Introduction to Visual Art
The development of the visual medium
The Purposes of Visual Art
• Ceremonial: ritual, celebration, art is created to support worship ceremonies.
• Artistic Expression: artwork to express or communicate emotions, ideas, feelings
• Narrative: art that tells a story, describes an experience, document an important or historical event
• Functional: artistic objects used in everyday life (pottery, quilts, baskets, etc…)
• Persuasive: artworks that promote ideas, philosophies, or products (ads, marketing, propaganda, ideology…)
Question for YOU:
• Considering all the purposes of visual art, what was the purpose/purposes behind the “Biography Collage” that we created?
• Write and explain your answer on a piece of paper. You have 5 minutes.
The Development of Visual Art:Ancient Approaches
• The earliest known sculpture dates from app. 30,000 to 15,000 BC.
• The first visual art consisted of lines scratched in damp clay…usually drawn of animals and in caves
• Ancient visual art developed in three stages:1. Black outline drawings of animals2. Addition of a second color to create sense of light/shade3. Multi-colored paintings done in a realistic style.
• Ancient art shied away from 3-dimensionality…subjects in profile only.
Cave Painting• Cave of Lascaux (in France) was discovered by a group of
children…hundreds of cave paintings found
• They contain some of the best-known Upper Paleolithic art. These paintings are estimated to be 17,000 years old.
More Lascaux Cave Paintings
Sumer (Mesopotamia)
• Middle East (between Tigris and Euphrates…present day Iraq)
• Majority of surviving works prior to 3000BC are painted pots and stamp seals
• Showed scenes of sacrifice, hunting, battle…
Assyrian Art
• Northern people from Ashur on Tigris River
• Had great military power and ruled over the whole region for nearly 400 years, waging constant warfare (destroying conquered cities)
• Leader Sargon II in 722 BC ruled during peak of power
• The citadel of Sargon II has been excavated and showed poor construction methods…
• The art showed the “supernatural” powers of the king.
Citadel of Sargon II
Hebrews, Israelites, and Jews
• Wrote and collected books of Old Testament
• Began as a group in 1200 BC
• Great works : King Solomon’s Temple and The Hebrew Bible
The Hebrew Bible
• The word Bible comes from the Greek word for book.
• The earliest written Bible dates back to the days of King David in 10th c BC.
• 24 books
Psalm 120:
“Out of the depths I cry to thee. O Lord!
Lord, hear my voice! Let thy ears be attentive to the voice of
My supplications!”
Pages from a Hebrew Bible
Art of Ancient Egypt
• We will study more in-depth next.
• Great works: Pyramids, Temple of Luxor, Sphinx, King Tut’s Tomb
Art of Ancient China
• People governed by social, family units/relationships
• Shang Dynasty (1400-1100 BC) began the history
• Shang Dynasty produced bronze weapons and ceremonial vessels.
• Stone sculpture in high-relief or in the round (mostly in Jade)….fish, owls, tigers, etc…
Art of Native America
• Pre-Columbian (before Columbus)
• Post-Columbian (after Columbus)
• Weaving, metalsmithing, pottery, architecture
Art of Ancient Greece
• We will study in greater detail later.
• Includes, architecture, sculpture