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READING VISUAL ARTS

The Origin of Arts

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How did you start out as an artist?

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What themes show up in your art

most often?

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IN THE
BEGINNING
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For us to better understand the development of art we must first look at

the movement of people across the world.
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❑ Humans began moving out of

Africa around 1 million years ago.
❑ As they moved out Africa, one
group went towards Europe while
another went towards Asia.
❑ Humans moved into Europe and
began setting around 690,000
years ago
❑ Humans moved into Asia and
began settling around 700,000
years ago
❑ Humans then began moving south
into Southeast Asia and Australia,
while at the same time a different
group moved north into Siberia,
North America and South America.
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❑ In Europe humans began to create

settlement.
❑ These settlements were based around
areas with food sources, and water.
❑ People in these settlements traded with
one another and gradually started
developing their own culture.
❑ These cultural systems became unique
to the area and the people, and
therefore once arts was developed it
was unique to that region
❑ This process was not found only in
Europe
❑ This development happened at
different times across the world, and
therefore helped with the movement of
artistic cultures from one region of the
world to another.
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❑ Humans began creating

objects that were purely
functional
❑ The first human artifacts that
have been found are
spearheads
❑ Early humans would use rocks
and flint stones to chip stone
tools that could be used to
hunt animals
❑ These tools were also used to
hunt, cut apart meat, start
fires, and create other tools
such as rope, and baskets.
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❑ Spearheads start by being

very rounded.
❑ As humans developed and
moved to other parts of the
world the spearheads
become more detailed and
have a sharper point.
❑ Archaeologists have also
found that spearheads
became a trading tool and
were vital to the lives of the
people who created them.
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This time in human history is

divided into 3 separate time
periods
❑ Paleolithic (Old Stone Age)
(2.6 million years ago – 12-
000 years ago)
❑ Mesolithic (Middle Stone Age)
(20,000 BCE – 9,500 BCE)
❑ Neolithic (New Stone Age)
(10,200 BCE – 2,000 BCE)
During the time of early human
settlement humans were Hunter
& Gatherers

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As they became settled into

communities (Sedentary Life)
they started to experiment more
with the concept of art, religion,
and architecture.
The development of art, religion
and architecture can be divided
into specific categories,
including:
+ The Human Form
+ Animal Forms
+ Architecture
+ Other Forms
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“It took me four years to paint like

Raphael, but a lifetime to paint like
a child.”
~Pablo Picasso

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The Human Form

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Human with Feline Head

❑ A natural ivory sculpture
❑ Estimated at around 30,000 –
28,000 BCE (Before Common Era)
❑ Found in a cave at Hohlenstein-
Stadel (Ulenstyayn-Styadel) in
Germany
❑ It was found in pieces inside the
cave, and then was put back
together
❑ It is a male/female body with a lion
head
❑ Would have been difficult from
someone to carve this sculpture
❑ One of the first examples of
creative thinking of art.
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Human with Feline Head (Detail)

❑ We do not know why the
sculptor decided to carve this
subject.
❑ We do know that this concept
must have been important to the
people who created it, because
of its size (1 foot tall), and the
material it was carved out of
(ivory).
❑ Some art historians believe that
these sculptures were used for
ritual purposes.
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Human with Feline Head

(Detail)
❑They think the
human/animal body
might represent a
sorcerer dressed in a
mask.
❑These forms are common
in The Ancient Near East
and Ancient Egypt but are
uncommon in the
Paleolithic and Mesolithic
Era.
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Knock-Knock…

STATUE
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The Venus of Willendorf

❑A small limestone
sculpture
❑Estimated at around
28,000 – 25,000 BCE
❑It was discovered in
Austria in the of
Willendorf
❑This tiny statue/figurine
changed the way that
people looked at
Mesolithic cultures.
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The Venus of Willendorf

❑Before discovering this
statue people believed
that Mesolithic peoples
were unintelligent, and
unable to think enough to
create pieces of art.
❑Once studying this work,
archaeologists realized
that people had higher
rates of brain function
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The Venus of Willendorf

Some theories on their
meaning are as:
❑Fertility Goddesses
❑Trading materials
❑Communication devices
❑Self-portraits of pregnant
woman

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❑Fertility Goddesses
- are associated with sex, pregnancy, women's fertility, and
the growing of crops. In Greek myth, many goddesses are
associated with fertility that are not considered fertility
goddesses in Lore Olympus. These include: Aphrodite -
Associated with love and sexuality.
❑Trading materials
- to explain the existing patterns of trade, the impact on
the domestic economy, and the type of public policies that
should be introduced to increase a country's well-being.
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❑Communication devices
- provides a way of talking about and analyzing key
events, processes, and commitments that together
form communication.
❑Self-portraits of pregnant woman
- critical to our understanding of both portraiture and
the history of art. They are the form in which many
artists have come to be remembered, offering insights
into their lives, surroundings, and even their state of
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The Venus of Willendorf

❑ Most figures of this type are called
Venuses
❑ Venuses are any type of small
female figurine that distorts the
human form the for the purposes
of ritual ideal
❑ We do not know what these small
figures were used for
❑ We can assume that from their size
they were meant to be moved
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The Venus of Willendorf

❑ What do now is that these
sculptures were not looking to
make human body look the way
that it naturally does
❑ EXAGGERATION of the most
important parts of the human form
was what the sculptor was looking
for
❑ If we think of this as an abstracted
form we can better understand
what it was used for
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❑ After the Neolithic era the

human form began
changing
❑ This development is quite
dramatic

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❑ The development is also

regional and based
towards individual taste
❑ This happens all over the
world

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Arts ARCHITECTURE Arts

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Stonehenge
❑ Located on Salisbury Plain in
Southern England
❑ Blue stone Monolithic structure
❑ Dated between 2,550 – 1,600-
BCE (Before Common Era)
❑ Probably the most famous
Monolithic structure from the
era
❑ Was built in stages over
several centuries

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Circular design consisting of large sandstone monoliths on the outside with a smaller
circle of smaller bluestones on the inside
It is still unclear what exactly Stonehenge was used for
Archaeologists know that these “Henges” were used for ritual purposes
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Stonehenge
Some Archaeologists believe that they were used in connection with the summer solstice
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Some Archaeologists believe that they were used as a place to connect

the world of the living and the world of the dead
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Stonehenge
❑ There are many similar
(smaller) structures across
Europe
❑ They are mostly found in
northern Europe
❑ In England and Ireland they
are made from stone
❑ In Germany, Denmark and
Sweden they are made from
wood
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Stonehenge
❑ What is most impressive is how
the Neolithic peoples of
southern England were able to
move such large stones from
their quarry into their current
position
❑ There are many theories as to
how they did this
❑ Some believe that they moved
them on the many rivers in the
area
❑ Some believe that they were
moved with a series of levers,
and wooden poles
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The Tower of Jericho

❑ Located on Jordan River
valley
❑ Dated around 8,000 – 7,000
BCE
❑ Walls = 5 feet (thickness), 30
feet (height), 33 feet
(diameter)
❑ Monumental architecture
was common in the Ancient
Near East during this time
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The Tower of Jericho

❑ This is the first permanent stone
fortification
❑ The Tower of Jericho belongs to a
large city – state area
❑ Much of the site has still not been
excavated
❑ Archaeologists do not know, if the
Tower of Jericho was only one, or if it
was one of many that were used as a
type of fort
❑ The discovery of Jericho shows us
the importance connecting the art
and architecture of the past to
cultural stories and traditions
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OTHER
FORMS
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Pottery
❑Developed across the
world at different times
❑Some of the earliest
examples of pottery
come from Japan
❑Early hunter and
gatherers used pottery
to hold food and liquids
which they wished to
keep for later
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Pottery
❑ As potterers techniques
developed people began
creating stronger forms which
could be used for cooking and
longer storage
❑ Japanese pottery techniques
moved into China and Korea
and eventually helped move
people from a hunter and
gatherer lifestyle into a
sedentary lifestyle
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Religious Items
❑As the Neolithic
period developed
people began
creating more objects
for religious purpose
❑We do not know
exactly what these
objects were meant to
represent
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Religious Items
❑ One of the main religious
objects created in the
Neolithic Period is the Jade
Disc (bi)
❑ Jade Discs are very difficult
to create
❑ Believed to be related to the
kingdoms of heaven and
earth
❑ Have been found laid across
the chest of the deceased
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Human Remains
❑Many people might not
think of human rains as
part of art history, but
they’re important to our
understanding of the
people of the time
❑By looking at what people
did with humans after they
passed-away, we can see
the importance of religion
and rituals to the peoples
of the time
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Human Remains
❑ For example, if we look at The
Jericho Skull, we can see that
the people of Jericho wanted
to keep the deceased in their
daily lives.
❑ This human skull was striped
of all flesh and cleaned. It was
then covered in plaster and
left to try (much like pottery).
It then had shell laid into the
eye sockets and was painted.

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Human Remains
❑Although we might find
this very odd today,
people of the Neolithic
period were very
connected to their
ancestors and had no
problem interacting with
them as if they were still
alive.
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“Art is never finished, only

abandoned”
~Leonardo Da Vinci

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