A.

A-REV 1

LESSON 7: Art in Early

Civilization
• Stone Age is a term used to Paleolithic (the late years of
describe a period of history the Old Stone Age),
when stones were used to make Mesolithic (Middle Stone
tools for survival. Age), and the Neolithic (New
Stone Age).
• The term “conjures an image
of men and women dressed in • The unearthing of
skins, huddling before a fire in archaeological artifacts and
a cave” (Fitcher-Rathus,2013). remains provide modern
• Though prehistoric humans society a glimpse of the beliefs,
would not necessarily possess practices, and activities of early
the compel rational capabilities civilizations.
to tell their story through
written records and accounts, • The motives and reasons
some artifacts in the form of behind the creation of ancient
cave paintings and sculptures materials such as sculptures,
would serve as the paintings, and architectural
“storytellers”. structures may not be clearly
defined.
• In order to talk about
prehistoric art, there is a need • Nevertheless, the early
to situate them within the people produced such materials
context of the three periods of that reflect their attitudes and
the Stone Age culture (which belief systems on spiritual,
roughly span the 14,000-2,000 social, political, and economic
BCE): matters.
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• It can be noted that works of PREHISTORIC ART

art and architecture were
created from a wide array of • The stone Age has witnessed
materials from limestone to how humans were able to lead
precious gems and metals to more stable lives and
name a few. eventually come up with
permanent shelters and tools
• As the early humans started for survival.
to transition from being
nomads to permanent settlers, A. Paleolithic Art
their everyday activities also • Caves became protective
had some changes, which is havens for the early humans
evident through the materials and these caves paved the way
and even the works of art they for the birth of their first
have created. attempt to create art.
• Representations in caves,
• Despite changes as a result of painted or otherwise, include
adapting to their environment, few humans, but sometimes
there are central themes in their human heads or genitalia
artworks. appear in isolation. Animal
figures always constitute the
• Most ancient artworks depict majority of images in caves.
religious symbols, a wide array
of organisms from nature and • Birds and fish were rarely
activities of everyday life. depicted. Geometric signs are
always numerous, though the
specific types vary based on the
time period in which the cave
was painted and the cave’s
location.
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• Most cave art consists of (e.g., the Maya caves in

paintings made with either red Mexico, the so-called mud-
or black pigment. glyph caves in the
southeastern United States),
• Cave art is generally in Australia (Koonalda Cave,
considered to have a symbolic South Australia), and
or religious function, in Asia (the Kalimantan caves
sometimes both. in Borneo, Indonesia, with
• The exact meanings of the many hand stencils).
images remain unknown, but • Art in the open, on shelters or
some experts think they may on rocks, is extremely
have been created within the abundant all over the world and
framework of shamanic beliefs generally belongs to much later
and practices. times.

One such practice involved

going into a deep cave for a
ceremony during which a
shaman would enter a trance
state and send his or her soul
into the other world to make
contact with the spirits and try
to obtain their benevolence.

Examples of paintings and

engravings in deep caves—i.e.,
existing completely in the
dark—are rare outside Europe,
but they do exist in the
Americas
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B. Mesolithic Art outcroppings or

overhangs. The human figure
The Mesolithic is frequently the main theme in
painted scenes. When it
Period, or Middle Stone Age, is
appears in the same scene as
an archaeological term used to animals, the human figure runs
describe specific groups of towards them.
cultures defined as falling
between the Paleolithic and the • Hunting scenes are the most
Neolithic Periods. common, but there are also
• While the start and end dates scenes of battle and dancing,
of the Mesolithic Period vary and possibly agricultural tasks
by geographical region, we can and managing domesticated
animals.
date it approximately from
10,000 BCE to 8,000 BCE.
• These Mesolithic rock arts
have been discovered in
• Art from this period responds
numerous locations across
to the changing weather Spain, Asia, Africa,
conditions to a warmer climate Australasia and the Americas.
and adaptation to relatively
sedentary lifestyles, population C. Neolithic Art
size, and use of plant foods—
all evidence of the transition to • In Prehistoric art, the term
agriculture and eventually the "Neolithic art" describes all
Neolithic. arts and crafts created by
societies who had abandoned
• Mesolithic rock art moves the semi-nomadic lifestyle of
from caves to outdoor sites hunting and gathering food in
such as vertical cliffs or sheer favour of farming and animal
faces of natural rock, often husbandry.
protected from the elements by
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• It has developed especially EGYPTIAN ART

when life for the early humans • Fertile Ribbon starts from the
has become more stable. banks of the Nile River (length-
• By 4000 BCE, there were 6650km), which flows north to
several monument and Africa and ventures into the
architectural structures erected. Mediterranean.

• Neolithic sculpture became • It is in this very ribbon where

bigger, in part, because people early Egyptians recognized the
didn’t have to carry it around integral role of the Nile River
anymore; pottery became more to their daily lives.
widespread and was used to
store food harvested from • It is this indispensability and
farms. utility that eventually led to the
belief that the Nile is to be
• Alcohol was first produced worshipped as a god. With this
during this period and came the notion that art was
architecture, as well as its something that can be ascribed
interior and exterior and associated with religion.
decoration, first appears. In
short, people settled down and Three Periods of Egyptian
began to live in one place, year Civilization:
after year.
1. Old Kingdom
• It was evident that religion
was bound to the afterlife.

•Tombs are used for keeping

the dead bodies of important
Stonehenge (Southern people particularly
England)
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PHARAOHS and served as a • They used wooden rollers to

shelter for the next journey. move the stones from the
plateau to construction site.
• Tombs are decorated with Stonecutters on the site carved
everyday objects that would the blocks in a fine way before
reflect day-to-day activities as stacking them.
if the afterlife is a mere
continuation of what transpired • The stacking process also
on earth. showed the advancement of the
• One of the cosmetic palettes Egyptians since they already
found in Egypt was called used a system of ropes and
NARMER PALETTE. It was pulleys.
a palette that utilized and
applied dark colors around • The construction of the
King Narmer’s eyes. It pyramids did not only show the
symbolizes the unification of brilliance of the early
Upper and Lower Egypt Egyptians but it also
highlighted the reverence of
• During the Old Kingdom, one the people to their pharaoh at
of the architectural wonders the expense of the citizens.
was also constructed. The
pyramids in Giza served as • They also ensured that the
tombs since their main purpose insides of the pyramids would
was to provide resting place for celebrate the life of their
the Pharaohs. pharaoh by lavishly decorating
them. However, it posed as a
• The pyramids are massive in problem since thieves usually
size and were constructed plundered the valuable objects
using roughly more than two used to decorate the inside of
million limestone blocks. The the pyramids.
construction of the pyramids
highlighted the ingenuity and
advancement of the Egyptians
for their time.
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2. Middle Kingdom This Asiatic tribe introduced

• Shift in the Political bronzed aged weapons and
Hierarchy – one of the key horses to the Egyptians.
features of the Middle
Kingdom. 3. New Kingdom
• The most striking aspect • It was a time of expansionism
of Middle Kingdom art, through territorial acquisition.
however, is the subject The art of the New Kingdom
matter. had references from both of the
• Common people, instead preceding kingdoms.
of nobility, feature more
often in art from this •Monuments and sculptures
period than any other. were still linked with death and
reverence for the deceased.

PORTRAIT SCULPTURES • Egypt has established itself

AND FRESCO PAINTINGS as a more advanced and
powerful civilization. Their
• are freely drawn are some of high regard for the people can
the styles that emerged during be seen through their
this period. sculptures built on massive and
•To solve the problem on monumental scales.
thieves, the Egyptians made
rock-cut tombs by carving out MORTUARY TEMPLES
a living rock. The inside of the
tombs where still filled with • have emerged in New
chamber and the hallways were Kingdom. These temples
lavishly decorated to celebrate which were carved out of living
the life of the deceased. rocks, served not only a
sanctuary for the dead but also
Egypt was not immune from a place of worship for the
foreign invaders and eventually living.
fell into the hands of the
Hyksos.
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Most sculptures during this Summary

period had curving lines and • During the Prehistoric
full-bodied forms. period, the early humans had
transitioned from a nomadic
• There is emphasis to life-like
features of the face like an lifestyle to that of a more
elongated jaw and thick-lidded permanent one, which led to
eyes. early civilizations.

• Most artists created artworks • Some of the works

that are natural and seemingly discovered from this period
real, highlighting the features
would give modern society a
of their subjects. Naturalism
was not only used to depict the glimpse of what was life during
pharaoh but also was used for that period.
members of the royal family.
• The bust of Queen Nefertiti • Through these unearthed and
has a long and sensuous neck. discovered artworks, the
modern world could have a
better understanding of the past
• Probably one of the greatest
discoveries from the Egyptian and how it can affect the
civilization was the tomb of present.
Tutankhamen. He became king
at a very young age and died at
the age of eighteen. Howard
Carter discovered his tomb in
1922.

• It was a gold artwork and the

coffin was made out of solid
gold.
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LESSON 8: Art in Emerging Great Roman Arts

Europe • The Aqueduct of Segovia,
Spain
ANCIENT ROME (500 B.C. • Iconic dome of the Florence
to 1453 A.D.) Cathedral
• Roman art began around 500 • Saint Peter’s Basilica, Rom
B.C. and ended at the fall of • The Colloseum in Rome,
Rome in 1453 A.D. Italy

• Roman art was developed A. MEDIEVAL ART ( c. 450

largely because of the Roman C.E to 1400 C.E.)
empire, during the time of
Romulus to Emperor • Medieval art covered almost
Constantine. ten centuries between the Sack
of Rome (c. 450 C.E.) and the
• Roman art often depicted early Italian Renaissance (1400
Roman mythology because of C.E.).
their belief in the power of
gods, artists also illustrated • In the beginning of the
Roman emperors particularly medieval period, all work of art
in sculpture. are commissioned by religious
authorities for
The Greeks were a great churches/monasteries.
influence in Roman sculpture. Prominent use of valuable
But Roman portraiture showed materials such as gold, for
the skills originality of the objects in churches, jewelry,
Romans by portraying their mosaic backgrounds.
emperors, generals and
senators with a degree of Art historians generally
realism unknown to the classify medieval art into the
Greeks. following periods:
Early Medieval Art,
Romanesque Art, and Gothic
Art.
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Early Medieval • Pre-Romanesque or

Carolingian was the north
• Early medieval European style of the
architecture was Renaissance in the late 8th and
predominantly related to 9th century during the reign of
building sacred buildings, Charlemagne
such as churches, which was
the primary structure • Ottonian architecture was
signifying Christian faith. The the later period of
Roman basilica was the Romanesque, developed under
primary model of medieval the reign of Emperor Otto the
architecture. Great (936-975)
• Castles and walls are the
most notable examples of non- • Sculpture were prevalent
religious medieval during this time, where stone
architecture. was used to present biblical
subject matter and church
Romanesque Art doctrines.

• Romanesque Architectural Other significant media are

style flourished across Europe stained glass and the tradition
with France as the center of of continued illuminated
production and innovation. manuscripts.
It took shape in the eleventh Example;
(11th) century, developing in Christi illuminated
France, Spain, Germany, Italy, manuscript
and other regions.
• Romanesque buildings were Gothic Art
characterized by semi- • Originated in the 12th century
circular arches, thick stone with the rebuilding of the
walls, sturdy pillars, barrel Abbey Church in Saint
vaults,large towers, Denis, France.
decorative arcading, and
durable construction.
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 Gothic architecture offered • Architecture is influenced by

revolutionary structural Greek and Roman- Byzantine,
advancements such as ribbed Romanesque and Gothic styles
vaults, flying buttresses, and emerged from this period.
decorative pinnacles all • Mosaics replaced carved
contributing to taller and decorations
lighter building design. • Large domes central to the
• Gothic architecture was light, church
graceful and mostly spacious in
nature. Medieval Churches and
Monasteries
• Heavy piers were replaced • Romanesque structures
by slender ones while window featured pointed arches and
dimensions became larger as heavy thick walls,small
vaults and spires increased in windows like the Roman style.
height. A lot of sculptural decorations
• Gothic structures featured
• Gothic sculptures borrowed pointed arches and have
motifs from the architecture of slender feel as if they soar
the period since it was upward, large stained glass
primarily used to decorate windows filtered in light and
exteriors of cathedrals and color.
other religious buildings. • Byzantine structures
featured large domes that cover
Characteristics of Medieval soaring spaces, arches and
Art lavish decorations.

• Rich colors Types of Medieval Art

• Heavily outlined
• Flat and stiff figures Illuminated Manuscripts
showing no depth  these are religious texts
• Religious icons decorated with rich colors,
which often featured the use of
gold and silver.
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• The word “illuminated” Ceramic Art

comes from the word  done handmade and not
illuminare, meaning adorn. wheel-turned during the
medieval period.
Metalwork Mosaics
 metals with great luster, such  artful creation of pictures
as gold, silver, and bronze were with the use of broken pieces of
frequently used as mediums in colored glass, rock, or any
the creation of religious other material.
artifacts. Metal workers
transform these beautiful Sculpture
metals into objects of  elongated style of statues
adornment for the church used in Romanesque art, a
(sculptures jewelry, and church more naturalistic style in the
doors). late 12th and early 13th century.

Paintings Stained Glass

 medieval painting includes  stained glass art makes use
artwork in iconography, fresco of fragmented pieces of glass
and panel painting set to look like an image or a
picture, the pieces are joined
Embroidery together by strips of lead
 made of colored wool sewn supported by a hard durable
together to form a continuous frame.
panel. Story of William the • It was displayed to the
Conqueror, the Norman windows of medieval
invasion of England and the churches, cathedrals and
Battle of Hastings were castles.
embroidered in a linen 20
inches high and 230 feet long, Heraldry
“The Bayeux Tapestry”.  was the art and custom of
creating coats of arms and
badges of the nobles
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Famous Medieval Artists • Leonardo da Vinci, making

• Donatello observational drawings of
Feast of Herod anatomy and nature.
• Leon Battista Alberti
Santa Maria Novelle • The most important
development of the period was
B. RENAISSANCE not a specific discovery but
( Rebirth) 14th to 17th century rather a process for discovery,
the scientific method.
• The term “Renaissance” is Influential promoters of these
from the same French word, ideas include Copernicus and
meaning rebirth or revival. Galileo.

• It began as a cultural Early Renaissance

movement in Italy in the late • By 1500, because of the
medieval period and later rediscovery of the classical
spread to the rest of Europe. world, the art of painting was
radically changed.
• The revival in classical • The spiritual content of
learning characterized by a painting changed, and subjects
sharp increase in secular from Roman history and
values and increased interest in mythology were borrowed.
learning the classics. • Devotional art became
classically humanized.
• Renaissance is reflected in • Classical artistic principles ,
humanism—focused on harmony, proportion, realistic
developing the full potential expression and rational
of man. included not only the postures were followed.
traditional virtues of love and • Active artistic regions in
honor but also virtues such as Europe during the period:
judgement, prudence and Flanders and Italy. Almost all
eloquence. early. Renaissance art were
produced between 1420 and
1550.
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• Dome of Florence Some of the best well-known

Cathedral by Filippo masterpieces of High
Brunelleschi Renaissance:
Expulsion from the Garden of
Eden by Masaccio • Genesis, Sistine Chapel
Frescoes by Michelangelo
• Jacob and Esau relief, • Virgin of the Rocks by
Gates of Paradise by Lorenzo • Leonardo da Vinci
Ghiberti • Last Supper
• Mona Lisa
• The Adoration of the Kings • Transfiguration
by Hugo van der Goes
Late Renaissance or
• The Birth of Venus by Mannerism
Sandro boticelli • The word mannerism is
derived from the Italian
• The Nativity in the Lower Maniera, meaning “style” or
Church by Giotto di Bondone “manner”.
• Mannerism was a European
High Renaissance (c. 1490- art style that appeared in the
1530) later years of Italian High
Renaissance around 1520 to
• This was the period when 1580.
humanism were fully • High Renaissance art
implemented in both painting emphasizes proportion,
and sculpture. balance and ideal beauty,
• preceding Early Renaissance • Mannerism exaggerates
had been centered on Florence. such qualities, often resulting
• High Renaissance artists in compositions that are
wanted beauty and harmony asymmetrical or unnaturally
more than realism, they looked elegant.
for ultimate truths in the study
of the classical world of Greek
and Roman culture.
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• favored in compositional 2. Perspective

tension and instability rather •Adjustment in size
than the balance and clarity of • Depth
earlier Renaissance painting. • Making 3D world on 2D
surface
• Mostly, the mannerist
painting was more artificial 3.Classicism
than natural. • Influence of ancient Greeks
and Romans
• Secularism
• The end of the Renaissance • Symmetry and balance
was caused largely by the
beginning of the protestant. 4.Individualis
• Emphasizes on the individual
Mannerist Painters; singular subject
• Free-standing figures
• Michelangelo, Sistine (statues)
Chapel Frescoes • Human beauty
• Correggio, First to portray
light radiating from the child 5.Light and Shadow
Christ • Use of light and shadow to
• Agnolo Bronzino, An create depth
Allegory with Venus and • Chiaroscuro- contrast
Cupid between light and dark colors
Characteristics of 6. Complex Arrangements
Renaissance Art • Complicated arrangement of
object
1.Realism and Expression:
• Lots of complex interactions
•Emotions was depicted in
• Can be very busy
faces
• Humans are natural and
lifelike-very realistic
• Nudity
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BAROQUE PERIOD Prominent Artists of

Baroque Period;
• Baroque art, derived from
the Portuguese word "barocco, •Apollo and Daphne (1625)
" meaning irregular pearl or Gian Lorenzo Bernini
stone, originated in Rome
during the 17th century to •The Return of the Prodigal
18th century. It reflects Son (1669) Rembrandt
religious conflicts of the age,
particularly the Catholic • Ecstasy of Saint Teresa
Church's response to the (1652) Gian Lorenzo Bernini
Protestant Reformation.
• characterized by • The Massacre of Innocents
extravagance, intricate detail, (1612) Peter Paul Rubens
and emotional expression. • The Garden of Love (1633)
• The Catholic church Peter Paul Rubens
promoted Baroque art as it
conveys religious ideas and • Supper at Emaus (1601)
engaging the audience Caravaggio
emotionally.
• led to the creation of large- • The Night Watch (1642)
scale public works, such as Rembrandt
monumental painting and
frescoes painting • The Calling of St. Matthew
(1600) Caravaggio
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ROCOCO PERIOD • François Boucher (1703-

1770) a prominent French
• also known as Late Baroque, Rococo painter
emerged in the early 18th
century as a reaction against Furnitures in Rococo Period
the grandeur and formality of • Juste-Aurèle Meissonnier
the preceding Baroque style. (1695–1750) a sculptor,
painter and goldsmith
• originated in France and
Europe, becoming the • Jean-Pierre Latz One
dominant artistic and handful of truly outstanding
architectural style of the time. cabinetmaker working in
Paris in the mid-18th century.
• Rococo takes its name from
• He created furniture
the French word 'rocaille'
characterized by high-
Lightness, elegance, and an quality marquetry and highly
exuberant use of curving sculptural bronzes made of
natural forms in fire-gilded brass.
ornamentation. • His work ranks among the
• Walls, ceilings, and moldings most outstanding examples of
mid-18th century Parisian
were decorated with delicate
cabinetmaking.
interlacings.
Sculptures in Rococo Period
Notable Artists in Rococo • Sensual and Dynamic
Period; • Or namentation and Detail
• Jean-Antoine Watteau • Playful and Amusing Themes
(1684-1721) • Asymmetry and Naturalism
• Pilgrimage in the Isle of • Use of Stucco and Gilt
Cythera known as the father of • Intimate Scale
the Rococo art
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NEOCLASSICAL ART Portrait Of A Young Man by

• movement that emerged in Pompeo Batoni
the mid-18th century as a
reaction to the flamboyance • italian painter; known for
of Baroque and Rococo his elgant and refined portraits
styles. • his historical and reigious
• drew inspiration from paintings his notable work is
classical art and culture of "PORTRAIT OF A YOUNG
ancient Greece and Rome, MAN”
emphasizing clarity, showing the neoclassical art
simplicity, and order. stye.
• Neoclassical artworks are
characterized by clear, The cupid seller by Joseph-
precise lines and a sense of Marie Vien
order. • french painter; prominents is
transition from ROCCOCO to
• Complexity and NEOCLASSICISM
ornamentation of simplicity • his successfule work is house
and clarity. in the louvre museum in paris.

NEOCLASSICAL ARTS Cornelia, Mother of the

AND ITS FAMOUS Gracchi by Angelica
ARTISTS Kauffman

Parnassus by Anton Raphael •swiss neoclassical painter

Mengs • known for her historical and
allegorical works
• german portraistist; admire • Cornelia, Mother of the
for his skillful in light and Gracchi also known as
shadow. Cornelia pointing to her
children as her treasures.
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Lion of Lucerne • this culpture portrays the

BERTEL THORVALDSEN story of Psyche , a mortal
woman revived by the kiss of
• Danish neoclassical Cupid.
sculptor; reknown in his
bronze sculptures. Iliad and Odyssey by John
• his famous works; "LION Flaxman
OF LUCERNE.” He created
this to commemorate the swiss • british neoclassical sculptor
guard killed during “French and draughtsman; known for
Revolution. his calssical inspired artworks

The Death of Marat

JACQUES-LOUIS DAVID • Romantics emphasized a life
filled with deep feeling,
• swiss neoclassical painter; spirituality, and free
who played significant role in expression as a defense against
development of french art. the dehumanizing effects of
• renowed for his revolutionary industrialization.
painting.
• depictas the murdered of • Romanticism strongly
French Revolutionary leader placed emphasis on emotion
Jean-Paul Marat, lying dead and individualism, as well as
in bathtub. glorification of the past and of
nature.
Psyche Revived by Cupid's
Kiss by Antonio Canova • The Romantics opposed the
idea that reason was the only
• italian neoclassical sculptor; way to truth.
known for his marble
sculptures emphasizeing grace, • Romantics argued that
beauty, classicals ideas. mysteries could be revealed
• one of the most celebrated with emotion, imagination, and
sculptors of his time. intuition.
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Prominent Artists of • characterize by small, visible

Romantic Period brushstrokes that offer the bare
impression of form, unblended
Theodore Gericualt color and emphasis on
•The Wounded Cuirassier depiction of natural light
(1814) capturing the fleeting effects of
• Liberty of Leading People light and atmosphere.
(1830
Francisco De Goya IMPRESSIONIST ARTIST
•The Second Day of 1808
(1814) • Claude Monet Woman with
Parasol
J. M. W. Turner • Dance at Bougival Piere
•Rain, Steam, and Speed Auguste Renoir
(1844) • Edgar Degas The Ballet Class
John Constable
•The Hay Wain (1821) POST-IMPRESSIONISM
• French art movement;
IMPRESSIONISM developed roughly between
1886 and 1905.
• revolutionary art • emerged as a reaction
movement that emerged in against Impressionist’
France concern for naturalistic
• began with a group of artists depiction of light and color.
who rejected the strict rules • The movement was led by
and standards of the French Paul Cezanne ( known as the
Academy of Fine Arts. father of Post-
Impressionism.)
• The term "Impressionism"
was coined from the title of Post-Impressionist Artist
Claude Monet's painting •Mt. Sanit Victoire, 1887 Paul
"Impression, Sunrise" Cezanne
(1872), •Starry Night Vincent Van
Gogh
 21

•The Alyscamps at Arles, 1888 to explore new methods of

Paul Gaugin capturing light and color.
Art Nouveau
Neo-Impressionism, • international style of art,
• also known as Pointillism or architecture, and design that
Divisionism flourished in the late 19th and
early 20th centuries.
• Georges Seurat and Paul • characterized by sinuous
Signac developed a technique lines, organic forms, and
of applying small, distinct dots decorative motifs inspired by
of color to create a sense of nature and the natural world.
luminosity and optical mixing.
Fauvism
Pointilism • The work produced by a
• also known as Divisionism, group of artists (which
was a technique employed by included Henri Matisse and
Neo-Impressionist artists André Derain) from around
such as Georges Seurat and 1905 to 1910, which is
Paul Signac. characterised by strong colours
• involved applying small, and fierce brushwork.
distinct dots of color to a
canvas, which would blend Cubism
optically when viewed from a • pioneered by Pablo Picasso
distance. and Georges Braque.
• Pointillism can be seen as a • one of the most influential art
development within the movements of the 20th century.
broader Impressionist • revolutionized the way artists
movement, reflecting a desire depicted space, form, and
perspective.
 22

• Cubism emerged after • Futurist artists rejected the

Impressionism emphasis on light and
• Cubist artists sought to atmosphere characteristic of
represent the Impressionism in favor of a
multidimensional nature of more mechanistic and dynamic
reality by breaking forms into aesthetic.
geometric shapes and
presenting multiple viewpoints Dadaism
simultaneously. • an avant-garde movement
that emerged in the early 20th
Futurism century as a response to the
• Italian avant-garde chaos and disillusionment of
movement founded by Filippo World War I.
Tommaso Marinetti in the • characterized by absurdity,
early 20th century. nihilism, and a rejection of
traditional artistic values.
• celebrated modern • Dadaists sought to disrupt
technology, speed, and the conventional notions of art
dynamism of urban life. and society, often through
performance, collage, and
found objects.
 23

LESSON 9: Caught in sculptures to the more

Between: Modern and experimental formats.
Contemporary Art • included film, photography,
video, performance, and
• the complexity of defining earth works.
the term is attributed to the fact • Compared to other periods, it
that people have dissenting can be argued that
views on the interpretation of contemporary art is the most
the “present,” of “today” or socially aware and involved
what the “now” means--- these form of art.
are often ideas that follow the
word contemporary. CONTEMPORARY ARTS

• Contemporary art was 1. Photography

heavily driven by ideas and • the art of capturing light with
theories, and even the blurring a camera, usually via a digital
notions of what is and can be sensor or film, to create an
considered as “art” with the image.
involvement of television,
photography, cinema, digital • it possesses everything to be
technology, performance, and an ideal medium for creative
even objects of the everyday. expression.
• It was the idea that was more 2. Performance Arts
important than its visual • Artworks that are created
articulation. through actions performed
by the artist or other
• One of the developments participants, which may be
during this time was the turn live or recorded,
from the traditional notions of spontaneous or scripted.
what art is: from paintings and
 24

• generally an event rather than 5. Literature

an artifact, though it is often • the art-form of language,
recorded on video and by and words are its tools.
means of still photography. • a painter uses paint, as a
• It may be acting, reciting musician uses musical
poetry, singing, dancing instruments, as a sculptor uses
and painting. stone-and-chisel, so a writer
uses words.
3. Earth Art
• considered as a kind or a Summary
spin-off installation art, earth • some of the arts discussed are
art (or land art) is when the examples of the rich array of
natural environment or a works produced and are still
specific site or space is being produced today.
transformed by artists.
• It is a kind of human
intervention into a specific
landscape or terrain.

4. Street Art
• these works are most
commonly found in the public
sphere, various people who
have access to them formed the
impression and perception of
the artworks themselves.
• Some of the examples of this
include murals, stenciled
images, and stickers.