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Cave Art
Known also as stone age, ‘parietal art’, Cave Artis a
general term used to describe any kind of
man-made image on the walls, ceiling or floor of a
cave or rock shelter.Most cave art is found in
shallow rock shelters, such as those formed by
overhanging rocks, but some was created in total
darkness within deep,uninhabited caves, and was
rarely seen by humans.
Cave Art Types:
1. Hand prints and finger marks
2. Abstract signs and symbols
3. Figurative painting
4. Rock engraving
5. Relief sculpture
Cave Art
Ten of the notable Oldest evidence of cave art to be
scientifically dated are the following:
1. Bhimbetka Petroglyphs(290,000-700,000 BCE)
Cupulesat Auditorium Cave & Daraki-Chattan Rock
Shelter, India. Theoldest known rock art in the
world
2. Venus of Berekhat Ram (230-700,000BCE),
Israel. At first, historians believed that the artifact 7. Worship and rituals.
was a product of natural erosion rather than a
deliberate human act of creativity until the
discovery of a secondone, the Venus of Tan-Tan, in
Morocco.
3. An abstract drawing from the 73,000 BCE
atBlombos Cave,South Africa
4. Diepkloof Ostrich Eggshell Abstract Engravings
60,000 BCESouth Africa
5. Hall of Bulls CavePainting, 28,000 and
10,000BCE, France. The paintings on cave walls
represent the earliest surviving examples of the
artistic expression of early people.
6. Amur River Basin Pottery,14,300 BCE, Chinese
ceramics from Late Paleolithic Culture
7. Tuc d’Audoubert BisonSculpture in France
13,500 BCE,sculpted in soft clay. The relief carries
marks left by artist's fingers and nails.
8. Tassili-n-Ajjer Rock Art ,8,000 BCE. The major
Africanart contains the Mesolithic art in animal &
human engravings or paintings. It indicatesArchaic
Tradition.
9. The Swimming Reindeer,11,000 BCE. Carving
from the tip of a mammoth tusk of two swimming
reindeer found in the cave ofMontastruc, France
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10. The Venus ofWillendorf, Austria is an 11.1 cm
tall Venus figurine estimated to have beenmade
30,000 BCE.
Ancient Egyptian Art includes the painting,
sculpture,architecture, and other arts produced by
the civilization in the lower Nile Valley from 5000
BCE to 300 CE.All Egyptian art is based on perfect
balance because it reflects the ideal world of the
gods. It reached considerable sophistication
inpainting and sculpture, and was both highly
stylized and symbolic. Much of the Ancient
Egyptians artwork created had something to do
with their religion.They would fill the tombs of the
Pharaohs with paintings and sculptures.Much of
this artwork was there to help the Pharaohsin the
afterlife. The temples often held large statues of
their gods as well as many paintings on the walls.
Characteristics and Functions:
1. Daily life activities.
2. Journey of the deceased into the afterworld.
3. Images of the gods and deities.
4. Honoring pharaohs, noble people and the dead.
5. Social and political rank.
6. Writings on the wall to tell stories about the
images.
Art Forms:
1. Wall Painting
2. Sculpture
3. Carving, Relief and Jewelry
4. Architecture
5. Writings
6. Funerary Art and Deities
Egyptian wall paintings Wall paintings depicted
many of the activities the Egyptians performed in
their daily living and the journey of the deceased
into the afterworld.The paintings also pictured the
gods of the underworld and the protective deities
that would accompany the deceased in their eternal
journey. Imageswere very two dimensional, without
the perspective. Subjects were painted with a
combination of the profile view and frontal view.
Notable Wall Paintings
Ramesses the Great and Battle ofDapur, depicting
his achievement in his raid against Muwatalli’s
Hittiteresurgent forces.
Battle of Nubia: This painting shows Ramses II
battling Nubiansand was considered the strongest
and most celebrated pharaoh of the 19th dynasty.
Egyptian Dance Painting: Aside For ritualistic
function, talent in dance is also an indicator that a
person is an efficient worker.
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Tutankhamun Cartouche,Royal Encryption of a
Pharaohs name.
Depiction of Nubians Worshiping
Egyptian sculpture were not only images of the
pharaoh and his family, but also of people, animals
and slaves that surrounded him during his life. The
ones we see today look like they are carved from
stone or made from clay and are colorless.
Nefertiti Bust, coated limestone produced by
Thutmose in 1345 BC.Depiction of the Great Royal
Wife of the Egyptian Pharaoh Akhenaten. This Is
regarded as one of the most copied works on
ancient Egypt.
Great Sphinx of Giza, 2575-2465 BCE: A limestone
statue of reclining sphinx. It depicts a mythical
creature with the human body and a lion’s
head.73m long and 20m high.
Khufu Statuette: Founded by SirWillian Matthew
Flinders Petrie in1903 at the Temple of Khenti
Amentiu, Abydos in UpperEgypt. The statue is a
three-dimensional depiction of Khufu.
Block statue: A memorial statue discovered in the
Middle Kingdom ofAncient Egypt. The statue was
designed that way to serve as the guardian of the
temple's gateway.
Colossi of Memnon: Two Massive huge stone
statues representing greatness ofPharaoh
Amenhotep III and it meant to protect the temple
from evil.
Pharaoh Ramesses II: Weighs 20 tons statue was
designed to show him as a beneficent ruler, a
mighty warrior and a living god.It was erected in the baked bricks.
Ramesseum,his mortuary temple, where the
believers of Ramesses would continue for
centuries.
Seated statues of Rahotep andNofret: From the 4th
dynasty the statues were skillfully sculpted
confirming their high rank statue.With glass inlaid
eyes makes thestatue more realistic.
Wrapped Osiris Statue: statues like this were
buried in tombs, wrapped in cloth. It was thought
the statues helped the dead be reborn in the next
life, like the real deity Osiris.
Egyptian artists, whose skills are best exemplified
not only in statuary but carving, relief and jewelry One of the great ancient Egyptian architectImhotep,
as well.Their distinctive talent as craftsmen were
from their discipline and highly developed aesthetic B.C., is credited with carving stone columns and
sense deserving to rank as an outstanding art by
any standards.
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The Narmer Palette: Also Known as Great
HierakonpolisPalette which was created to
symbolize the unity of the“Kingdoms of Two Lands,”
theUpper and Lower Egypt underKing Narmer. The
palette measured 64x42 cm.
Tutankhamun’s ‘golden death mask is an ancient
death mask produced in the 18th century in ancient
Egypt.It was discovered by Howard Carterin 1925.
This is regarded as one of the most famous
Egyptian artworks and almost admired and
well-known works of art around the world.
Ceremonial gilded wooden shield:found in the tomb
of Tutankhamun.Egyptian artists also used a variety
of woods in their work, including the native acacia,
tamarisk, and sycamore fig as well as fir, cedar, and
other conifers imported from Syria.
Ceremonial gilded wooden shield:found in the tomb
of Tutankhamun.Egyptian artists also used a variety
of woods in their work, including the native acacia,
tamarisk, and sycamore fig as well as fir, cedar, and
other conifers imported from Syria
Tutankhamun’s lunar pectoral: metal casted, carved
jewelry work was quite sophisticated even in the
OldKingdom, as demonstrated by some highly
creative pieces depict especially in tomb scenes.
Sesostris IIIPectoral:Gold pectoral with
semiprecious stones, MiddleKingdom, 12th
dynasty(1991–1786 BCE).
Egyptian Architecture developed since 3000 BC
and characterized by post and lintel construction,
massive walls covered with hieroglyphic and
pictorial carving, flat roofs, and structures except for
the Pyramids. Most houses were built of clay or
Typical Egyptian Columns And Capitals at
theTemple of Horus at Edfu,Constructed Between
237 and 57 B.C.
The Egyptian Column can refer to a column from
ancientEgypt inspired by distinct Egyptian ideas.
The earliest builders carved columns from
enormous blocks of limestone, sandstone,and red
granite.Later, columns and capitals were
constructed from stacks of stone disks. Some
Egyptian columns have polygon-shaped shafts with
as many as 16 sides while common columns are
circular.
who lived over 4,000 years ago in 27th century
capitals to resemble bundled reeds and other plant
forms.The columns were placed close together so
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they could carry the weight of the heavy stone roof number of graves of women and men believed to
beams. be servants of the kings who were sacrificed to
serve pharaohs in their afterlife.
Common features of Egyptian columns include:
1) stone shafts carved to resemble tree trunks or The Temple of Edfu is dedicated to the worship of
bundled reeds or plant stems, sometimes called theEgyptian god Horus, who was frequently
papyrus columns; merged with the Greek God Apollo. In fact, the city
2) lily, lotus, palm or papyrus plant motifs on the of Edfuwas renamed Apollonopolis Magna during
capitals (tops); Greco-Roman rule in Egypt.
3) bud-shaped or campaniform ‘bell-shaped’
capitals; and Egyptian form of writing.
4) brightly painted carved relief decorations. Hieroglyphics.
Hieroglyphs are written in rows or columns and can
The Great Pyramids of Giza:located on the Giza be read from left to right or from right to left. You
plateau near the modern city of Cairo, the pyramids can distinguish the direction in which the text is to
was built during the reign of the king Khufuof the be read because the human or animal figures
4th Dynasty in the span of over 20-years. Khufu's always face towards the beginning of the line.Also
vizier, Hemiunu the pharaohs physician was also the upper symbols are read before the lower.
the architect of his Pyramid.
Hieroglyphics writing:
• The oldest pyramid in the middle is for King Hieroglyphic writing signs and symbols represented
Khufu, ‘Cheops’in Greek, the second king of the 4th by pictures of living beings or inanimate
dynasty.v objects.Hieroglyphic texts are found primarily on
• The second tallest was built for King Khafre, the walls of temples and tombs, but they also
‘Chephren’ inGreek was the fourth king in the same appear on monuments,memorials and gravestones,
dynasty. on statues, on coffins, and on all sorts of vessels
• The last pyramid to be built was that of and implements.
Menkaure,‘Mykerinus’ in Greek was the fifth king of
the same dynasty. Hieroglyphic writing was used as much for secular
texts, historical inscriptions, songs, legal
Columns of the Temple of Isis atPhilae show a documents,scientific documents, as for religious
distinct influence ofGreek and Roman occupation of subject matter,the likes of cult rituals, myths,
Egypt.The temple was built for the Egyptian hymns, grave inscriptions of all kinds, and prayers.
Goddess Isis during the reign of thePtolemaic
Kings in the centuries before the birth of Rosetta Stone: A granodiorite stele discovered in
Christianity. 1799. TheRosetta Stone is inscribed with the three
versions of texts. The Top is in the hieroglyphic
Like the Temple at Edfu, the Temple atKom Ombo script, middle in the demotic script while the bottom
has similar architectural influences and Egyptian in the ancient copticGreek. The discovery of the
gods. Kom Ombo isa temple not only to Horus, the stone holds the key to understanding Egyptian
falcon, but also to Sobek, the crocodile. hieroglyphs

Most significant to Western civilization is the
Temple of theRamesseum, 1250 B.C. The mighty
columns and colonnade are a remarkable feat of
engineering for being created circa 1250 B.C.,
well-before the Greekconquest of Alexander the
Great.
The Luxor Temple – is a temple complex located in
the city of Thebes, the ancient capital of Egypt
during the time of the New Kingdom.Thebes is
located in Upper Egypt, on the eastbank of the Nile
River. Construction of the temple was begun by the
pharaoh Amenhotep III and was completed by
Tutankhamen.
The first royal tombs before the pyramids were
called mastabas. Inside were rooms containing
jars, small objects, and offerings of food and
drink.The tombs were surrounded by a large
The ‘Prayer to Thoth for Skill in Writing’ is a literary
piece dated toc. 1150 BCE from the latter period of
the New Kingdom of Egypt(1570-1069 BCE) in
which a young scribe prays for inspiration toThoth,
god of wisdom and writing.The prayer was found
among the works of ‘Papyrus Anastasi V’, papyrus
scroll discovered at Thebes. The prayer is an
interesting glimpse into how the profession of the
scribe was viewed by the ancient Egyptians a noble
occupation.
Hieroglyphs are written in rows or columns and can
beread from left to right or from right to left. You can
distinguish the direction in which the text is to be
read because the human or animal figures always
face towards the beginning of the line. Also the
upper symbols are read before the lower.
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Egyptian funerary art was not simply memorial, but
played an active role in the afterlife of the departed. light.
Most of the tomb art studied from ancient Egypt
comes from the commissions of kings and
high-ranking court officials. Egyptian philosophy of
art refers to balanced realism and stylization to
present images of harmony, balance and order,
victory over chaos.
Book of the Dead WallPainting: Containing Spells
to help the dead back to life after the journey to the
underworld.
Tomb Wall Painting:Primarily should contain images
of the king's chosen deity and success stories of his
life as a pharaoh.
Egyptian MummificationWall Painting:Mummifying
the dead is also a sacred ritual in preparation to the
afterlife.
Egyptian Deities, WallPainting: Images of their gods
in one ensemble is one important feature inking’s
tomb’s.
Egyptian concept of afterlife,wall painting: A belief
that death is just an interruption of life.
The anthropoid coffin itself is typical of the
ancientEgyptian burial practices. The coffin echoes
the shape of the mummified body.Decorated with
an idealized representation of the owner's face and
with images of gods, goddesses, animals and
objects, as well as hieroglyphic writings, that would
identify him and help him attain a successful
afterlife.
Unlike anthropoid, sarcophagus were rectangular
boxes with flat lids. They were painted and
inscribed in hieroglyphs with four important
features: the deceased's name and titles; a list of
food offerings; a false door through which the ‘ka’
could pass; and eyes through which the deceased
could see outside the coffin.
The Egyptian concept of the soul:Ka, Ba and Akh.
Ka is the life force or spiritual double of the person.
The royal Ka symbolized pharaoh's right to rule, a
universal force that passed from one pharaoh to the
next.
Ba is represented as a human-headed bird that
leaves the body when a person dies. The face of
Bawas the exact likeness of that of the deceased
person.
Akh is the spirit of Ra, which encapsulates the
concept of light - the transfigured spirit of a person
that becomes one with light after death. The
opposite of Akh is Mut (dead), the state of a person
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who has died but has not been transfigured into
The gods and goddesses of Ancient Egypt Were an
integral part of the people's everyday lives. It is not
surprising then that there were over 2,000 deities in
the Egyptian Pantheon and five names stood up
namely:
More powerful gods became state deities while
others were associated with a specific region for
ritualistic duty or role. Examples Of little gods like
The goddess Qebhet known deity who offered cool
water to the souls of the dead as they awaited
judgment in the afterlife.Seshat was the goddess of
written words and specific measurements
overshadowed by Thoth, the better known god of
writing and patron of scribes.
Isis was initially an obscure goddess who lacked
her own dedicated temples, but she grew in
importance as the dynastic age progressed,until
she became one of the most important deities of
ancient Egypt.Her cult subsequently spread
throughout the Roman Empire, and Isis was
worshiped from England to Afghanistan. She is still
revered by pagans today.Lesson
Osiris The King of the Living. Considered the oldest
child of the earth god Zeb and the sky goddess Nut
and the god of the afterlife.Often portrayed with
green skin, Osiris was also the god of vegetation
which indicated renewal and growth and was
thought to be responsible for the fertile flooding and
vegetation around the banks of the Nile.
Horus God of Vengeance Horus had a special
position in ancientEgypt. The child of Osiris and
Isis, he avenged his father’s death and ruled Egypt.
His falcon-headed god with a crown of red and
white was worshiped as the god of sky, war,
protection, and light.The Eye of Horus or the
Wedjat Eye was personified as the goddessWadjet
and was popularly known as the Eye of the Ra. It
symbolized that everything was being watched from
above.
Amun (Amun-Ra) - God of the sun and air. One of
the most powerful and popular gods of ancient
Egypt, patron of the city of Thebes,where he was
worshiped as part of the Theban Triad of Amun,
Mut, andKhonsu.Supreme king of the gods in some
periods, though originally a minor fertility god. By
the time of the New Kingdom he was considered
the most powerful god in Egypt
Ra Re, also spelled Ra or Pra, in ancient Egyptian
religion, god of the sun and radiance. Creator god.
He was believed to travel across the sky in his solar
bark and, during the night, to make his passage in
another bark through the underworld, where, in
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order to be born again for the new day, he had to
vanquish the evil serpent Apopis (Apepi).
Mut: The Mother Goddess of Egyptian. Mut is a
primal deity who wears two crowns on her head,
each representing Upper and Lower Egypt.
Also titled “She who gives birth, but was herself not
born of any,” Mut is represented as a vulture in
hieroglyphs.She is variously integrated with other
deities and is often portrayed as a cat, cobra, cow
and even a lioness.
Anubis: The Divine Embalmer. He was known for
mummifying the dead and guiding their souls
towards the afterlife. His skin was
black,symbolizing the dark Nile deposits which
made the land so fertile.With the head of a jackal
and the body of a man, Anubis also stood for
renaissance and the staining of dead bodies after
the embalming process.
Hathor: Goddess of Motherhood. Sometimes called
theMistress of the West, Hathor welcomed the
dead into the nextlife. Born of Ra, she exemplified
motherhood and feminine love. She is the goddess
of music and dance.She is believed to provide a
blessing as the helper of women during pregnancy
and childbirth. Affectionate, humble and kind to
both the dead and living, she was also known as
the Lady of Heaven, Earth and theUnderworld.
Sekhmet: Goddess of War and Healing. Leading
and protecting the pharaohs during war, the
daughter of Ra, is depicted as a lioness and is
known for her fierce character.She is also known as
the Powerful One and is capable of destroying the
enemies of her allies.She is depicted with a solar
disk and uraeus, an Egyptian cobra, which was
associated with royalty and the divine. She assisted was clay.
the goddessMa’at in the Judgement Hall of Osiris
which also gained her the reputation of arbitrator.
Geb: God of Earth. Also described as the Father of
Snakes,Geb represented crops and healing. With a
goose on his head,this bearded god was believed
to have caused earthquakes whenever he laughed.
He was the son of Shu ‘the god of air’ and Tefnut
‘the goddess of moisture’, and had an important
role in the Book of the Dead as the one who weighs
the heart of the dead in the Judgment Hall of Osiris. Mycenae in 1876 by the German archaeologist
Theancient Egyptians believed that he retained the
souls of the wicked.
Ancient Egyptian art has survived for over 5000
years and continues to fascinate people from all
over the world. An ancient premise has become a
modern reality: Its art became a path to world
eternal emulation and remembrance.
Ancient Greek art emphasized the importance and
accomplishments of human beings. Even though
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much of Greek art was meant to honor the gods,
thosevery gods were created in the image of
humans.Ancient Greek art stands out among that of
other ancient cultures for its development of
naturalistic but idealized depictions of the beauty of
the human body.
Significance:
The ideals of Greek art are considered by
historians to be the foundation of Western
civilization and to have touched literally all aspects
of modern western culture.
1. Geometric – abstract and outline art
2. Archaic – stiff and primitive
3. Classical – sophisticated and realistic
4. Hellenistic – flowery and highly decorative
Geometric Period, 900-650 BC: Artistic
development in Greece.
Outline, the main characteristics of the Geometric
period in art. The Geometric period was the first
specifically Greek style of vase painting. It was
characterized by linear motifs such as spirals,
diamonds, and cross-hatching. Abstract forms were
used to represent human figures, flora and fauna.
Came from Minoan art influenceAthenian potters
introduced the fullGeometric style by abandoning
circular for rectilinear ornament. Prime industry in
this period was utilitarian pottery art.
Greek used ceramic vessels in every aspect of their
daily lives:for storage, carrying, mixing, serving,
and drinking, and as cosmetic and perfume
containers. Elaborately formed and decorated,
vases were considered worthy gifts for dedication
to the gods and funerary vessel. Common material
Minoans and Mycenaeans influence: TheMinoans
occupied the Greek islands mainly living on
Crete.The Mycenaeans lived on mainland Greece
and the Peloponnesia. The Minoans were mainly
farmers and traders while the Mycenaeans were a
warlike society.
The Golden Mask of Agamemnon, 1550-1500 BCE:
The King of Mycenae is an artifact discovered in
HeinrichSchliemann. This mask is made of gold
andis a funeral mask found over the face of a dead
body in a burial place at Mycenae.
Minoan influence: Aside from Mycenaean
ancientEgypt and Near East, Minoan art greatly
affect Greek Culture to a more functional and
decorative but also political purpose, especially the
wall paintings of palaces were rulers were depicted
in their religious function,which reinforced their role
as the head of the community.
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Achilles slaying Penthesilea, the queen of the
Artistic development in Greece, Minoan influence. Amazons, Attic black-figure amphora signed by
Floral Pattern Exekias,c. 530–525 BCE
Octopus Pattern Bee
Pendant Pattern Classical Period, 480-323 BC:
Artistic development in Greece. Sculpture
The Vasiliki Ware Teapot:The First Luxury Pottery In this period, Greek artists achieved a more
In Ancient Greece realistic likeness in depicting human figure. The
statues for example show the influence of Egyptian
The Minoan Octopus Vase,1200-1100 BCE: art in its stiffness, gracefulness,idealization, and
Pinnacle OfBronze Age Pottery Design achieving naturalism by portraying them in a lifelike
forms. Most statues were commissioned for public
The Panathenaic PrizeAmphora, 4th Century display by the rich, noble and influential
BCE:A Celebration Of Athletic Prowess people.Michelangelo’s David

The Lion Aryballos,700 BCE: ACelebration Of The Greek Stance, “contrapposto”,

TheRise Of Corinth
Archaic Period, 650-480 BC:Artistic development in
Greece.
In this period, the artisans took a turn away from
the geometric designs of the past and began to
focus morefully on figures and elements of the
natural world.Artists were into more mystical and
fantastical subjects such as combined beasts like
the Sphinx or Satyr-like creatures. These new
artistic ideas were assimilated into producing
images from their own religion and culture.
Block Statue
The ‘Kouros’ and ‘Kore’, Archaic Greek statues
depicting youths or referred to as young man and
young woman and Koral is a plural form. The statue
is usually made of marble or limestone, and tend to
be life size. The Koralwas used as a grave
monument and offering for deities.
The Calf Bearer: Moschophoros is a Greek word
which means the ‘calf-bearer’. An ancient Greek
Statue from 560 BC. Depicting strength and power,
he stands with his left foot a little forward and has a
thick beard, a symbol of adulthood.
Amphora is decorated on both sides but in different
painting techniques. One side has a scene depicted
in the red figure style was painted by ‘andokides’.
The other side shows the same scene in the black
figure style painted by ‘lysippides’.This type of
decoration puts the vase into the so-called Bilingual
group.The two figures depicted usually in the scene
was Achilles and Ajax Playing board game.
Bilingual Amphora Redon one side and black on
the other side.
Geometric-style krater with funeral scenes from
Attica, Greece, with funeral scenes, 8th century
BCE.
pronunciation[kontrapˈposto]) is an Italian term that
means"counterpoise". It is used in the visual arts to
describe a human figure standing with most of its
weight on one foot,so that its shoulders and arms
twist off-axis from the hips and legs in the axial
plane.
The essential characteristic of classical Greek art is
a heroic realism. Painters and sculptors attempt to
reveal the human body, in movement or repose,
exactly as it appears to the eye. The emphasis will
be on people of unusual beauty, or moments of
high and noble drama.Aphrodite of Knidos
This 460 BCE Artemision Bronzerepresents either
Zeus, the ancient Greek king of the gods of Mount
Olympus, or possibly Poseidon,the god of the Sea.
It is assumed to represent the mightiest of the
Olympian gods, Zeus.
Created 360 BCE in honor of the Greek
godHermes of Praxiteles. Hermes was also
carrying another popular character inGreek
mythology, the infant Dionysus.
Hellenistic Period, 323 BCE - 31 CE:Artistic
development in Greece
The word Hellenistic comes from the
word‘Hellazein’, which means ‘to speak Greek’ or
‘identify with the Greeks’.The overlapping of
Classical and Hellenistic period paved the way for
realism in as much as sculpture is concerned
The difference between Hellenistic and Classical
Art is in the style and transition of sculpting. The
Hellenistic period saw emotions, movement of
figures whereas in the Classical Period there is
more focus on the perfect realistic figures,the
sculptures are static.4 Hellenistic Period, 323 BCE -
31 CE:Artistic development in Greece.
In Hellenistic period, sculptors pursued and
perfected naturalism, an interest that Greek artists
had been developing over hundreds of years. In
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addition to natural poses, Hellenistic artists sought The Greeks built all sorts of buildings. The main
to gradually depart from depicting gods and
mythological subjects and started replicating the
bodies of real humans.
The Winged Victory of Samothrace200 BCE is a
marble sculpture depicting the Greek Goddess
Nike. Considered today as the greatest
masterpiece in classical and a prelude toHellenistic are the hallmarks of Greek art.
from classical sculpture.
The statue Lacoon and his Sons 200 BCE also
known as ‘Lacoon Group’ was originally created by
three great Greek sculptors from Rhodes namely
Agesander, Polydorus and Athenodoros. The
life-size statue is made of marble and depicts a
Trojan priest named Laocoon,together with his sons
Thymbraeus and Antiphates, being throttled by sea
serpents.
Three Goddesses from the east pediment of the
Parthenon 432 BCE. Sitting and reclining in
graceful unison, these goddesses carved in marble
for the Parthenon in Athens are among the most
beautiful and mysterious images of the human form
ever created. Incredibly, the artist makes the
draperies that cover their bodies as real and richly theater of all time, containing an auditorium, a
textured
The three goddesses carved in marble for the
Parthenon inAthens. From left, Hestia, goddess of
the hearth and home, Dione,and her daughter
Aphrodite.
Pergamon Altar Athena Battling with Alcyoneus,
175-150 BCE from the East Frieze, Altar of Zeus,
Pergamon
Pergamon Altar Gaul and his wife, group ofGaul
frieze 220 BCE
Pergamon AltarDying Gaul (Trumpeter),Gaul frieze
group, 220 BCE
The Relief Sculptures
Figure reliefs in Ancient Greek sculpture used
avery "high" version of high relief, with elements
often fully free of the background, and parts of
figures crossing over each other to indicate depth.
Pergamon AltarAltar of Zeus, Marble,reconstructed
and restored(Staatliche Museun, Berlin)
Detail from the North Frieze (The Pergamon
Altar):Giant Agrios being clubbed to death
Detail from East Frieze (The Pergamon
Altar):Klytios, Hekate and Artemis.
Greek architecture is known for tall columns,
intricate detail, symmetry, harmony, and balance.
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examples of Greek Architecture that survive today
are the large temples that they built to their gods.
The simplicity, harmony, and perspective in Greek
Architecture was the foundation of Roman
architecture as well. Ancient Greek architects
strove for excellence and precision which indeed
Ancient Greek architecture developed three distinct
orders, the Doric,Ionic, and Corinthian. The latter
were modified and adopted by the Romans in the
1st century BCE and have been used ever since
inWestern architecture.
Also known as the Olympieion or Columns of the
Olympian Zeus, theTemple of Olympian Zeus was
dedicated to Zeus. It’s. Former colossal temple at
the center of the Greek capital Athens. The Building
of the Temple began in the 6th Century by
Peisistratos andcompleted under the reign of the
Roman Emperor Hadrian in 131 AD.
In terms of acoustics and aesthetics, The Great
Theater ofEpidaurus believed to be the perfect
stage building, and an orchestral area. The theater
was large enough to provide seating for 13,000 to
14,000 people. Thetheater was dedicated to the
worship of the god of medicine, Asclepius.
Theater of Epidaurus. Constructed at the end of the
4th century BCE by the architectPolykleitos. It was
the first ancient medical center ever built in the
world.
Many types of Imperial art practiced by the Romans
had already been fully mastered by Ancient Greek
artists. It’s normal to assume thatRoman art were
inspired by the Greek culture more so on
architecture.
• Sculpture – bronze/marble statuary and
sarcophagi.
• Fine art painting –murals, portraiture,
vase-painting.
• Decorative art – carving metalwork, mosaics,
jewelry, ivory carving)History of Roman Art
The Romans originated in central Italy, influenced
by other local Italian Cultures, notably those of
Etruria, but from the 5th century they came into
contact with the Greeks and from then onwards, the
Roman republic absorbed many aspects of first
Classical and then Hellenistic art.
Roman mosaics were a common feature of private
homes and public buildings across the empire from
Africa to Antioch. Mosaics, known asopus
tessellatum, were made with small black, white,
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and colored squares of marble, tile, glass, pottery, ancient Roman Empire,and from Egypt to Cologne,
stone, or shells. Typically, individual piece
measured between 0.5 and 1.5 cm but fine details.
Rendering fine images are using even smaller
pieces as little as 1 mm in size.
In Greece the first pebble flooring which attempted after by Roman households.
designs dates to the5th century BCE with examples
at Corinth and Olynthus. These were usually in two
shades with light geometric designs and simple
figures on a dark background.Roman Art: Mosaic
Art
Flooring set with small pebbles was used in the
Bronze Age in both theMinoan civilization based on
Crete and the Mycenaean Civilization on mainland
Greece. The same idea but reproducing patterns
was used in the Near East in the 8th century BCE.
Introduced by Egypt and Mesopotamia, the
Romans maximized GlassArt decorative qualities
not only as vessels but also its application on
mosaics as decorative panels in both walls and
furniture during 509 – 27 BCE. The material was
also used for windows, to create jewelry,
mirrors,game pieces, magnifying glasses, sculpture
and, in the form of powder,even as a medicine and
toothpaste.
Old Technique: 5th Century BCE
• Primarily, Roman glass wares were just imitation
of their usual metal wares.
• Colors could also be achieved by adding small
amounts of metals to the mix; adding copper
produced blue, green, and red, manganese
produced pink and red, cobalt a deep blue,calcium
white, and lead brought a yellow tint.
• Glass was naturally opaque due to the presence
of tiny air bubbles within the glass as a result of the
firing process and usually resulting to pale green or
yellow hue due to the presence of impurities.
• The color or tint of the glass could naturally be
manipulated by increasing or decreasing the level
of oxygen in the furnace.
New Technique: 1st BCE
With the invention of glassblowing a better quality
of glass was produced, and the production process
became faster and cheaper with the consequence
that vessels more common to every households
everyday objects.
• Vitriairii – Roman glass maker and designer.
• Diatretarii – Roman glass cutter.
Also, the glass-blowing revolutionized the art of
glass-making which allowed the production of small
medicine, incense, and perfume containers in new
forms. Glass unguentarium, or perfume small
bottles production were prevalent throughout the
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Germany.
Roman Glass: 1st Century CEIt was in the late 1st
century CE that colorless glass first appeared in the
glassmakers repertoire and it became highly sought
The Most famous example of Roman glass ware is
the ‘Thetis Portland Vase' which was made
sometime during the reign of Augustuswhich
depicts the marriage of Peleus and Thetis From
Greek mythology.Roman Glass Art
Highly carved ‘diatreta’ or cage-cups and perhaps
the most famous Roman glass vessel of all was the
Lycurgus Cup, 4th century CE.
Roman sculptures attempt to make their subjects
look realistic, while incorporating idealistic elements
from Greek art. Many scenes show events and
people that were real in a disguise but allegorical
and political in nature.
The portrait of Commodus as the heroHercules (c.
190-2 CE) is a striking example of how elite
portraiture in Roman art could be both realistic and
idealistic at the same time.
Though there was a return to idealized quality
inClassical Greek sculpture, Roman sculpture
achieved important innovation in terms of a more
natural rendering of the eyes in marble
works.Previously, pupil and iris had only been
painted on to the sculpture but now these also
came to be sculpted as had been the case in
bronze and terracotta works. Example to this is the
colossal statue of Antinous,c. 130 CE.
Augustus from PrimaPorta, 1st century CE.
Ithighlights Augustus’s military might in an orator
pose.
Head of a Roman Patrician. 1st century BCE. The
wrinkled and aged face of this unknown
upper-class Roman citizen changed the ideals of
the Romans to present himself as a prized and
experienced public servant instead of merely
copying Greek marble statues of their great and
mighty leaders and gods.
Roman architecture took over right where the
builders from ancient Greece left off after the
decline ofGreek civilization. But unlike their
predecessors, theRomans placed far more
emphasis on the practicality of their architectural
designs. This was a major departure from
contemporary practices which had always placed
the focus on a structure’s exterior design, function
and aesthetic appeal.
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While the Roman may have borrowed some of the
earliest ideas from the AncientGreeks, Etruscans,
Egyptians and Persians,ancient Roman
Architecture Changed the landscape and giving
mankind model urban cities that became a
breakthrough in terms of building public structures, and the rest of the world today with respect to
roads and infrastructure.Roman Art: Architecture
The Aqua Augusta, or Serino Aqueduct,19-14 BCE,
Pompeii was one of the largest, most complex and
costliest aqueduct systems in theRoman world. It
supplied water to at least eight ancient cities in the
Bay of Naples includingPompeii and Herculaneum.
Roman architecture is famous for:
• domes and arches structures
• amphitheaters
•Temples
• thermaes or bath houses
• Atriums and plazas
• aqueducts
• apartments
• houses
The Colosseum:The famous amphitheater was built
an area of 189 by 159 meters, making it the largest
of its time. The said monument,began during the
reign of EmperorVespasian in 72 AD. By the time it
was finished by his son Titus in 80 AD
The Pantheon is one of the most well-preserved
architectural marvel from the ancient Roman era.
Roman Temples like ThePantheon was a temple for
all the Roman Gods. The construction was
completed in 125AD during the rule of Hadrian.
St. Peter’s Square by Architect Gian Lorenzo
Bernini, 1664 is an iconic example a city has to be
built. A model given to the world by Roman
engineers and architects.
The history of Roman painting is essentially a
history of wall paintings on plaster.Some other
Roman paintings were applied directly on wood,
ivory, and other wall materials. Fresco on the other
hand was used to adorn the interiors of private
homes inRoman cities and in the countryside.
Ancient Roman wall painters or perhaps their
clients preferred natural earth colors such as darker
shades of reds, yellows and browns. Blue and
black pigments were also popular for plainer
designs though evidence from a Pompeii paint
shop illustrates that a wide range of color shades
was available.
The Romans, as architectural historian D.S.
Robertsonwrote, "were the first builders in Europe,
perhaps the first in the world, fully to appreciate the
advantages of the arch,the vault and the
dome.“Romans pioneered the segmental arch -
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essentially a flattened arch, used in bridges and
private residences - the extended arch, and the
triumphal arch, which celebrated the emperors'
great victories were the same structures that had
the most significant impact on Western civilization,
technological inventions and innovations.
The Dinos Of Sophilos, 6th Century BCE:
FirstKnown Creator OfGreek Vase Paintings
The Geometric Vase, 10th Century BCE: A Symbol
Of Athenian Artistic Supremacy
The Erotic Vase 500-323 BCE:A Snapshot Of
Sexuality InAncient Greece
Aphrodite of Knidos carved by the sculptor
Praxiteles in the 4th century B.C. fromfine marble, it
enjoyed great renown as the first devotional statue
of a female goddess in the nude.
The Riace bronzes (460-420 BC)These
tremendous statues found in the sea off southern
Italy in 1972 one of the few original Greek bronze
statues survive.
The Motya charioteer, (350BC). One of the most
startling Greek statues to survive, and highly
revealing about the erotic charge of the Greek
nude. This youth is not technically nude, but wears
a tight-fitting garment that instead of hiding his
body, heightens every contour.
One of the most influential buildings in Greek
history ever built was theParthenon, stands on top
of the citadel of the Acropolis. Dedicated to the
goddess of wisdom Athena the construction began
in 447 BC when the Athenian Empire was at its
height. The Parthenon is said to be the pinnacle of
the Doric order.
Since ancient times, the theater Odeon of Herodes
Atticus Has been a significant part of Greek culture.
Herodes Atticus built the structure in memory of his
wife, Aspasia Annia Regilla. Today, the theater
played host to huge music concerts and had a
capacity of 5,000.
One of the oldest temples in Greece, this ancient
Archaic temple was dedicated to Hera the queen of
the Greek goddesses built in 590 BCE.The Temple
of Hera possesses the aesthetics of Doric
Architecture having its 16 columns. The symbolic
altar of the Temple was lit by a torch during the first
Olympic games.
Built in 580 BC, the Temple of Artemis measured
49m by23.46m and was the biggest temple of its
time dedicated to goddessArtemis. From the ruins
itself, the metope of the temple was decorated with
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carvings of Achilles and Memnon. Its magnificence
and authenticity have made it a landmark in ancient one of the gardens along Sarno river and looks
Greek architecture. The temple was considered
one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.
This Erechtheion Temple in Acropolis was built
between 421and 406 BC by the great architect
Mnesikles. The temple got its name from a shrine
dedicated to the Greek hero Erichthonius, who was
mentioned in Homer’s Iliad as a great king and ruler
of Athens.
A 3rd century CE Roman Floor mosaic
depictingBacchus, god of wine.Flaminia, Rome.
‘Battle of Alexander and Darius atIssus,’ detail of
the Roman mosaic done in the opus vermiculatum
technique (laying dark or light outline),Pompeii, late
2nd century BC.
Equestrian Statue of MarcusAurelius, 176 CE.
Equestrian statues were common in ancient Rome
to honor military and civic achievements. The
statue was a bronze likeness of Marcus Aurelius
astride his horse.
Most of the surviving examples of Roman Sculpture
are in marble. The SleepingHermaphrodite, an
ancient marble sculpture depicting life
sizeHermaphroditus. In 1620, Italian artistGian
Lorenzo Bernini sculpted the mattress upon which
the statue now lies.
Fonseca Bust, 2nd century CE. TheFonseca Bust,
was a portrait of elite Roman Women from the
Flavian dynasty, 69-96 CE.Portraits of women from
this era heavily favored more realistic portrayals.
Named after the famous former governor of the city
of Ephesus, the Library of Celsus,10 BCE was
actually a monumental tomb dedicated to Gaius
Julius Celsus Polemaeanus.This amazing piece of
Roman architecture was converted into a library
which housed over 12,000 different scrolls.
Maison Carrée is the only temple constructed in the
time of ancient Rome that is completely preserved
to this day. Thismarvel of Roman engineering was
built around 16 BC in the city of Nimes.
MaisonCarrée is an architectural gem that stands
15 meters tall and a length of 26 meters. Built By
Roman General Marcus Vipanius Agrippa in
memory of his two sons who died young.
This gorgeous Fresco ofTheseus, 18th century was
discovered from within a Basilica Located in
Herculaneum, Pompei. The Painting looks
spectacular and shows a few children holding
Theseus’s hand and congratulating him for killing
the mythological beast-Minotaur.
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This painting Fresco ofWader Bird roaming freely in
astonishing with lush green surroundings,painted in
serene colors of green,white and shades of yellow.
Most houses in ancient Romans Featured red
painted walls depicting women, animals or erotic
art. This Original painting of two faces,1st Century
CE shows defined features of lips painted with
reddish orange color making the eyes look
expressive.
This wall painting shows Eros and Psyche,1st
century CE. Ancient Roman artists loved to portray
eternal love between people and mythological
characters, and one of the most popular subjects
was Eros and Psyche’s love story.
Western art, tells a story about a people, time,and
culture. As humans, we tend to use metaphors and
symbols to represent important messages, items,
and events. Western art is no different, as there are
many unique and rich stories hidden beneath the
art form's history.
The Three Brides (1893) by Jan Toorop. The
painter uses silhouettes of brides as symbols of
three states of the soul.
Art influences society and a vehicle for social
change by changing opinions, instilling values and
translating experiences across space and time.
Artin this sense is communication, it allows people
from different cultures to communicate with each
other via images, sounds and stories.
The “Madonna Litta” depicts the Virgin Mary
breastfeeding Christand illustrates motherly love.
The blue cloak of Mary symbolizes theChurch and
her red dress is a symbol of the passion of Christ.
Western painting is in general distinguished by its
concentration on the representation of the human
figure, whether in the heroic context of antiquity or
the religious context of the earlyChristian and
medieval world.
The Archangel Gabriel (The Golden-Haired Angel)
12thCentury Russian icon Tempera on wood panel.
NovgorodSchool of Byzantine style icon-painting.
Old Masters Era
Medieval: 400 CE - 1400 CE
From around 4 CE to 1300, this era is a broad
category that includes many artistic styles and
periods, from early Christian and Byzantine,
Anglo-Saxon and Viking,Carolingian, Ottonian,
Romanesque, and Gothic. During The medieval
period, the various secular arts were unified by the
Christian church and the sacred arts associated
with it.
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Though the artist is yet known this is one of the
oldest known icon of Christ Pantocrator, 6th-century title towards the end of the 20th century after the
encaustic icon from Saint Catherine’s Monastery,
Mount Sinai.
The different types of Middle ages paintings can be
roughly classified into fresco, panel, and
iconography painting.Medieval art examples
included a large number of fresco paintings, which
involved the method of mural painting, and this was
completed on wet lime plaster.
Christ of Mercy between theProphets David and
Jeremiah(between c. 1495 and c. 1500)by Diego
de la Cruz
‘The Annunciation with St.Margaret and St.
Ansanus’,Gothic, Simone Martini and Lippo
Memmi, 1333
Renaissance: 1400 CE - 1600 CE
Renaissance are combined influences of an
increased awareness of nature, a revival of
classical learning, and amore individualistic view of Bernini, executed between 1621 and1622. Bernini
man. The Renaissance marked an abrupt break
with medieval values, as is suggested by the
French word renaissance, literally “rebirth.” The
Movement were focused in nature, humanistic
learning and individualism.
“Assumption of the Virgin” 1518. Painted by Tiziano
Vecellio at the altar of the Basilica di SantaMaria
Gloriosa dei Frari.
Raffaello Sanzio popularly known asRaphael
painted the “Sistine Madonna” in1512. The painting
shows Mother Maryholding baby Jesus in her
hands with SaintBarbara and Saint Sixtus on both
her sides and two cherubs beneath her.
‘Venus and Adonis’ is aRenaissance painting by
theItalian Mannerist artistPaolo Veronese, 1582,
Baroque: 1600 CE - 1730 CE
The term Baroque, derived from the Portuguese
Barroco' meaning ‘irregular pearl or stone’, refers to
a cultural and art movement that characterized
Europe From the early seventeenth to
mid-eighteenth century.Baroque emphasizes
dramatic, exaggerated motion and clear, easily
interpreted, detail. Due to its exuberant
irregularities, Baroque art has often been defined
as being bizarre, or uneven.
The Supper at Emmaus is originally commissioned
painting by the ItalianBaroque master
Caravaggio,executed in 1606, and now in London.
“Girl with a Pearl Earring” is a Baroque oil painting
by Dutch Golden Age painter Johannes
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Vermeer,dated c. 1665. Going by various names
over the centuries, it became known by its present
earring worn by the girl portrayed there.
“Judith Slaying Holofernes”, c. 1612–1613
Artemisia Gentileschi. As the ancient story
relates,Assyrian king Nebuchadnezzar sent his
generalHolofernes to besiege the Jewish city of
Bethulia.Judith, described as a beautiful young
widow,resolves to save her people by slaying
Holofernes Herself. After reciting a long prayer to
God, she dons her finest clothes in order to seduce
him.
Gian Lorenzo Bernini, “The Ecstasy of SaintTeresa”
is a 1647-1652 sculpture depictsTeresa of Ávila, a
Spanish Carmelite nun and saint, swooning in a
state of religious ecstasy,while an angel holding a
spear stands. It is located at Cornaro Chapel of the
church ofSanta Maria della Vittoria in Rome.
The Rape of Proserpina’ is a large Baroquemarble
group sculpture by Italian artist GianLorenzo
was only 23 years old at its completion.
Baroque architecture is a style that emerged in Italy
in the late-16th century. It was a more theatrical
version of Renaissance architecture,with dramatic
lighting and color, illusory effects such as trompe
l'oeil, and designs that played games with
architectural features, sometimes leaving them
seem incomplete.
Santa Maria della SaluteBasilica by
BaldassareLonghena in Venice (1630).
Baroque architecture is well known for its
extravagance andover-the-top style, and is still a
familiar sight in many European Cathedrals and
palaces. The term can also applied to music, and
there are many recognizable examples of forms. It
began as a Catholic Reaction to the conservative
style of Protestant religious buildings, andvisual
excess was actively encouraged.
St. Peter’s Square by Architect Gian Lorenzo
Bernini, 1664 is aniconic example of Baroque
theatricality.
Rococo: 1720 CE - 1780 CE
The Rococo movement was an artistic period that
emerged in France and spread throughout the
world. The word is a derivative of the French term
‘rocaille’ which means rock and shell garden
ornamentation’. Rococowas primarily influenced by
the VenetianSchool's use of color, erotic subjects,
andArcadian landscapes.“The Swing”
(1767-1768)by Jean-Honoré Fragonard.
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The father of Rococo painting wasJean Antoine
Watteau invented a new genre called ‘fêtes
galantes’, which were scenes of courtship parties.
Jean-Antoine Watteau“La Surprise”, A Couple
EmbracingWhile a Figure Dressed as
mezzetinTunes a Guitar, 1718-1719
‘Apollo and Daphne’ a Rococo painting byGiovanni
Battista Tiepolo, 1744. It depicts drama that occurs sensuously on a couch, both charming
between Apollo, god of music and poetry, and
Daphne, a virgin nymph. The artist was likely
inspired by the classical sculpture Apollo Belvedere
(circa 2nd century CE) as well as the
ancientRoman poet Ovid's rendition of the myth.
Jean-François de Troy, “The Declaration of
Love”(1731) These celebrated pendants exemplify
a genre of painting known as tableaux de
mode(paintings of fashionable society) established
by the artist himself in order to reject religious or spirituality, imagination, mystery, and fervor. The
mythological subjects. The artist somehow
achieved aesthetic mode of interior
decoration,clothing, etiquette, and social mores.
Neoclassicism: 1770s – 1840s
Neoclassicism was a Western cultural movement in
the decorative and visual arts, literature, theatre, novelistChampfleury in the 1840s and in art was
music, and architecture that drew inspiration from
the art and culture of classical antiquity.
Neoclassicism Is a revival of the many styles
inspired directly from the classical period, which
coincided and reflected the developments in
philosophy and other areas of the Age of
Enlightenment, and was initially a reaction against
the excesses of the preceding Rococo style.
Neoclassicism painting is characterized by clarity of the July Revolution in Paris that removed Charles
form, sober colors, shallow space,strong horizontal
and verticals that render that subject matter
timeless (instead of temporal as in the dynamic
Baroque works),and classical subject matter (or
classicizing contemporary subject matter).
The Birth of Venus, 1879 by William-Adolphe
Bouguereau. The painting is considered as the
artist's one of most famous Neoclassical
paintings.Depicting the origin story of Venus from
Roman Mythology.
Neoclassical architecture is characterized by
grandeur of scale, simplicity of geometric forms of
Greek especially Doric order or Roman
detail,dramatic use of columns, and a preference
for blank walls. The new taste for antique simplicity
represented a general reaction to the excesses of
the Rococo style.5 Neoclassicism: 1770s – 1840s
The Petit Trianon mansion, considered to be royal
architect Ange-JacquesGabriel's masterpiece, is
something of a manifesto for the neoclassical
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movement. Completed in 1768, it provided Louis
XV and his new mistress the Comtesse Du Barry
with the privacy which was so sorely lacking at the
palace.
One of the most famous of Neoclassical sculptures
is Antonio Canova'sPaolina Borghese (Pauline
Bonaparte) as Venus Victrix, 1805–07. She is
shown naked, lightly draped, and reclining
contemporary portrait and an idealized antique
Venus.
Romanticism: 1800s – 1850s
Romanticism was an artistic, literary, musical,
visual and intellectual movement that originated in
Europe towards the end of the 18th century, and in
most areas was at its peak in the approximate
period from 1800 to 1850. Romantic art focused on
emotions, feelings, andmoods of all kinds including
subject matter varied widely including landscapes,
religion,revolution, and peaceful beauty. The
brushwork for romantic art became looser and less
precise.
The term realism was coined by the French
exemplified in the work of his friend the painter
Gustav Courbet. Inpractice realist subject matter
meant scenes of peasant and working class life, the
life of the city streets, cafes and popular
entertainments, and an increasing frankness in the
treatment of the body and sexual subjects.
“Liberty Leading the People” is an oil painting(1830)
by French artist Eugène Delacroixcommemorating
X, the restored Bourbon king,from the
throne.Delacroix depicted Liberty as both an
allegorical goddess-figure and a robust woman of
the people.The mound of corpses and wreckage
acts as a kind of pedestal.
‘The Barque of Dante’, also Dante andVirgil in Hell
by Eugène Delacroix,1822. This work embarked
the shift in the character of narrative painting,from
Neoclassicism towardsRomanticism.
Realism: 1850s – 1880s
Realism is recognized as the first modern
movement in art, which rejected traditional forms of
art, literature, and social organization as outmoded
in the wake of the Enlightenment And the Industrial
Revolution. Beginning inFrance in the 1840s,
Realism revolutionized painting, expanding
conceptions of what constitutes art.
Realism in the arts is referred to the
accurate,detailed, unembellished depiction of
nature or of contemporary life. Realism rejects
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imaginative idealization in favor of a close
observation of outward appearances. As such,
realism in its broad sense has comprised many
artistic currents in different culture and civilizations. Post Impressionism: Van Gogh visible and
Olympia is identified in the painting as a courtesan
or prostitute. The identification is made with the
symbols of the orchid in her hair, her bracelet, the
pearl earrings, and her oriental shawl. The black
ribbon around her neck is in stark contrast with her
pale skin, reinforcing wealth, and sensuality.
Modernism
Impressionism: 1860s – 1880s
Impressionism is a radical movement rebelling
against classical and developed in France during
the mid-to-late 19th century. In this moment he
artists deliberately used layers of colors, leaving
gaps in the top layers to reveal the colors
underneath. The technique is achieved through
hatching, cross-hatching, stippling, dry brushing,
and sgraffito’ which is scratching into the paint.
Some call it rough or unfinished artwork.
Claude Monet and other Paris-based artist
questioned the traditional approach to art.They
wanted to remove the stricter rules about how and
when paintings should be constructed and create
art that showed the way that they saw the
subject.“Woman with a Parasol - Madame Monet
andHer Son” 1875, Claude Monet
Impressionism: Paintings with thick dabs and blobs
of paint.Choppy brushwork makes you wonder if
the artist finished the painting in a hurry.
‘A Bar at the Folies-Bergère’is a painting by
ÉdouardManet, considered to be his last major
work, painted in1882. It depicts a scene in the
Folies Bergère nightclub in Paris.
Post-impressionism: 1880s - 1905
Post-Impressionism is characterized by a
subjective approach to painting, as artists opted to
evoke emotion rather than realism in their work.
ThePost-impressionists rejected impressionisms
concern with the spontaneous and naturalistic
rendering of light and color. Instead they favored an
emphasis on more symbolic content, formal order
and structure and artificiality in strokes.
‘Vision after the Sermon’ is an oil painting by
French Artist Paul Gauguin, 1888. It Depicts a
scene from theBible in which Jacob Wrestles an
angel.
In July 1890 Vincent painted panoramic landscapes
in the plain above Auvershe described them in a
letter to Theoand Jo: ”They're immense stretches of
wheatfields under turbulent skies, and Imade a
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point of trying to express sadness, extreme
loneliness.”
emphasized brushstrokes in thick swathes of
impasto exploited colors and textures to make
powerfully expressive interpretations of landscapes,
portraits, and still life.
Expressionism: 1905 - 1920
Expressionism emerged as a reaction to
theEuropean spiritual and social crises of the early
20th century. Instead of the real world,
Expressionists conveyed their personal emotions in
their works. They Created masterpieces composed
of distorted figures, shocking colors, and powerful
lines.
Art Nouveau: 1890s - 1910
ART NOUVEAU (ahr noo-voh‘) is a French Term
meaning new art, refers to a style of architecture, of
commercial and decorative art, and, to some
extent, style of painting and sculpture that was
popular about 1900.
William Morris was recognized as the grandfather
of the international Arts and Craft Movements, in an
era of increasing industrialism and urbanization.
Hisart embraced an idealized vision of the
artisanship and cottage industries of the Middle
Ages. Morris art paved the way to modern interior
wall design,tapestry and textile art.
Art Nouveau was a compelling and energetic style
in the visual arts, Artists in this movement are
inspired by plant forms and nature, took organic
subjects and flattened and abstracted them into
sophisticated,sinuous and flowing motifs.
Cubism: 1907 - 1914
Paul Cézanne is said to have formed the bridge
between late 19th-century Impressionism and the
early 20th century's new artistic movement,Cubism.
Through his paintings, Cézanneappeared to be
capturing things from slightly different points of
view, as well as distilling objects and landscapes
into flat planes of color.
Cubism was fully revolutionized to a new approach
representing reality as invented in around 1907–08
by artists Pablo Picasso andGeorges Braque. They
brought different views of subjects (usually objects
or figures)together in the same picture, resulting in
paintings that appear fragmented and abstracted.
In Cubism, artists began to look at subjects innew
ways in an effort to depict three-dimensions on a
flat canvas. They would break up the subject into
many different shapes and then repaint it from
different angles. Cubism paved the way for many
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different modern movements of art in the 20 th
century.
Four important characteristics of Cubism are the
application of multiple perspectives, the use of
geometric shapes, a monochromatic color palette,
and a flattened picture plane.Cubism's novel
handling of form, color, and perspective signaled a Uncanny Art: A concept in art associated with
shift from the existing conventions of European
modernist painting.
‘Violin and Candlestick’,1910 by Georges
Braque.This work embodies the dynamic and
energetic qualities of Analytic Cubism,a
revolutionary artistic style
Futurism: 1909 - 1914
Artistic movement centered in Italy that emphasized Post Modernism Era
the dynamism,speed, energy, and power of the
machine and the vitality, change, and restlessness
of modern life. Futurism was launched by the Italian house”originated as a German school of the arts in
poetFilippo Tommaso Marinetti on 20 February
1909 where he published itsManifesto on the front
page of the Paris newspaper Le Figaro.
Futurist painting used elements and inspirations
from neo-impressionism and cubism to create
compositions that expressed the idea of the
dynamism, the energy and movement, of modern
life.Futurism is the defiance of the art of the past years after he left the school and the rise of the
and celebrating change,originality, and innovation
in culture and society.
Umberto Boccioni is one of the most well-known
artist of Futurism in the traditional sense. His two
successful works of art emphasized movement in
iconic fashion and style.
Dadaism: 1916 - 1924
Dadaism: A style of painting,sculpture, diorama and
assemblage developed and characterized chiefly
by an European artistic and literary movement
(1916-1923).
The making of ‘Etant Donnes’, Dada Art by
Duchamp
Installed behind a heavy wooden door, “Etant
donnes” consists of a diorama viewed through two
eyeholes. The scene depicts a nude woman,
possibly dead,with her legs splayed, holding an
illuminated gas lamp. Mountainous landscape,
based on a photo Duchamp shot inSwitzerland,
creates the background setting.
Surrealism: 1920s – 1960s
Surrealism aims to revolutionize human
experience. It balances a rational vision of life with
one that asserts the power of the unconscious and
dreams. The movement artists find magic and
strange beauty in the unexpected and the uncanny,
the disregarded and the unconventional. At the
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core of their work is the willingness to challenge
imposed values and norms, and a search for
freedom.
Surrealism: A movement which began in the 1920s
of writers and artists.
psychologist Sigmund Freud which describes a
strange and anxious feeling sometimes created by
familiar objects in unfamiliar contexts
Surrealism: Dalí depicted arresting dream images
and colorful insights brought forth from his own
subconscious. Heoften utilized bizarre
juxtapositions to make the familiar seem strange.
Bauhaus: 1920s – 1930s
Bauhaus—literally translated to “construction
the early 20th century. Founded by Walter Gropius,
the school eventually morphed into its own modern
art movement characterized by its unique approach
to architecture and design. Today,Bauhaus is
renowned for both its unique aesthetic that inv
Oskar Shlemmer painted Bauhaustreppe (1932),
the iconic Bauhaus windows and stairway, a few
Nazis signaled the end of modernist experiments in
Germany.
The Bauhaus was founded in 1919 in the city
ofWeimar by German architect Walter Gropius.
Itscore objective was a radical concept: to
reimagine the material world to reflect the unity of
all the arts. Gropius explained this vision for a union
of art and design in the Proclamation of the
Bauhaus(1919), which described a utopian craft
guild combining architecture, sculpture, and
painting into a single creative expression.
Key tenets of Bauhaus design include form follows
function and less is more. The style is
characterized by a lack of ornament and a focus on
simplicity clean lines that reduce forms to their
essential elements. Bauhaus Design, art, and
architecture often features simple geometric forms
such as circles,squares, and triangles.
Abstract Expressionism: 1940s – 1950s
Originating in 1940s America, Abstract
Expressionism took its inspiration from European
painters working in abstraction. It tended to reject
all recognizably realistic forms and used color and
texture as the primary tool for expression. Artists
used free-flowing, gestural painting brush marks,
producing paintings that were heavily reliant on
spontaneity and intuition.
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Paul Jackson Pollock was an Americanpainter. A
major figure in the abstract expressionist
movement, Pollock waswidely noticed for his "drip
technique"of pouring or splashing liquid household
paint onto a horizontal surface, enabling him to
view and paint his canvases from all angles.
Mark Rothko, born Markus Yakovlevich Rothkowitz,
was a Latvian-born American abstract painter. He is
best known for his color field paintings that depicted sculpture embodies the exciting sensation of
irregular and painterly rectangular regions of
color,which he produced from 1949 to 1970.
Pop Art: 1950s – 1960s
Pop art: art movement of the late 1950s and ’60s
that was inspired by commercial and popular
culture.Although it did not have a specific style or
attitude,Pop art was defined as a diverse response
to the postwar era’s commodity-driven values, often
using commonplace objects (such as comic strips,
soupcans, road signs, and hamburgers) as subject
matter or as part of the work
Pop Art's refreshing reintroduction of identifiable
imagery,drawn from media and popular culture,
was a major shift for the direction of modernism.
With roots in Neo-Dada And other movements that
questioned the very definition of “art” itself, Pop
was birthed in the United Kingdom in the 1950s
amidst a postwar socio-political climate where
artists turned toward celebrating commonplace
objects and elevating the everyday to the level of
fine art.
Minimalism: 1960s – 1970s
Minimalism is an extreme form of abstract art
developed in the USA in the 1960s and typified by
artworks composed of simple geometric shapes
based on the square and the rectangle
Minimalism or minimalist art can be seen as
extending the abstract idea that art should have its
own reality and not be an imitation of some other
thing. Weusually think of art as representing an
aspect of the real world (a landscape, a person, or
even a tin of soup and etc!); or reflecting an
experience such as an emotion or feeling. With
minimalism, no attempt is made to represent an
outside reality, the artist wants the viewer to
respond only to what is in front of them.
Art Deco: 1910s – 1940s
Art deco is shortened words from French art
décoratif or ‘decorative art’ from the 1925
“Exposition des Arts décoratifs in Paris”. Art
Decofocused on the motion and thrill of the
modern, mechanized world not only applied to
visual arts but also to mass-produced fashion and
individually crafted luxury items. Art Deco was also
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influential across fashion, advertising and
architecture.
“Study from the Chariot Of Poseidon” Mural,1935
by Jean Dupas
“Victorie” is a car glass mascot by the French
designer René Lalique that encapsulates well the
essence of Art Deco. It represents a female figure
facing a strong wind, the hair behind her resembles
a wing, and her face is jutting forward. The entire
speed, the perfect celebration of technological
innovation and of the machine age, which was one
of the main themes of Art Deco style.“Victorie”,
Sculpture By René Lalique
“Normandie” is one of the most iconic posters
ofCassandre, the pioneer of modern graphic
design.The poster advertises the Normandie ocean
liner, showcase of French Art Deco design and
technological progress. It depicts the frontal view of
the liner. The simplicity and symmetry of the
loominghull are able to convey the impressive
dimension as well as the streamlined elegance of
the Normandie.
Art Deco buildings have a sleek, linear appearance
with stylized, often geometric ornamentation. The
Primary façade of Art Deco buildings often feature
a series of set backs that create a stepped
outline.Low-relief decorative panels can be found at
entrances, around windows, along roof edges or
asstring courses.
Western art encompasses many different
cultures,periods, and significant events. All of which
give us a clear picture of the past. Whether you’re
an artist,someone who loves paintings, or ordinary
individual who just wants to enjoy beauty and
functions of arts.There is a lot to learn from western
art, and its influences. Western art spans the
middle ages, the renaissance period, and many
periods in which technological advancements
occurred.
What Does Modernism Really Mean?
Modernism refers to a global movement in society
and culture that from the early decades of the
twentieth century sought a new alignment with the
experience and values of modern or advance
industrial life.Building on late nineteenth-century
precedent like artists, designers,engineers,
architects, scientists, scholars, researchers,
medical practitioners and inventors around the
world used new imagery, materials and techniques
to create artworks that they felt better reflected the
realities and hopes of modern societies.
Born on June 10, 1819 and died on December 31,
1877,French painter and active socialist Jean
Désiré GustaveCourbet led the Realism movement
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in 19th-centuryFrench painting. Committed to only
painting subjects in its realistic state of beings.
Picturing what he could see and rejecting academic
convention and the Romanticism Of the previous
generation of masters in visual arts.
The terms “modernism” and “modernism in art” are
generally used to describe the succession of art
movements that critics and historians have
identified since the realism of Jean Désiré Gustave
Courbet in the late 19th century, culminated in
abstract art forms during its progress in the 1960s
and beyond.
Gustave Courbet was the founding father of the
politically-motivatedRealism movement, which
revolutionized European painting. He paved the
way for the Impressionists and ultimately the birth
of modern art.Gustave Courbet is widely renowned
as one of France's greatest paintersever.He
experimented with novel compositional strategies
and a revolutionary painting technique which
included the use of thick superimposed layers of
paint applied directly with a palette knife. This
approach strongly influenced Paul Cézanne
(1839–1906), who began mimicking Courbet's Style
in the 1860s.
Paul Cézanne, a French artist and
Post-Impressionist painter whose work introduced
new modes of representation and influenced
avant-garde artistic movements of the early 20th
century.
Courbet Controversy Art #1:
Public display of insanity according to his critics,
“The Desperate Man”1845 is a self oil-on-canvas
autobiographical portrait depicting the artist in a
moment of personal and artistic crisis. The feeling
when you have lost almost all hope or ability to
reach a goal.
Courbet Controversy Art #2:
German troops hastily loaded artworks from
Dresden's galleries and museums onto trucks
including “The Stone Breakers” 1849. It was
destroyed, along with 153 other paintings, when a
transport vehicle moving the pictures to the
Königstein Fortress, near Dresden, was bombed by
Allied forces during war. Rumors during that time
that almost all of the paintings destroyed has
political subjects about slavery and tyranny.
Courbet Controversy Art #3:
A Burial at Ornans functions as a painting that
raises the status of the everyday citizen to that of a introduced Les Fauves‘ in the world of fine art
monarch or god leveling social class. For Those
viewers in 1850, it was a bit more complicated in
terms of political, economic and social issues.
Some critics focused on the appearance of the
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mourners, calling them ugly caricatures,
revolting,and comical.
Courbet Controversy Art #4:
“The Bathers” is an oil-on-canvas painting by
theCourbet, first exhibited at the Paris Salon of
1853,where it caused a major scandal. It was
unanimously attacked by art critics for the huge
nude woman at its centre and the sketchy
landscape background, both against official artistic
canons. Later on artists who followed him in
experimentations dubbed him as the father of
modernism art.
Courbet’s artistic ability and innovations was largely
self-taught, following his own rigorous and thorough
schedule in order to learn how to paint like the Old
Masters of European art.Courbet chose not to
enroll in the Ecole desBeaux-Arts or to learn to
paint under any of the great classical artists of the
period.
Courbet’s Death:
Courbet died on December 31, 1877, the day
before the first installment is due. He was 58. The
cause of death was edema, presumably the result
of his excessive drinking. He kept on his death bed
some of his favorite self portraits like “Man Mad
with Fear” 1843 and “Man with theLeather Belt”
1845.
As opposed to Impressionism, in which the
emphasis was on the reality of the created paint
surface itself,Symbolism was both an artistic and a
literary movement that suggested ideas through
symbols and emphasized the meaning behind the
forms, lines, shapes,and colors. The works of some
of its proponents exemplify the ending of the
tradition of representational art coming from
Classical times.
Pointillism/Stippling: Revolutionary painting
technique pioneered by Georges Seurat and Paul
Signac inParis in the mid-1880s. It was a reaction
against the prevailing movement ofImpressionism,
which was based on the subjective responses of
individual artists.
De Stijl is a Dutch art movement which founded
in1917 by Piet Mondrian andTheo van Doesberg.
These DeStijl artists were known for their
Neoplasticist style: an abstract use of geometric
shapes, specifically rectangles,and primary colors,
along with black and white.
Fauvism: Matisse together with AndréDerain first
believed that color should be used at its highest
pitch to express the artist's feelings about a subject,
rather than simply to describe what it looks like.
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Futurism is a cursory glance, likened humans to
machines and vice versa in order to embrace
change, speed, and innovation in society while
discarding artistic and cultural forms and traditions Pastiche-means-composite
of the past.
Constructivism, a new art originated in Russia
Which embraced theory that art should be
“constructed”from modern industrial materials such
as plastic, steel,and glass, etc in order to serve a
societal purpose instead of merely making an
abstract statement.
Postmodernism gained ascendancy during the
1960s and it was a reaction against modernism.
Both was generally based on idealism and a
utopian vision of human life and society and a belief 1940s,artists were dominating the art world with
in progress. It assumed that certain ultimate
universal principles or truths such as those
formulated by religion or science could be used to
understand or explain reality.Postmodernism
ArtPostmodernist artists however experimented
with form, technique and processes rather than
focusing on subjects, thinking out of the box
believing they could find a way of purely reflecting
the modern world.
Anti-authoritarianism: Postmodernism rejects the
idea that there is a right way to make art, and it
blurs the lines between highart and low art.
Postmodern artists use imagery from popular
culture,creating art that commented on everyday
mass media trends like comic books,
advertisements, and television.
Pluralism: Postmodern works of art explore
complex notions about subjective reality. In reaction Pop Art: Intended as a reaction to preceding
to the idea that art should highlight an objective
truth. This pluralism art focuses on the artist’s
unique perspective. Postmodernism posits that
individual experience and the individual's
interpretation of that experience is more valuable
than abstract principles from science, religion, or
politics.
Irony and pastiche: Inspired by earlier art forms like measuring 40 inches square, and each a portrait
cubism,surrealism, and Dada, postmodernism
takes a humorous and skeptical approach to
making art. Similar to earlier works, like Marcel
Duchamp’scontroversial readymade sculpture of a
porcelain urinal called “Fountain”(1917),
postmodern art makes a spectacle of existing
objects and ideas within the culture.
Pastiche-means-composite
fraud-means-ForgingThe artists slash forger
combines copies of various parts or the whole of
another artist’s work to form a new composition and
adds a few connecting elements of his own to make
it a convincing presentation. The artists in this type painting.Playing with subject matter, symbolism and
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of indirect forgery faces challenges with audience
approval.
fraud-means-ForgingThe artists slash forger should
know that the main purpose of using pastiche is to
celebrate great works of the past, or genres that a
given show, movie, orstory does not actually belong
to. When the forger and the audience share a love
for this other work, they can celebrate it together
through a pastiche.
Robert Rauschenberg: One of the first postmodern
artists,Rauschenberg was a painter, sculptor, and
graphic artist who pushed artistic boundaries.
When Rauschenberg began working in the
abstract expressionism.
“White Painting (Three Panel)” This is a series of
modular canvases, painted entirely white, which
reflect changes in light and the chance effects of
shadows in the surrounding space.
Rauschenbergfirst made these conceptual works in
1951.
Andy Warhol: began his career as a magazine and
advertising illustrator and became a leading figure
of the 1960s pop art scene inNew York City.
Combining commercial techniques with
avant-garde sensibilities, he created paintings
focused on mass produced goods and label
brandings. He created colorful portraits of
celebrities like MarilynMonroe, and Elizabeth
Taylor.
modern art movements,contemporary art is thought
to have begun on the heels of Pop Art. Pioneered
byAmerican artists like Andy Warhol and
RoyLichtenstein. It is defined by an interest in
portraying mass culture and reimagining
commercial products as accessible art.
“Shot Marilyns” is a series of silkscreen paintings
produced in 1964 by Andy Warhol, each canvas
ofMarilyn Monroe.
Jasper Johns: Johns, who worked together with
RobertRauschenberg, paved the way for neo-Dada
art. In 1954, 24-year-oldJohns created a hot wax
painting called Flag, a reproduction of theAmerican
flag that was sold to the Museum of Modern Art.
His innovative artworks encouraged viewers to
rethink their concept of art, setting the stage for
movements like pop art and minimalism.
“Target with Four Faces” exemplifies Jasper Johns
Exploration of the new possibilities for
different techniques, Johns was able to create this
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engaging,unsettling and thought provoking
composition.
Roy Lichtenstein: Born in New York City,
Lichtenstein was one of the most influential and
controversial postmodern artists of the 1960s.Many
of his paintings were sourced from comic books
and advertisements, like Popeye (1961).
Lichtenstein used Ben-Day dots—a technique and
his work was in direct opposition to the abstract
paintings from artists that preceded him, like Mark contextual frameworks such as identity, family,
Rothko and Willem de Kooning.
Roy Lichtenstein became famous for his bright and
bold paintings of comic strip cartoons as well as his
paintings of everyday objects. He was one of a
group of artists making art in the 1960s who were
called pop artists because they made art about
'popular' things such as TV,celebrities, fast food,
pop music and cartoons.
Jeff Koons: In the 1980s, Koons gained recognition
as an innovative sculptor of iconic artworks like
“Michael Jackson and Bubbles” (1988)and Rabbit
(1986), which broke auction records for the most
expensive artwork when it sold for $91.1 million in
2019. Inspired by the ready-mades of previous
artists like Duchamp and Warhol.
Jeff Koons has stated that his works of art should
reach the largest possible audience. For this
purpose he sought inspiration in entertainment
media, pop culture and Christian art. The depiction
of a media effective person like MichaelJackson
might have helped him to achieve this aim.
Contemporary Art initially grew along with
Modernism until young artists became more
experimental which gave birth to Contemporary Art
and coined as “the art of today.” Contemporary art
more broadly includes artwork produced during the
late 20th and early 21st centuries.
From a simple society to a limited patronage in
1910, Roger Fry anEnglish painter and his
colleagues founded the Contemporary ArtSociety.
Through the 1930’s more institutions were founded
and scholars in that field did not expect that the
contemporary style continues to progress and gave
birth to the wide variety of approaches and
outcomes.
Con - Medieval Latinwhich means“together with”
Temporary - tempus / tempor which means“time”
So Contemporary Art is experimental approaches
and styles according to the changing time in the
context of artist’s creative thoughts about human
experiences in the present pressing social, political
and moral challenges in creating art.
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Characteristics: The most prominent feature of
contemporary art is the fact that it has no distinct
feature or a single characteristic. It is defined by the
artist's ability to innovate with freedom and bring
out a modern masterpiece.
Function: Contemporary art provides the artists
opportunities to reflect on society and the issues
that are important to society and the world. Itis part
of a cultural dialogue that concerns larger
community, and nationality.
Contemporary art is a catch-all term for all art that
has come after the Second World War. As Such, it
encompasses many themes and styles,and takes
us up to the present day. Diversity And challenging
nature, contemporary Artoffers works with a
dynamic combination of materials, methods,
concepts and subjects that challenge the traditional
and defy easy and simple definition.
Artist Lawrence Argent fromColorado interpreted
the classicVenus de Milo sculpture in contemporary
impressionism and now reigns as the centerpiece
ofPiazza Angelo. At 28 meters, she is called
“Venus” now the tallest sculpture in San Francisco.
Poised to be the newest tourist destination and
cultural landmark in thePhilippines, "The Victor" is a
towering art installation that captures the
indomitable spirit of the Filipino people a testament
to the resilience and determination of the Filipino
people.
"The Victor“, 2023 by Fil-Am artist
JefrёManuel-Figueras commissioned
byBridgetowne Robinsons Land Corp.
The Victor stands at a staggering height of 60
meters surpassing the height of the iconic Statue of
Liberty, which measures only 46 meters from heel
to torch. The sculpture embodies the essence of
Filipino Artistry, creativity, and innovation, a
seamless blend of art, architecture,and
engineering, and ingenuity.
“It seemed perfectly natural to me that if you like to
touch things,you like to touch soft things as well as
hard things. If you're going to make sculpture out of
real things around you, then why not try to make
them soft so that you could push them around,and
they'll change shape.” - Oldenburg
Style of Contemporary Art
Artists of the past were often influenced by
religion,mythology, and the demands of their paying
patrons.
Today’s artists are more focused on their:
• own personal expressions
• own personal interests
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• self reflection affecting culture,
• current political climates and
• popular trends.
• Experimental tools and materials
When do you consider an art as Contemporary
aside from identifying first its period of creation?
Its most of the time experimental in terms of:
• Style, method and technique (self-taught artist)
• Individual choice of media to use
• Wide array of concepts, themes and subjects to
portray
• Wide array of tools and materials to use including
digital media
Unlike other schools of art, this school of art has no Masterful creations delight any viewer’s eye.
single point of view of objective. Instead, it is
multi-faceted. The pieces are often reflective of the The famous Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama has
artist and so reflect a great diversity of
perspectives.This makes Contemporary Art a
diversity and complex examination of present-day
life.Themes that varies along the passage of time
according to:identity body technology global
migration society culture memory critics
A key figure on the international art
scene,Japanese artist Takashi Murakami is known
for creating stunningly colorful floral art, inspired
byJapan’s vibrant manga scene. Often
consideredAndy Warhol‘s successor, he is
associated with theJapanese Neo-Pop Art
movement. However, hiswork remains highly
individualized, and he refuses to be confined to a
single art style.
British painter Jenny Saville recently became the
world’s most expensive female artist after her
painting titled Propelled sold for $12.4million at a
Sotheby’s auction. Her visual treatment of bodies,
nude and voluptuous, displays her impressive
technical prowess, and her handling of form is
comparable to sculptors.
The world’s most expensive living artist, British
painter DavidHockney, He is being regarded as an
important contributor to the pop art movement of
the 1960s and considered one of the most
influentialBritish artists of the 20th century and an
omnipresent figure in contemporary art. Aside from
being a painter he is also a draftsman,printmaker,
stage designer, and photographer.
Artist Ai Weiwei, a crucial figure of the independent
Chinese artistic scene and a perfect example of
what a socially engaged artist ought to be. Involved
in the fight for human’s rights while openly opposed
to the Chinese government, AiWeiwei succeeds in
reaching a wide audience with his installation
artwork. Art Review magazine has ranked him as
one of the most influential contemporary artists.
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Installation Art: This striking art pieces were created
in order to pay homage to the child victims of an
earthquake that took place in the Sichuan province
in 2008. The Large scale art is composed of 9,000
students backpacks served as canvas. The
Chineseartist Ai Weiwei created this striking piece
inorder to pay homage to the child victims o fan
earthquake that took place in the Sichuan Province
in 2008.
French sculptor Jean-Michel Othonielis known by
many as the “glass virtuoso.” Hiscolorful aerial
installations are exhibited everywhere from the
royal gardens atVersailles to the Palais Royal metro
station inParis. Suspended in the air, Othoniel
taken the art market by storm with her signature
dots since the 1960s. Her art is all the more
fascinating as it is the product of a rare mental
condition ‘hallucinatory visions’ the artist has
experienced since her childhood. For Kusama, artis
a form of important catharsis.
Today at 94, Kusama’s known best for her“Infinity
Rooms” of large-scale enclosed environments that
have become Instagramfodder, with their endless
reflections of reflections, polka-dotted surfaces, and
glittering lights luring droves of people insearch of
selfies, transcendence, and more.
‘Untitled #153’ is a color photograph made by
Americanvisual artist Cindy Sherman in 1985. In
2010, a print was auctioned for $2.7 million, making
it one of the most expensive photographs ever sold
at that time.
At present, Contemporary Art is the undisputed
artbrand of our era in all professional contexts and
enjoys widespread resonance in public media and
popular speech. Yet, its valiance for any of the
usualart-critical and historical purposes remains
contested and uncertain. One thing is for sure,
Contemporarymay be defined as the “Art of Today
and beyond”.
Installation Art:
Standing at a height of 30 meters in the shape of a
spider, ‘Maman’ is an iconic sculptural artwork by
Louise Bourgeois, 1999-2002. Various Versions of
the piece exist, created using a diverse range of
materials.Built for an exhibition at the Tate Modern,
it pays homage to Bourgeois Mother, who died
suddenly when the artist was just 21.
Installation Art: In 1990s museums began to
regularly install monumental scale artworks indoors
for exhibition attracting more art enthusiasts
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Performance Art: Abramović sittingsilent and still in the photo, transfer it to a canvas for painting, and
a chair across fromanother chair in which anyone bring it back to life using a different medium.‘Mark’,
could sitsilently, one at a time for however long they 1977, Chuck Close.
wanted at the Museum of Modern Art In New York.
She sat for the entire run other 2010 retrospective,
which added up to736 hours and 30 minutes.

Mixed-media Art: Jardim Gramacho, a321-acre plot

of land on the northern edge of Riode Janeiro, was
the world’s largest garbage dump until it closed in
2012. Between 2007 and 2010,the Jardim became
a kind of studio for Brazilian-born, New York- and
Rio-based artist Muniz

The Death of Marat originally is a 1793 painting by

Jacques-Louis David depicting the artist's friend
and murdered French revolutionary leader,
Jean-Paul Marat

Shadow Art: Kumi is best known for her light and

shadow sculptures constructed from everyday
objects. She first starts with photographing real
models to begin understanding the different poses
she works with. She expresses the importance of
shadow manipulation and outline.

Street Art: This iconic street artist first appeared on

Waterloo Bridge inLondon. This work has been
repeated many times in support of various political
campaigns, notably the Syrian refugee crisis in
2014.

Street Art: This art piece from PilipinasStreet Plan,

or PSP for short, is the result of the artists banding
together to form a community that has not only take
their art to the streets to some key cities(Manila,
Laguna, Cavite, Cebu, Tacloban,and even Dubai)
but brought the conversation about street art to a
wider audience. Nemo Aguila, one of the core
members of PSP, shares shared this exhibition
photo, 2017.

Earth Art: also known as ‘land art’ or earthworks’ is

an artistic movement emerged inAmerica during the
1960s when a number of sculptors and painters
such as Robert Smithsondetermined to heighten
public awareness ofMan's relationship with the
natural world by intervening in the landscape in a
series of thought-provoking constructions.

Street Art: As one of the most recent contemporary

art movements, street art is a genre that gained
prominence with the rise of graffiti in the 1980s.
Often rooted in social activism, street art includes
murals,installations, stenciled images, and stickers
erected in public spaces. Key street artists include
Jean-Michel Basquiat and Keith Haring.

Photo Realism: or ‘hyperrealism’ primary goal of a

photorealist was to capture the essence of the
photo on canvas. To do so,the artist would develop
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