ART HISTORY:

AN INTRODUCTION

MS. PEÑATE

… LETS BREAK IT APART …

ART HISTORYPertaining to the present; persisting/continuous events.

Art is visible, tangible, experienced, and

appreciated (or not).

Forms of Art: Fine, Digital, Performance.

Recordings and interpretations of past human actions/events:

Social & Political.

ANCIENT HISTORICAL ITEMS:

(ARTIFACTS)

MANY ITEMS ARE VIEWED AS ART IN PRESENT DAY, AS OPPOSED TO

WHAT THEY WERE INTENDED FOR DURING THEIR OWN TIME

FRAME/PERIOD.

* COINS, JEWELRY, POTTERY & CHINA, BATTLE ARMOR & WEAPONS,

SARCOPHAGI, ARCHITECTURE/STRUCTURES, ETC.

Coins

Jewelry

Pottery, China & Utensils

Weapons & Armor

Sarcophagi

Architecture/Structures

QUESTIONS ART HISTORIANS ASK

• HOW OLD IS IT?

• WHAT IS IT’S STYLE?

• WHAT IS IT’S SUBJECT?

• WHO MADE IT?

• WHO PAID FOR IT?

HOW OLD IS IT?

• CHRONOLOGY- DATING OF OBJECTS AND BUILDINGS.

• PHYSICAL EVIDENCE- MATERIALS USED OR DID NOT USE.

• DOCUMENTARY EVIDENCE- DATED WRITTEN DOCUMENT.

• INTERNAL EVIDENCE- CLUES WITHIN THE WORK: IDENTIFIABLE

PERSON(S), CLOTHING, HAIRSTYLE OR FURNITURE OF A CERTAIN TIME

PERIOD.

• STYLISTIC EVIDENCE- STYLE: AN ARTIST’S DISTINCTIVE MANNER OF

PRODUCING AN OBJECT.

CHRONOLOGY

Relative dating methods are unable to determine the absolute age of an object or event, but can determine the

impossibility of a particular event happening before or after another event of which the absolute date is well

known.

Absolute dating methods, by using absolute referent criteria, mainly include the radiometric dating methods.

PHYSICAL EVIDENCE

• THE BRONZE AGE – STARTED 3200 BC, AND WAS

CHARACTERIZED BY THE WIDESPREAD USE OF

BRONZE.

• TIN MUST BE MINED (MAINLY AS THE TIN

ORE CASSITERITE) AND SMELTED SEPARATELY,

THEN ADDED TO MOLTEN COPPER TO MAKE

BRONZE ALLOY.

DOCUMENTARY EVIDENCE

Evidence that is, or can be, introduced at a trial in the form of documents, as

distinguished from oral testimony.

INTERNAL EVIDENCE

1920’s: Convertible Cars-

Driving gloves and cap

Queen

Elizabeth the

First: Letter B

necklace for

her last name

Boleyn. Reign

from 1558 -

1603

Gare Saint-Lazare

train station:

Mid 1800’s

Travel & Clothing

George Washington:

Presidency from

1789-1797

STYLISTIC EVIDENCE

WHAT IS IT’S STYLE?

• PERIOD STYLE- CHARACTERISTICS OF AN ARTISTIC MANNER FROM A SPECIFIC TIME

AND CULTURE.

• REGIONAL STYLE- A STYLE TIED TO GEOGRAPHY/PROVENANCE: PLACE OR ORIGIN.

• PERSONAL STYLE- DISTINCTIVE MANNER OF AN INDIVIDUAL ARTIST OR ARCHITECT.

* AN ARTIST’S PERSONAL STYLE MAY CHANGE DRAMATICALLY DURING A LONG CAREER.

PERIOD STYLE

Rococo Impressionism Pop Art

REGIONAL STYLE

Greek Pottery Aztec Pottery

PERSONAL STYLE

PABLO PICASSO

PABLO PICASSO

WHAT IS IT’S SUBJECT?

WHAT THE ARTIST IS PRESENTING TO

THE VIEWERS:

STORY/NARRATIVE/SCENE

ACTIONS/TIME AND PLACE

PERSONS INVOLVED

ENVIRONMENT & DETAILS

* IN ABSTRACT ART, THERE IS NO SUBJECT OR

SETTING. THE “SUBJECT” IS THE ARTWORK ITSELF.

PICTORIAL SUBJECTS/CATEGORIES:

RELIGIOUS

HISTORICAL

MYTHOLOGICAL

GENRE (DAILY LIFE)

PORTRAITURE

LANDSCAPE

STILL LIFE

ICONOGRAPHY/SYMBOLS

WHO MADE IT?

IF AN ARTWORK IS NOT SIGNED AND DATED BY ITS CREATOR, ART

HISTORIANS CAN ASSIGN OR ATTRIBUTE AN ARTWORK TO A

SPECIFIC ARTIST BASED OFF OF THE ARTIST’S PERSONAL STYLE.

* SOMETIMES A GROUP OF ARTISTS WORK IN THE SAME STYLE AT

THE SAME TIME AND PLACE. THE GROUPS ARE DESIGNATED AS A

“SCHOOL”. THEIR SIMILARITIES CAN RANGE FROM CHRONOLOGICAL,

STYLISTIC, AND GEOGRAPHIC SIMILARITIES WITHIN THEIR

ARTWORKS.

THE DUTCH SCHOOL (17TH CENTURY)

THE HUDSON RIVER SCHOOL (MID-19TH CENTURY)

WHO PAID FOR IT?

PATRONS – THOSE WHO PAID ARTISTS TO MAKE INDIVIDUAL

WORKS OR EMPLOYED THEM ON A CONTINUOUS BASIS.

* PHARAOHS, EMPERORS, KINGS, CHURCHES, & WEALTHY FAMILIES.

Commissioned by Egyptian Pharaohs Khufu (tallest), Khafre (background),

and Menkaure (front) between 2560-2540 BC.

The Pyramids of Giza

Commissioned by the Roman Emperor Vespasian, in AD 72.

The Colosseum

Commissioned by King Louis XIV. Painted by Hyacinthe Rigaud in 1701.

Portrait of King Louis XIV in Coronation Robes

Commissioned by Pope Julius II. Painted by Michelango between 1508 – 1512.

The Sistine Chapel Ceiling

Commissioned by Daniel Graham, apothecary to King George II of Great Britian. Painted by William Hogarth in 1742.

The Graham Children