.

HU 102 / 2013