Prehistoric to Pop Art

Understanding mankind’s innate desire to define the world through art.

Prehistoric Art

Prehistoric means “before recorded history”Reasons for art:

- hunting rituals/ceremonies (spear marks on walls)- record of daily life…animals they depended on for food and resources (some now extinct)

- counting marks - decoration (maybe..?)

Prehistoric ArtHandprints are possibly a form of signature or to mark the cave. Hands are both positive and negative shapes: artist dipped hand

in paint and pressed it against wall. Sometimes they placed hand on wall and blew paint through a reed or hollow animal bone. Some of the handprints belong to women and children.

Prehistoric ArtPrehistoric artists used line, shape, color and attempted to model

(shade for 3-D effect) some of their images. Some of the animals painted on the cave wall are now extinct

(sabre-toothed tiger, mammoth, cave lion) so these images are a literal record of their previous existence.

Key point = they painted from memory!!!

Prehistoric paintsColors = red, yellow, brown, black and white. Ground up

pigments were mixed with water, animal fat and blood.

Ochres from clay provided reds, yellows and browns Manganese dioxide or charcoal made blacksCalcite for whites

Egyptian Art

Egyptians had a written language - hieroglyphicsReasons for art:

- to display belief in the AFTERLIFE- to display the power of the Pharaohs- decorative and functional

Egyptian ArtEgyptian art followed extremely strict rules: (no originality)- Eyes and shoulders in frontal view- Face and legs in profile (side view)- Pharaohs and rulers always larger…servants and others smaller- Men with darker skin than women- Hieroglyphics and symbols always clear and accurate

Egyptian art changed little in over 3,000 years which is quiteremarkable in itself!

Egyptian ArtEgyptian art changed very little over 3,000 years…but people are

still in awe of the skill and determination it took to create it.

Egyptian paintColors = red, yellow, blue, green, brown, white and black. They mined for their pigments and had a trade system as well.

Red – red iron oxide, cinnabar and realgarGreen – malachiteBlue – azurite, calcium copper silicate (ground blue glass)Yellow – orpiment (highly toxic)White – gypsum or chalkBlack – carbon from charcoal

Greek ArtThe Greeks sought harmony, grace, balance and beauty.Reasons for art:

- to honor their gods- to honor the importance of man (idealized figures)- to show their ideals of beauty and harmony

Greek ArtThe Greeks are credited with many of the things we still

hold valuable today: maps, Olympics, geometry, Democracy and the Hippocratic oath.

They were philosophers, scientists and master builders.

Greek ArtSadly no original Greek art remains intact due to natural

disasters and wars. We only have fragments and Roman copies.

Greek paintsColors = red, yellow, blue, green, purple, brown, white and black.Ancient Greece and Rome succeeded in increasing the range of artificial hues from

mineral sources and biological dyes.

Red – realgar, gum resins from trees, and vermillion (expensive) from cinnabarPurple – indigo and madder from plant sources, Tyrian purple from a shell fishBlue – azurite, Egyptian blue from frit, Ultramarine blue from Lapis LazuliGreen – verdigris (copper green) and CeladoniteYellow – Orpiment, Massicot, and Naples Yellow from Lead AntimoniateBrown – sienna and umber (burnt clays), iron, manganeseWhite – gypsum, chalk, lead whiteBlack – carbon black from charcoal, ivory black from burning bones

Pop ArtAn American Art style of the 1950’s based on “popular culture”

and consumerism.Reasons for art:

- a reaction to Abstract Expressionism- to take art away from heavy emotion - focus on mass advertising and consumerism

Pop Art• Bold and vibrant colors• Simple designs• Everyday objects/images• Hip Modern feel

Pop ArtThemes were:CelebritiesComic stripsAdvertising and Products

Pop ArtColors – full range of primary, secondary, tertiary, tints and

shades. Used acrylic paints, oil paints and printing inks.

Paints come from natural and synthetic pigments that are ground up and mixed with natural or synthetic binders to keep them in a liquid state.

REVIEW…

1. Why did Prehistoric artists paint on the cave walls?

2. What colors did they have and how did they create them?

REVIEW…

1. Why did the Egyptians create art?2. How did they represent the human

body?3. What new colors did they have?

REVIEW…

1. What were the main themes of Greek society?

2. How did they represent the human body?

3. What new colors did they have?

REVIEW…

1. What are the main themes of Pop Art?

2. Where do modern paints come from?