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Unit 2 summary

The concepts of statues was the first thing I think we learned. The value of the caving of concepts before the “gods”. The statues where small and had values either extrinsic to their life style or the sense of fear the the gods might smite them out of not being worshiped. while others become more tuned to their

As time moved on the statues became larger and had more defined religious and cultural definition.  The Egyptians and the Mesopotamian art was had a stronger focus on the spiritual deity in their cultures. The Mesopotamian statues where huge with beast like structures and a human head which was believed to be a deity that protected the structure within. While The Egyptians had the belief of the gods as a form of judgment on them and their culture surrounded the idea of dead and embalming creating statue that fit the surrounding terrain more than any thing else really. The Idea of a pharaoh and a orderly form of servants and people with relation to the gods was the main focus of creating monoliths specific to their culture. Building  the pyramid as tomb and the temple around it showed the dedication to their belief. As shown the god of death Anubis is a man with a jackal head judging the peoples heart before he allows them to past.

Egypte – Photo © Richard Soberka – http://www.photoway.com/

The Greeks and the Romans define their art to be more human creating marble statues that celebrates the human body “kouros” .  The added humanism and color to the figure

 

The Greeks that slowly moved from the ideal more symmetric structure of a ideal athletic figure to more of a organic human structure that has more of a curve and more realistic facial features. While still being faithful to their religion they portray their gods in marble to re enforce the concepts of their culture as people and how they also take advantages to the usage of the materiel to carve more intricate ideas into the statue it self

 

 

 

 

Temples where built using the concepts of math and advancements they had found and is also apart of what made the art pop out while being efficient at lowering the weight of the walls.

As they may still build  as time moves on the statues are upgraded to being hollow cast in bronze and as time moved further on the fallout of the once beautiful art be came muddied over time and less persevered of the original intentions.

the thing that ties most of the art together would be the usage of color to show what their civilization has mastered and how it complements the art it self

 

Unit 2 Summary

Unit 2, we finally got into the actual art.  We went into the ancient world and discussed the differences and similarities of the art pieces of three different areas; Mesopotamia, Egypt, and Greek-Roman.  The differences in the art evolve because of the differences in the culture.

Let’s start with Mesopotamian art.  Their art had the ideas of hieratic scale.  The more important the person the bigger they were portrayed in the piece.  In the Standard of Ur, The biggest person is the king. Even when he’s sitting he is still big enough to break the registar.  The servants look like children compared to him.   Their art is also made to represent their wins and conquers.  To “honor” the strength and power that they have.  The people in their art are very stiff in movement and don’t really have identifying details.

In Egyptian art there are many symbols to represent other things.  Usually using animals to represent the different Gods that they have.  Since there is a different animal to represent each person, it is relatively easy to distinguish between the different people.  In the Narmer Palette there are many different animals engraved into it for the different people and this is just a “utensil” to hold makeup.  Also the crowns represent the different sections of Egypt (North and South).  There also is a component of hieratic scale.  The God or King of most importance is the largest in the art piece.  With the least significant “character” as the smallest.

In Greek-Roman art is where the idea of humanism starts showing in the art.  The belief of humanism is where humans are the center of everything.  This belief is present in their nude statues.  Many pf the Romans statues were copies of Greek statues however, the Greeks used copper which melted down, and the Romans used stone.  The Kroisos is a nude sculpture of a boy used mark and honor a grave.  Their standards of beauty were different than anywhere else at that time.  They looked at the nude body as beautiful, especially on a young, buff man.  The art started out as stiff with no movement but after a while the statues started having curved lines as opposed to straight lines.  Also, the art was detailed enough that you were able to see the movement in the muscles through the skin.  Most of the sculptures also didn’t have any facial hair, since that wasn’t beautiful, unless you were really important and didn’t have any time to shave.

Unit 2: The Ancient World

In unit 2, we explored art within Ancient civilizations, including Mesopotamia, Egypt, Greece, and Rome. Much like everything else, the history of their art also provided us with insight into the state of their society and environment, as well as their beliefs and values. These civilizations had many similarities and differences in their art, which also reflects what they considered to be of importance.

One of the most common theme amongst the art of the ancient world was religion. The Mesopotamian’s and the Egyptians were similar in the fact that their “Gods” often had animalistic features. This was a way to create obvious distinction between the power and status of the Gods and humans. We can also see the blatant socioeconomic differences between rulers and common civilians in both of these civilizations art. The Standard of Ur, from the Royal Tombs at Ur, is a good example of Mesopotamian art that depicts this. With two sides to the “standard” we can see the two sides of life at the time: peace and war. Not only does the standard depict order and chaos but it also makes the concepts of the class and hierarchal system of the society more evident. The people (and animals) on the bottom level, who are the common people are less detailed, while the people on the top who are royalty are much more detailed. This is similar to the Egyptian Palette of King Narmer, because it also portrays scenes of war, power, and hierarchy. Narmer, who was royalty and the Falcon, who was a God are both the biggest and most detailed are in the top level, to show their importance. Meanwhile, those on the bottom are much less important as they appear dead. This kind of art was common and showed that the people during this time valued royalty and religion. It also allows the audience a peek into the significant details and lifestyles of the civilizetions.

the standard of ur
Palette of Narmer

 

 

Doryphoros

 

 

 

The Greek and Romans, unlike the Egyptians and Mesopotamians, embraced humanist concepts more frequently. They believed that embracing the human qualities was important and portrayed their Gods to have such qualities. While the Greeks used their ability to illustrate motion and stance in their more idealized versions of the human body, the Romans on the other hand chose to make their sculptures appear more lifelike by focusing on the details of the human body and face and not shying away from the “flaws” of humans. For example, Polykleitos’ Doryphoros represents the Greeks’ idealistic image of the male body. Doryphoros’ contrapposto stance, with his weight resting on one leg and his shoulders more balanced, provided a more realistic stance than those of sculptures from earlier civilizations. Nevertheless, where his body exuded strength, power, and athleticism, his face lacked any distinguishable features.

 

Despite taking inspiration from the Greeks, the Romans looked past the practically unattainable “perfect” male bodies, choosing to focus more on the imperfect human aspects. They even made sure their Gods were portrayed wearing clothes rather than complete nakedness. The Romans chose to go with the concept of portraiture because it reflected their goals as a Republic. They were eager to represent themselves with balding heads and wrinkles which they viewed as a way of showing wisdom and hard work rather than flaws.

 

Unit 2 Summary

In Unit 2 we discussed the different type of art from the ancient world.  The art that comes from Mesopotamia, Egypt, Greece, and early Rome all had their own style of expression, yet had several similarities.   The idea of humanism influenced the art of some of the empires such the Greeks. Others based created their art in their beliefs of their God and Goddesses.  Through their art they individually expressed what was important and valuable to their societies.

The Greek society showed humanism in their art pieces.  Opposed from Egyptian and Mesopotamian artwork, Greek and Romans created 3D art.  They believed that man was powerful and equal to the gods so their sculptures showed the full detailed body a man.  It was believed that man was the measure of most things. In Greek art nudity was shown a lot. Artist would create sculptures of naked man and it would represent the pride and strength and qualities of human beings, rather than showing someone being a more “powerful” being than man.  Two good examples of humanism would be the “Kouros” and the “Doryphoros”. As time went by their artwork began to look more and more realistic. The positions of the sculptures also said a lot about them. Contrapposto, is believed to be the stance of all humans. The tone of muscles, wrinkles, and folds were all shown in a sculptures bodies.  Overall, the Greek humanism also showed events going on during that time and they valued free inquiry in that it wanted to open up to new possibilities.

After the fall of the Greek empire the Roman Empire arose.  Their art was influenced by the Greeks. They basically copied their art and created their art looked even more realistic.  They created their work on marble which gave it a smoother look. The marble made it heavier and unlike the brown material that was lighter.  

Founded in the Early Dynastic Period (3100-2686 B.C), Ancient Egypt worshipped their god and goddesses.  Their god and goddesses were seen as powerful and respected by everyone, therefore when portrayed in their art they were always bigger than the rest or above.  Egyptians did not think that a god should have human like characteristics and so in their art there hierarchy was shown in different ways. As mentioned before usually the god or the goddesses had animal features.  They were either at the top of the register and/or created bigger than the rest. The clothing they wore also showed how they were more wealthy and powerful than the rest. The Mesopotamians also based their art work on their gods because they were seen as the highest power.  The believed that humans were lower and could not compare to the gods. The artwork of both these societies was created to show the respect and honor they had for their gods.

The artwork from the ancient world varied within the societies.  Depending on their values and their beliefs their artwork reflected upon it.  The empires all influence each other’s work in one way or another. At one point art was not taken serious because it was believed that it made people misinterpret and think about things that were not even real.  The ancient world had a diverse section of art pieces, yet most tied to the same idea, just like in todays artwork.

Summary of Ancient Art-Unit 2

Art of the ancient world is an expression of the different cultures. The way the statues and art are made differ depending on what the culture deems important. For example, Mesopotamian and Egyptian art focus on Gds and Deities. While Greek culture is entirely different their art focused on Humanism. The idea that humans play an important role in society. This Humanistic belief is carried on to Roman culture with slight differences in the nuances.

Mesopotamian and Egyptian art are both very expressionless and their figures are formed in a way that makes them seem aloof. They lack the curvature of a natural body and their figures lack movement. Formal frontality is used to describe the forward facing stance of most Egyptian sculptures. Most sculptures were used for ritual purposes often their hands are clasped and eyes wide which represents their attentive attributes towards the Gds. Ready to listen, pray, and perform for their Gds, all for the purpose of an afterlife. You can see in the image of King Menkaura his and Queen that although they have one forward in a sort of motion the rigid positions they are in lacking

the feeling that they are realistic.

The art coming from Greek culture takes a completely different turn from what we know Ancient art to be from the Egyptians. They introduced the idea of Humanism, Where people were not a nuisance to the Gds as previously believed rather an important and vital role. The Greek period is divided into four stages; Geometric, Archaic, Classical, and Hellenistic. The Geometric and Archaic art more similar to the Egyptians as depicted in the sculpture of the Kouros. They imitated their marble carving technique and the sculpture stance is similar to what we already know. The Classical and Hellenistic period is where Greek art gets most of its fame. Their sculptures represent an authentic version of the human body. Trying to imitate and even idealize what humans are meant to look like. Their fame for little or no clothing and the Olympics further show their appreciation for humans. Even their Gds have human 

characteristics, unlike Egyptians. As seen in the Bronze sculpture which is believed to be the Greek Gd Zuess (missing his lighting bolt) looks to have a completely human with unrealistic and idealized features. The Greeks were also famous for introducing contrapposto pose that many sculptures have which shows philosophical thinking and are meant to make the sculptures come to life.

The Romans continued this Hellenistic belief and their sculptures furthered this idea by making them even more Naturalistic. The sculpture of Augustus the first Emporer of Rome has many fine details including the Gds portrayed on

his armor. Although he was meant to be a fierce warrior his muscular build doesn’t stick out as unnatural rather a more relatable strength. A common representation of Roman art is Portraiture. It shows the fleshy naturalistic style the which was most common in their culture. They often used Portraiture for ancestry worship and had large funerary processions displaying ancestors.

UNIT 2 SUMMARY

Ilya Panov

Unit Summary 2

 

Unit 2 introduced us to Egyptian , Greek and Roman art. Unlike the naturalistic art of the greeks or the romans, Egyptian art contained a functionality. Functionality that provided benefits to a leader.  As well as Egyptian statuary were used for ritual action and royal or elite statuaries served as a middle man between people and gods.

As well,a lot of Egyptian art contained what’s called a hierarchy of scale. Setting apart the Egyptian rulers and deities by making them much larger than a everyday Egyptian.

The Greeks were able to achieve a super naturalistic look in there art. They took the Kouros boy and added a more natural contrapposto stance. Clearly showing a displacement of weight between the legs , as if the statue is capable of movement as seen in the Polykleitos, Doryphoros (Spear-Bearer) or The Canon. The Greeks were also able to capture emotion  and motion in there art. As seen in ‘Great Altar of Zeus from Pergamon” expressions can can clearly be seen on the marble statue faces. Agony and confusion is portrayed on the faces and in the movement of the arms and body.

Roman was born out of civil war and naturally of there art depicts victories of major battles in service to the state. Victories such as Monument of Aemilius Paullus at Delphi).

Romans patrons also choose to be depicted in the marble stone with every flaw hyper announced, in hopes that this will portray them hard working citizen who acquired much wisdom through their lifetime. Flaws such as bald heads, large noses and, wrinkles were exaggerated as can be seen on  the Marble bust of a man,

unit one summary

Well, to be honest, I’ve learned to look at art with a whole new perspective. Most of us just look at art and say wow what a splendid piece of work or etc. Due to learning about formal analysis, it actually helped me, well, give art a more thoughtful meaning for me. It inspires me to take more time to evaluate art in it’s meaning and why it was created. I was actually quite inspired with learning about formal analysis because it kinda gave special meaning rather than just calling it looking at a painting. I feel like the word “formal analysis” gives the definition more meaning and I guess it gives me inspiration to actually maybe do some formal analysis of my own when I go to a exhibit. I found learning this to be the most important in my opinion.

Formal Analysis

Formal analysis is basically looking towards a piece of art and trying to figure out the meaning, purpose and positions for why inspiration has taken place for these artworks. It’s the process of trying to skim the surface of what the artist is trying to express and display for the viewers. We look at  the parts in which catches our eyes, parts in which expresses brighter colors  than others. We look for the explanation in parts that we are able to question and observe and sympathize with the artist on their choices for each stroke. We could only infer what the artist could imply by their choices of scales in light or dark colors, or even warm or cold colors. Trying to see their composition and how we could read the story they’re trying to tell from their creation.

What’s Art?

Well…my definition for art is basically like a stress-relief.
As a artist, I think it helps with forming a personality and expressing creativity. It could be a sanctuary on just expressing words you can’t put onto paper. Sometimes people just couldn’t say what they’re feeling. In my opinion, you could really put your feelings into your artwork. It’s like a little safe place. Maybe at most times, you might have art block; unable to put your thoughts onto art. However, it could simply be that you haven’t found the right words or right feelings? Well, art could also simply be a hobby or activity to pass the time. Art varies in many ways and I think it really helps as a defining feature of creativity to bring out a voice which should be heard within art. Imagination, thought and creativity helps bring out the individuality of a person and makes them different from everyone else which is a positive thing because individuality often helps enable the world to be interesting.