Art History

Ð'* Chapter 1 Notes - Prehistoric Period

o Paleolithic Period Ð'- "Old Stone Age"

 Old and primitive period

 Around 50,000BC

 Artwork consisted of cave paintings

 Brutal period

 Average life expectancy was about 20 years

o Neolithic Period Ð'- "New Stone Age"

 Begins around 9,000BC

 Neolithic Revolution

Ð'* Agriculture

o Allows people luxury of staying in one place; stability and performance

o Cornerstone of civilization

Ð'* Domestic Architecture

o Wigwam, Huts, Lean-to's

o Native American Indians were considered "Neolithic"

Ð'* Refined tools

o Spears, Bows and Arrows

Ð'* Domesticated Animals

o Hallmark of luxury, stability, and permanence

Ð'* Pottery Ð'- clay art

o Bowls and containers

o Exquisite decoration

Ð'* Aesthetics Ð'- the love of beauty, the need for beauty

o Separates man from the animals

o Civilization

 Around 5,000BC

 Literacy

Ð'* Writing and reading

 "Urban" Life

Ð'* Division of labor Ð'- farmers, merchants, kings, priest, etc.

 Organized Religion

Ð'* Before civilization, there was just shamanism

 Monumental architecture

Ð'* Great Wall, Coliseum

o Cradles of Civilization

 Cannot trace civilization back any further

 All started around same time

 Alls started independently

 Mesopotamia Ð'- present day Iraq

Ð'* Earliest Cradle

Ð'* Around 4,000BC

 Egypt

Ð'* Around 3,000BC

 Southern India

Ð'* Around 3,000BC

 China

Ð'* Around 2,800BC

Ð'* Composed of two separated and distinct cradles of civilization

Ð'* Chapter 2 Ð'- Egyptian Art

o Egypt Ð'- Latin named coined by Romans

o Around 2,800-2,200BC

o Originally divided into tow separated kingdoms

 Upper kingdom

 Lower kingdom

o Around 3,000BC two kingdoms merged into one

 Remained intact for 3,000 years

o Pg. 49 Ð'- Palette of King Narmar

 Celebrated reunion of two kingdoms

 Narmar is the legendary founder of Egypt

o Pg. 51 Ð'- Portrait of Hesy-ra

 Head is in profile (side view), body straight towards you lower body in profile

 Pictures were drawn like this for about 3,000 years

o Egyptian art is often called stylized art

 Follows a formula

 Referred to as a changeless art, or a static art

 Very few changes

o Pg. 51 Ð'- Mastaba

 Egyptian tomb

 Derived form Arabic word meaning "foot stool"

 Modeled after Egyptian houses only smaller and made of more permanent material

Ð'* While houses were made of clay (adobe) tombs were made of bricks

 Body's buried below ground, white top, house-like, structure, was used for prayer

 Ideally, reserved for one family, however the poor would often share

o Pharaoh Ð'- Egyptian's Ruler

 At first were buried in Mustaba's until:

 Pharaoh Zosar commissioned Imhotep (worlds first artist) to build him "the largest structure in the history of the world"

o Pyramids

 Pg. 52 Ð'- Step Pyramid of King Zosar

Ð'* Built in Sacara Ð'- oldest know cemetery in the world

Ð'* Sacara is more of a shrine than a cemetery

o Was an oasis of greenery

o Artificially irrigated

o All buildings built of or faced with alabaster or limestone

o Brilliantly vivid colors

 Pyramid complex had living quarters for priests, groundskeepers,