Prehistoric Europe and Near East

Transcription

1 Prehistoric Europe and Near East Michel Lorblanchet Original works of art are defined as imprints of the human spirit on nature. These works surpass the immediate need to survive to express a care of an aesthetic order linked to playful or symbolic behavior. Source: 7

2 Social Function of Art in Traditional Societies Aesthetic -To demonstrate beauty -As a means of identification of a group or individual Ostentatious -To present and glorify an important virtue -To decorate the body Religious -To communicate with supernatural forces Source: 7 Prehistory: the Birth of art Australopithecus Homo erectus Homo neanderthalensis Homo sapiens sapiens The birth of art Art of the Venuses Parietal art Source: 2

3 Waterworn pebble, c. 3,000,000, South Africa, jasperite, 7,6 cm wide Lucy: Australopithecus Source: 2 Australopithecus Erectus Neanderthal Sapiens Collected fossiles Source: 7 Australopithecus Erectus Neanderthal Sapiens Woman?, Israel, c BCE, Volcano rock, 3,65 cm high Source: 7 Australopithecus Erectus Neanderthal Sapiens

4 Mask, Indre-et-Loire, Silex with bone, Musée du Grand Pressigny, France Source: 7 Australopithecus Erectus Neanderthal Sapiens Symmetrical tools (biface), Abberville-Saint- Acheul, c BCE, Silex, Musée des Antiquités nationales, St-Germain-en-Laye Source: 6 Australopithecus Erectus Neanderthal Sapiens Grimaldi grave, Italy, c BCE, Skull with shells, Musée de l homme, Paris Source: 6 Australopithecus Erectus Neanderthal Sapiens

5 Human with feline head, c BC, ivory, 30 cm high, Hohlenstein-Stadel, Germany, Ulmer Museum, Ulm Australopithecus Erectus Neanderthal Sapiens Signs, La Croze, Dordogne, c BCE, Source: 7 Australopithecus Erectus Neanderthal Sapiens

6 Breaststick, Dolni Vestonice, Moravia, c BCE, Ivory, 8,6 cm high, Moravske Museum, Brno Venus of Dolni Vestonice, Moravia, c BCE, Ceramic, 11,1 cm high, Moravske Museum, Brno & 7 Venus of Willendorf, Austria, c BC, Limestone, 10,8 cm high, Naturhistorisches Museum, Vienna Venus of Lespugue, Haute-Garonne, c BCE, Ivory, 14,7 cm high, Musée de l homme, Paris Source: 6

7 Woman with bison horn, Laussel, c BCE, Limestone, 45,7 cm high, Musée d Aquitaine, Bordeaux Code for the Venuses Venus of Brassempouy, France, c BCE, Ivory, 3,65 cm high, Musée des Antiquités nationales, St-Germain-en-Laye Source: 7

8 Bison, Altamira, Spain, c BCE Source: 4 Animals majority (72%) Signs rarely (21%) Humans very rarely (7%)

9 Spotted horses and negative hand imprints, wall painting in the cave at Pech-Merle, France, c BCE, 340 cm long The power of images Lamp, Lascaux, Stone, Musée d'archéologie nationale, St-Germain-en-Laye red ochre Manganese dioxide Source: 1

10 Plan of Lascaux, Dordogne Source: 8 Bull and horses, Lascaux, c BCE Source: 6 Hall of the Bulls, Lascaux, Dordogne, c. 15,000 BCE Source: 4

11 Hall of the Bulls, Lascaux, Dordogne, c. 15,000 BCE Horse, Lascaux, c BCE Source: 4 Scene of the Well, Lascaux, Dordogne, c BCE, Bison 111,8 cm long

12 Rhinoceros, lions, Chauvet, Ardèche, c BCE Source: 6 Bison, ibex and horses, Niaux, c BCE Source: 6 Aurochs, horses, and rhinoceroses, Chauvet, Ardèche, c. 30,000 BC

13 Two bison, Le Tuc d Audoubert, Ariège, c. 15,000 BCE, Clay, 60 cm long each Harpoons, de La Vache, Ariège, c BCE, Reindeer antler, 11 cm high, Musée des Antiquités nationales, St-Germain-en-Laye Source: 6

14 Bison with turned head, spearthrower, La Madeleine, Dordogne, c. 12,000 BCE, Reindeer horn, 10,1 cm long, Réunion des Musées Nationaux Painted pebbles, Mas-d Azil, Ariège, c BCE, 10 cm long, Musée des Antiquités nationales, St-Germain-en-Laye Source: 6 Arrowheads, Warluis, France, c BCE, Silex, 2 cm high, Musée de l homme, Paris Source: 6

15 Human Figure, Ain Ghazal, Jordan, c BCE, Plaster inlaid with shell and bitumen, 10,1 cm high, Louvre, Paris Landscape with volcano, wall painting, Çatal Hüyük, c BCE

16 Conclusion -Art appears near the end of the Paleolithic era as humans experiment group life -Art will evolve at the start of the Neolithic era as human social ties become more complex -Art can thus be seen as part of the process leading to civilization Key notions -Hand, negative/positive -In the round (ronde-bosse) -Low-relief (bas-relief) -Parietal -Twisted perspective -Gombrich, The Story of Art, p Suggested readings -Fiero, The Humanistic Tradition, vol. 1. p Gombrich, The Story of Art, p ; Kleiner, Gardner s Art through the Ages, p Rogers, Art, a World History, p

17 Bibliography and Sources 1. Brommer, Discovering Art History 2. Fiero, The Humanistic Tradition, vol Kleiner, Gardner s Art through the Ages 4. Gombrich, The Story of Art 5. Rogers, Art, a World History 6. Schnapp, Préhistoire et antiquité 7. University Laval Course Notes 8. Davies, Janson s Basic History of Western Art