A World of Art - Essay Example

A World of Art Religion influenced art and architecture in both the ancient world and during the Christian era because it religion was an important factor in the lives of the people, and art was a form of expression to show its importance. In ancient Greece, they worshipped multiple Gods and Goddesses. One of the ways in which historians can tell this is due to the fact that Greeks immortalized their worship through their art. Their architecture was no different either. Greeks from various parts of the country utilized temples to house their religious ceremonies, etc., and the detail in which was inscribed shows even in the columns that functioned as stabilizers. For instance, the Greeks invented three architectural systems called Doric, Ionic and Corinthian that stood for various meanings (Architecture, 2011). The Doric order, the column a sturdy and plain appearance, was used for the Parthenon in the capitol, and it incorporated worship of Athena, the Greek goddess of wisdom (Architecture, 2011). The point of using the Doric order was to symbolize order and harmony, which coincides with the goddess Athena. Architecture was not the only form of art that reflected religion. Sculptures were vastly popular in ancient Greece and they often times were figures of gods and goddesses like Zeus, even heroes and events were created to mirror religion. In the Christian era, art and architecture were not very different from Greece in how religion was portrayed. Before Christianity was universally accepted, art had to be hidden. These artists did not focus on perfection and beauty as did those that produced Greek art because they sought importance in transforming their beliefs and teaching the Christian religion to others (Early, 2007). Sculptures were rarely seen, and unlike Greek architecture, Christian architecture was bland and unadorned in comparison (Early, 2007). However, the interiors were rich with furnishings- marble, mosaics, hangings, etc. as if to show that Christianity is not about always being beautiful and showy, but faith is set at the hearth like the heart and done with the family. 2. a. Mannerism: This era was set in before the baroque period, and it was European art that occurred around 1520-1580 in Italy Renaissance (Sayre, 2007). The focal term was harmony, which was illustrated through naturalistic paintings, i.e. paintings that were universally recognized as meaning the same thing to various people. Leonardo da Vinci and Raphael were famous artists of this era (Sayre, 2007). b. Baroque: Following the mannerism era, baroque came about in the late 16th-early 18th century throughout Europe (Sayre, 2007). It is a form of art that reflects religious themes as well as express power in aristocracy society. Lavish palaces were influenced by baroque style, as well as the artists Peter Paul Rubens and Gian Lorenzo Bernini (Sayre, 2007). c. Rococo: This type of art stemmed from baroque in the late 18th century in France due to the fact that baroque artists began to experiment giving up their symmetry and turned to creating ornate and playful art (Sayre, 2007). A lot of this art was created to be motifs of decoration and often criticized for its lack of sophistication. However, despite the controversies, it still remains a part of art history and so do the artists that incorporated it like Franz Anton Bustelli and Andrea Casali (Sayre, 2007). d. Neoclassicism: Unlike Rococo style’s seemingly unimportance, the neoclassicism era was distinct and memorable through its utilization of the visual arts like music, architecture, literature, and theatre and occurred late 19th century all over Europe (Sayre, 2007). It actually became a sort-of outspoken response to the “shallow” form of Rococo. It portrayed elements like war, politics and bravery (Sayre, 2007). Lastly, the artists that represent this period are Sir Christopher Wren and William Kent. e. Romanticism: This era is viewed as being the intellectual era, not romance, that gained popularity in the late 18th century then moved into the Industrial Revolution (Sayre, 2007). This era cannot be described as anything less than a revolt because scientific views on nature during the Age of Enlightenment (Sayre, 2007). Previous art that had been defined by its lack of emotion, or emotions limited to courage, neutrality and happiness were then overrode by terror, fear, even awe. This period was one of the most influential and memorable to historians. Artists include Caspar David Friedrich and Zhang Xin. f. Impressionism: This era began in the 19th century and is the only era so far that acquired its name from a particular artist; in this case, Claude Monet and his infamous painting Impression, Sunrise (soleil levant) (Sayre, 2007). The reason for that being his paintings encapsulated the movement through nearly invisible brushstrokes with emphasis on light and how it realistically works in the painting as it would outside in the natural world (Sayre, 2007). The subject or topic of illustration is usually ordinary, however the way the artist incorporates movement and flow is what is important for the Impressionism period. Another artist besides Monet is James Abbott McNeill Whistler who paints in this fashion (Sayre, 2007). g. Post-Impressionism: This era was similarly coined by an artist to encapsulate the development of French art following Monet (Sayre, 2007). This style directly stemmed from and acted as an extension of the Impressionism period. The difference came when the artists used unnatural colors, geometric forms and distortion (Sayre, 2007). Two significant artists of this era were Henri Rousseau and Vincent van Gogh. 3. Cubism and Fauvists differ from the Futurists and Surrealists in multiple ways that involve content and application. In one way this is so is that the eras revolved around different themes. Fauvism was derived from the French word fauve, meaning wild animals, which describes this era well because it included a lot of strong, wild colors and figures in the painting (Wanczura, 2009). This era went further than the Impressionism period in that it utilized simplified designs along with combining vivid colors that meld into one another to produce extravagant paintings (Wanczura, 2009). It was more than expressive art, it was often times startling. Popular artists that adhere to this era are Henri Matisse and Raoul Dufy. Likewise, Cubism is a simplistic movement that, instead of focusing on vibrant color, it focused on geometrical forms, i.e. everything is reduced to cube shapes much in the same way Pablo Picasso and Georges Braques paint (Wanczura, 2009). In contrast, Surrealism and/or Futurists are more in depth in their meaning. It is not simplistic, using abstract art to express the unconscious, which includes dreams or psychology of the human mind (Wanczura, 2009). It relays importance on understanding, emphasizing and attributing knowledge to the invisible elements attracted by people. Famous artists that paint this way are Salvador Dali and Marc Chagall (Wanczura, 2009). It is a futuristic way of representing art, pushing the limits that were once considered restrictions, or forbidden to utilize. References Early Christian Art (2007). In Hunt for Images. Retrieved May 4, 2011 from, http://www.huntsfor.com/arthistory/medieval/earlychristian.htm Sayre, H. M. (2007). A World of Art (5th ed.). Prentice Hall, NY: Upper Saddle River. Wanczura, D. (2009, March). Modern Art Movements. In Artelino. Retrieved May 4, 2011 from, http://www.artelino.com/articles/modern_art_periods.asp Architecture in Ancient Greece (2011). In Ancient Greece. Retrieved May 4, 2011 from, http://www.ancientgreece.com/s/Art Read More