Wednesday, August 24, 2016 Course Outline A look at prehistoric art Prehistory: the birth of art Venuses: women and fertility Parietal art Portable art Key Notions -Hand, negative/positive -In the round (ronde-bosse) -Low-relief (bas-relief) -Parietal -Twisted perspective -Venus
c. 42 000-8000 BCE - Upper Paleolithic 30 000 BCE c. 22 000 BCE Spotted Horses 18 000-15 000 BCE - Last Ice Age c. 15 000 BCE Scene of the Well 6500-2300 BCE c. 5000 BCE Farming in Europe c. 4000 BCE - Domestication of horses c. 3100 BCE - Invention of Writing c. 3000-1500 BCE - Stonehenge Prehistoric Art Timeline Prehistoric Europe and Near East Source: 3
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. 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
Prehistory: the Birth of art 6 000 000 Australopithecus 500 000 Homo erectus 300 000 Homo neanderthalensis 100 000 Homo sapiens sapiens 25 000 Art of the Venuses 15 000 Parietal art Source: 2 Waterworn pebble, c. 3,000,000, South Africa, jasperite, 7,6 cm wide Lucy: reconstruction Man-faced pebble?! Lucy: skeletal remains Source: 2 Australopithecus Erectus Neanderthal Sapiens Collected fossiles Source: 7 Australopithecus Erectus Neanderthal Sapiens
Woman?, Israel, c. 250 000 BCE, Volcano rock, 3,65 cm high Source: 7 Australopithecus Erectus Neanderthal Sapiens Block of Ocher, Blombos Cave, c. 75 000 BCE, 5 cm long Source: 10 Australopithecus Erectus Neanderthal Sapiens Mask Indre-et-Loire, Silex with bone, c. 32 000 BCE, Musée du Grand Pressigny, France Source: 7 Australopithecus Erectus Neanderthal Sapiens
Symmetrical tools (biface) Abberville-Saint-Acheul, c. 400 000 BCE, Silex, Musée des Antiquités nationales, St-Germainen-Laye Source: 6 Australopithecus Erectus Neanderthal Sapiens Human with feline head, c. 30 000 BC, ivory, 30 cm high Hohlenstein-Stadel, Germany, Ulmer Museum, Ulm Source: 3 Australopithecus Erectus Neanderthal Sapiens Signs, La Croze, Dordogne, c. 30 000 BCE Source: 7 Australopithecus Erectus Neanderthal Sapiens
Venuses Women and fertility Breaststick, Dolni Vestonice, Moravia, c. 25 000 BCE, Ivory, 8,6 cm high, Moravske Museum, Brno Venus of Dolni Vestonice, Moravia, c. 25 000 BCE, Ceramic, 11,1 cm high, Moravske Museum, Brno Source: 3 & 7 Venus of Willendorf, Austria, c. 28 000 BC, Limestone, 10,8 cm high, Naturhistorisches Museum, Vienna Source: 3
Venus of Lespugue, Haute-Garonne, c. 25 000 BCE, Ivory, 14,7 cm high, Musée de l homme, Paris Source: 6 Woman with bison horn Laussel, c. 25 000 BCE, Limestone, 45,7 cm high, Musée d Aquitaine, Bordeaux Source: 3 Code for the Venuses
Venus of Brassempouy France, c. 25 000 BCE, Ivory, 3,65 cm high, Musée des Antiquités nationales, St-Germainen-Laye Source: 7 Parietal Art Painting on cave walls Spotted horses and negative hand imprints, wall painting in the cave at Pech-Merle, France, c. 22 000 BCE, 340 cm long Source: 3
Bison Altamira, Spain, c. 12000-11000 BCE Source: 4 Lamp, Lascaux, Stone, Musée d'archéologie nationale, St-Germain-en-Layee Some Cave Painting Tools Scaffolding Red ochre Manganese dioxide Source: 1 & 9 Plan of Lascaux, Dordogne Source: 8
Bull and horses Lascaux, c. 15000 BCE Source: 6 Hall of the Bulls Lascaux, Dordogne, c. 15,000 BCE Source: 4 Hall of the Bulls Lascaux, Dordogne, c. 15,000 BCE
Horse Lascaux, c. 15000 BCE Source: 4 Scene of the Well Lascaux, Dordogne, c. 15000 BCE, Bison 111,8 cm long Source: 3 Animals 72% Images Represented Signs 21% Humans 7%
Rhinoceroses, Lions Chauvet, Ardèche, c. 20000 BCE Source: 6 Aurochs, Horses, Rhinoceroses Chauvet, Ardèche, c. 30,000 BC Source: 3 Bison, Ibex, Horses Niaux, c. 15000 BCE Source: 6
Portable Art Hunting and identification Harpoons de La Vache, Ariège, c. 15000 BCE, Reindeer antler, 11 cm high, Musée des Antiquités nationales, St-Germain-en-Laye Source: 6 Painted pebbles Mas-d Azil, Ariège, c. 10000 BCE, 10 cm long, Musée des Antiquités nationales, St-Germainen-Laye Source: 6
The Neolithic Passage Or, sedentary life Human Figure Ain Ghazal, Jordan, c. 6750-6250 BCE, Plaster inlaid with shell and bitumen, 10,1 cm high, Louvre, Paris Source: 3 Landscape with volcano, wall painting, Çatal Hüyük, c. 6150 BCE Source: 3
Çatal Hüyük, c. 6150 BCE Source: 11 and 10 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 Suggested readings -Gombrich, The Story of Art, p. 37-43 -Fiero, The Humanistic Tradition, vol. 1. p. 1-6 -Gombrich, The Story of Art, p. 21-35; 43-47 -Kleiner, Gardner s Art through the Ages, p. 15-28 -Rogers, Art, a World History, p. 16-21
Bibliography and Sources 1. Brommer, Discovering Art History 2. Fiero, The Humanistic Tradition, vol. 1 3. 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 9. www.donsmaps.com 10. www.wikipedia.org 11. https://leavingbabylon.files.wordpress.com