Art History - History of Visual Representation

Hi everyone, today I have to create my own art timeline, this is a very simple task, because I can choose the images and authors that I like and think that are relevant to the art history narration.

Well, to begin is impossible to not make any mention to pre-historical art, actually this is not art, because the people who make it, never though of something like what we cal now: “Art”, they just paint and sculpt what they believe were natural forces that ruled their existence (so, their production is intimately related to survival and mysticism), the most known example are the paintings of the “Cueva de Altamira” is Spain and the “Wilendorf Venus” a very tiny sculpture of a woman.

Then, we could mention the Egyptian Art, a very complex form of representation if we compare it with pre-historical art. They could abstract the human form and their language, so they could create a conventional system of representation and communication. As you could though, we are here again with something that is not Art in a current way, but we must study this kind of images, because they are the foundations of the current Art, here we pass from a simple concept of art history as a sequential way of enumerate forms and images, to a more complex and interesting way of study images in their process of formation along the humankind, or we may say the constitution of the visual representation.

Now, a period we can’t forgot is the classical art in its Greek and roman expression. First, the Greeks made a huge revolution in the area of human and narrative representation, they give us the very foundations of what we call now Art. All of the Art History, even in our days we are discussing classical concepts to analyze contemporary art, so as you could imagine, we owe to much to the Greeks, not just in Politics and Literature. Then, the romans catch all the greeks forms and concepts and brought them to Italy, where they could be expanded all over the known world.

Finally, I have to close my narration because probably I’m boring you. But I can continue this in the next session. I made a great effort in this post because I missed the last class and the subject is very fun for me.

Regards.