Welcome to my Art History Timeline
Kayla Rowan's Art History Timeline
The Paleolithic Era surrounded itself by artwork pertaining to either food or fertility. This was because they were always hungry or hunting for food, and having children was difficult. This period represents a huge leap for mankind because of the abstract thinking that is involved with creating the artwork.
The artwork created during the Neolithic era focused on being functional. There were some pieces that were ornamental but mostly the artwork served a function. Also in this time period, images of humans were being made as compared to animals
In this era, Ziggurats were very important, and were built in the middle of cities. This is because it was thought that they helped bridge the gap between humans and gods. Writing was also invented in this time period and stone sculptures were created.
The Ancient Egyptian period was unchanged for 1,000's of years because they desired stability and performance. They created huge monuments full of art that they wanted to last forever and pyramids were constructed for rulers which resulted in the death of many men.
During this time period there were a different array of art forms being created based on the group of people. The Cycladic group created a lot of marble carvings of nude females standing, which was supposed to represent child bearing. But there were also nature paintings created by the Minoan and hunting paintings created by the Mycenaean.
Greek art consisted of mainly human figures, nude. These were very realistic and showed careful depictions of emotion and age. They were mostly of men but there were few females that were created as well. They moved beyond the simple shapes and started making animals and humans.
Roman art focused on using concrete to begin to create things such as arches, vaults, and velariums. Besides the buildings, they also focused on human sculptures as well, and they weren't too worried about copies being made. So many copies do exist of the same thing.
During the Byzantine time period, art was mainly a way of expressing religion, and they used art to focus on symbolism rather than on realistic representations. By using art to express religion, they communicated the creation of a religion through art. They created mosaics, which are artworks made by putting tiles, glass, etc. together to create a picture.
The Medieval period lasted over 1000 years, and during that time period, portrait paintings were non existent, and most of the art that was made was portable so they could bring it with them. Most of the people were forced to only use art to create religious aspects, but that was only initially. Fresco's were popular, which are paintings inside of churches. As well as geometric designs.
Romanesque art was created in order to spread religion and bring people closer with God. Symbolism was a big factor with this, because most people in this period could not read, so having messages through paintings were helpful.
Architecture was the main way of showing artistic expression during the Gothic period. They created a combination of ribs and piers so that the walls could be thinner and could have large windows placed around them. They didn't create the pointed arch, but they used it a lot, which made it look different than the Romanesque architecture.
During the Early Renaissance artistic activity was flourishing. Painting was the main form of art created and the discovery of oil painting made paintings life like. The artists in this time period were perceived as geniuses and it was a time of great artistic discovery.
During the High Renaissance, the artists disregarded whatever the Early Renaissance had for rules and instead listened to their feelings to create their styles of art. Due to this, many of the artwork pieces were expressive and held a lot of meaning. During this time, Rome became the art capital of Italy as well.
The Baroque time period consisted of many human paintings and sculptures that were theatrical and showed a lot of expression. This type of art was founded in Rome. Over time though, Paris takes over as the art center of the world. This particular sculpture was created by Gianlorenzo Bernini, but was not limited to just this one.
The Rococo period lasted from 1700 CE to 1750 CE. This style of art was founded in France and is described as soft with nature scenes and depictions of love. The paintings created were magical and part of the fantasy world, yet seemed glorious and something people during that time wanted.
The Neoclassicism era was based in France and centered mostly around Napoleon Bonaparte, The art was created in order to compliment him and make him look like a magnificent leader. It also was made in a more classical approach. None of the art was made to resemble that of the Rococo and Baroque styles because Napoleon didn't like it.
Romanticism was started by artists who worked in an emotional way and used their imagination. Some of the most important artists in this time period were Francisco Gaya and Joseph Mallord William Turner. Joseph was known as the painter of light and his work is also regarded as a foreshadow to Impressionism.
During the Realism era, people believed that only what they could physically experience themselves was worthy enough to be expressed through art. This time period was also the start of using photography to create art. It was focused on what they saw whether it was good or bad. Important artists in this time period were Jean Francois Millet and Gustave Courbet. Courbet was the most effective presenter of Realism.
The Impressionism era started in the 2nd half of the 1800's. They were interested in color and were fascinated with the effect of light on color. They wanted to create a colorful, light filled, and quick impression of what was in front of them, These artists all started as realists but developed ideas of impressionism. Important artists of this time period were Claude Monet, Edgar Degas, Pierre Auguste Renoir and Auguste Rodin. This painting was done by Monet.