Evolution Of ART

Over the globe today, a significant number of occupations are affiliated or revolving around the word ‘art’. Historically, it has played an essential part in shaping up current life. Here’s a precise history for a better insight about the ‘evolution of art’.

It all begins with the Upper Paleolithic/Old Stone Age (40,000 to 10,000 years ago). An age where survival was the only purpose. The art of that time consists of hunting scenes & animal carvings through cave paintings. In which the depiction of animals is proportioned correctly while humans are shown as stick figures or there’s no denotation of humans. Basically, it truly defines the thought process of humans of the time. However, it is completely a different debate if these drawings were used as a fundamental mechanism to survive or should be considered as art, but the entire foundation of art was laid during this period.

Moving forward, humans started to settle. They began to use art to honor their ancestors by making statues & masks, and started to make items such as jewelry & pots. This also laid the foundation for religious rituals.

Stepping towards advancement, the rise of literacy began in the form of hieroglyphics, which was basically a repeated sequence of symbols with a given meaning for communication & keeping records. Some petroglyphs may have been used as early maps & symbols showing time & distance. These methods played an important role in the development of some of the first calendars.

Furthermore, Europeans witnessed Greek & Roman culture; The Hellenistic Era (900 BC AD 450). Their aesthetics were more fantasized. In an effort to display man as equal to their idols, sculptures were hyper realistic, exaggerated, with perfect anatomy, skillfully rendered & expressive facial & physical features depicted a great sense of emotion & drama. Compositions became more complex, full of motion with a great sense of postures. Portraying people of all ages, along with displaying imperfections, made them look more real.

          Kings commissioned luxury items such as jewelry with rare stones, vessels & highly ornamented figurines. They started to grow in the fields of cartography, medicine, geometry etc, resulting in the growth of commercial & cultural exchanges.

After the fall of this empire, Europe faced the most drastic decrease in stability; The Middle Ages (500 AD -1500 AD). So, people turned towards religion & Christianity flourished for over 1000 years where religion became a huge subject in art.

Churches commissioned artists for depiction of religious figures, miniature in manuscripts, frescoes, mosaics, illuminated prayer books, jewelry, stained glasses for windows of churches & ritual items to attract people. Whereas, the use of ‘Gold’ being the main part of their visuals. Therefore, art became more stylized & abstract. Literacy declined as art became more illustrative. 

Likewise, in the East, art served to glorify Buddhism. Culture in China evolved in the form of silk embroidery, ink art, calligraphy & carvings which were influenced by the teachings of Buddhism.

Since, image making is despised in Islam, the art suffered to some extent. So, the artists started to flourish themselves through calligraphy, geometric art, massive murals, and elaborative patterns which are known to be one of the most fascinating creations. Also, moving us into another dimension in architecture. 

Renaissance emerged in Europe (1300 Ad 1600 Ad) being the most significant transitional era. Art embodied itself in the areas of science, mathematics, medicine & in developing technologies which marked a clear development over the centuries.

Institutes such as private studios,workshops & academies prospered, characterizing people into sculptors, anatomists & portraitures. While the subject is still religion. Artists of this movement used to specialize in more than one field, they had a technical approach & great understanding of forms, perspective & incorporated with the general elements of design. As a result, their art being more symmetric, stabilized & more focused in a realistic manner.

The aesthetics became more dramatic than Renaissance, resulting in the Baroque era (1600 AD – 1700 AD) which was asymmetric, with high contrast & tension along with pyramid-shaped compositions to add a sense of motion. While their subject still was religion.

Meanwhile, people realized that it is also highly effective to use art for political gain, giving birth to the Neoclassical Movement (1660 AD 1800 AD). However, artists still recreated imagery inspired by the Hellenic era but also depicted heroes from the past. Additionally, they also focused on the simplistic mannerisms of life as well. Hence, art of this time had to be perfectly smooth, having clarity of form, being minimalist by using sober colors, straight lines, shallow space with harmony & grace.

With changing trends, society got tired of trends such as intellectual thought, industrialization, honoring science & became a reaction against limitations of academics which led to the emergence of the Romantic age (1800-1850). Thus, their art highlights individualism, nature, imagination, stylized light & shadow, spirituality, mystery, originality, looser & less precise brush strokes along with magical scenes compelling the viewer to wonder for a while. Romantics were concerned with how light affects the emotion rather than the actual science of light advocated by previous eras.

Once more having a global view, where tribal art grew immensely across the world. It shows material culture & visual arts of indigenous people. Tribes often had their own set of rules, therefore, their own characteristics. In daily life, they functioned very differently than western culture. Hence, art was solely functional rather than created for art’s sake. African masks & statues became famous among countless tribes. Their art is considered as the most difficult to interpret. As it consists of extreme stylization of forms & shapes with use of high contrasting colors & absence of narrative elements, resulting in abstract patterns. They were incredible at utilizing things. For example, effective use of every single part of the hunted animal. African art has also played a major role in tattoo culture.

However, Ndebele is known to be very exceptional among African tribes which not only advanced in some of the most stylized distinct African art, but purposely adapted art as the main part of their culture. They excelled in colorful clothing, murals, jewelry, pottery, tools consisting of geometric forms, bright colors & straight edges. Their murals became highly famous across the globe. The responsibility to paint the exterior of their houses by these murals & to teach the next generation was up to the women of their society. This trend depicted a declaration of territory, charming signal or a warm welcome. These women are also well-known for wearing rings around their necks & can wear ornaments weighing more than 25 kgs! 

Moreover, they developed their style with bead work in which different colors convey different messages. By utilizing these sets of skills for exporting, they became economically strong. 

Art in Japan emerged around the 1600-1900s. Being in minimal contact with the external world, unique & alien ideas were introduced. Principles of simplicity perfectly define Japanese aesthetics along with intelligent use of colors, symbolism, beautiful line work & tonal forms. Their art practices involved gardening, calligraphies & ink work on silk & paper, painting panels on sliding doors & lacquer printing. Ukiyo-e became a prominent art form, producing theater programs, colorful printed postcards & text books. Pictures of the ‘floating world’ first appeared on screens & hanging scrolls.

Exploration of artistic styles interlinked as the world became more interconnected. So, styles like African art & Japanese Ukiyo-e paintings played a vital part & had a great influence in the formation of new western styles like cubism & impressionism.

From several cultures & societies across the world, more expressive ways emerged lowering the teachings of academics due to lack of effort in making stylized pieces. It created a division between those who believed in true technical capacity & skill, and those who used art to express through their unique style with less required skill. This argument between style vs realism continued, whereas new art movements began to emerge such as art nouveau, expressionism, abstract expressionism, fauvism, surrealism, cubism, pop art, Dadaism. Art critiques started to interpret old & new art in bold ways free from any norms or a specific ideology of the society. 

 Whereas, when the cubism movement from 1907 to 1914 came into existence. From a very young age, Picasso was able to portray the style & skill set of old masters. So, being remarkably talented at a young age provoked him to explore in various directions which led him to pioneering the cubism movement. This movement became a huge favor for artists who approached style. The cubist style consists of 2-dimensional surfaces, fragmented objects, angular shapes resulting in abstract forms free from any traditional methods. The paintings showed multiple viewpoints, the harmony of destructing & creating imagery left the world in awe. It is also a proof for emerging artists that it’s essential to understand the basics first to further explore any mediums or styles they desire. 

In contemporary times amateurs could compete with the professionals now, which was a prediction & fear among masters of neo-classicism. Well, society began to be more open to new mediums, abilities & styles in the form of digital art, installations & photography. For understanding art & beginning to create, it is very important to be aware of the past first. 

Here, we see art has been an ultimate asset in terms of glorification of the unknown, acted as a powerful tool for pushing religious & political agendas, promotion of ideologies or preserving/restoring any culture. It takes us to the past which exists only in our imagination & serves as a network between various cultures & societies being an underlying aspect.

“Art will always mean different things to different people. Today, however, art is anything to you, art is something you want it to be, & to me, that is a beautiful thought”.  - Anonymous.